for my birthday celebration dinner i chose, Lolita. oh dear lord did i choose well. it was by far the best birthday dinner i've EVER had. (sorry, vivo!)
the restaurant is tucked away in the tremont area of cleveland smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood. the neighborhood look a little ghetto chic. is that a descriptive term? like it was probably a very cool area in real life, but looks a little run down on the outside. perhaps it's an area that's "turning." Lolita, however, looks so cool on the inside (for lack of a better term). very "now" with their antique tin ceiling tiles, sheers hanging from the ceiling to enclose tables, chandeliers, and the wine on tap fridge.
now who doesn't want one of these in their house? plus those stemless wine glass... still a sucker for them.
on to the apps... we ordered:
garlic bruschetta (and you should know that i ordered it - Garlic BrusCETta... just like giada and tyler). roasted garlic and basil with fresh mozzarella. at first glance i thought, where are my tomatoes? and then i took a bite and the garlic and basil and mozzarella over took me and i forgot all about the tomatoes.
&
almond garlic dip with rosemary and sea salt flatbread. this one was surprisingly delicious. not that it surprised me that it was delicious, but i thought it would be like hummus, but it wasn't as "thick" as hummus, and i thought it would maybe be warm, and the dip was really cold.
both of these were wonderful and had very pronounced flavors, and gave me very pronounced garlic breath, but justin knows that for better or for worse i DO love garlic.
i studied the menu for a week before, and had already decided on THE Ravioli: butternut squash, prosciutto, sage, brown butter and walnuts.
my portion was small, but perfect. enough to thoroughly enjoy, but not enough to kill me. i'm a clean your plate kind of woman, and this size made that task possible. i was trying to think of one word to describe this while i was eating (wait - it's pretty weird that i think of descriptive words for food) and what came to mind was succulent. i've had many a good dinners before, but i love when food sticks in your mind and you can't quit thinking about it. the butternut squash is still in my brain. so creamy and succulent and delicious and perfect... i have to figure out a way to go back.
if justin will let me...
i wanted to snap a pic of us to commemorate our night out... my first birthday as a married but justin with his solemn i'm going to kill you look is not what i had in mind. as we were leaving the restaurant some thugs rolled by yelling "You GD MF'er QUIT TAKING PITURES OF ME WIT YO MFing CAMERA PHONE!" now do you get it... ghetto chic.
*lolita is owned by michael symon who recently won the food network show - The Next Iron Chef.
