Antipasti: Bottles of wine consumed: 2 (1 white and 1 red) / Number of times “Happy Birthday” sung: 2.

The start of your meal at Il Mulino is an onslaught. There is no other way to describe it. You are attacked from all angles and all directions with food. First, a huge bread basket is filled with rustic Italian bread as well as small, toasted garlic bread.  Next, a plate of fried zucchini appeared. Both breads were delicious, but I thought the fried zucchini was way too oily.  It’s like the taste of the smell of your neighborhood Chinese food take-out joint. The flavor of the zucchini doesn’t come out at all. But that was okay because next came the big hunk of cheese (which SO made me think of big hunk of cheese day from the West Wing). Everyone gets a smaller chunk of the larger chunk of fresh parmaggiano reggiano (one of my favorite all-time cheeses). Then came a fresh tomato bruschetta and exactly one mussel.  The one mussel was not memorable.  But the tomato brushcetta was delicious – fresh, bursting with flavor of the tomato and a hint of garlic and basil. I only wish they had given us just the tomatoes to put on the bread we already had out on the table because the bread they gave us was totally soggy. Which reminds me, we got yet another bread basket full of warmed garlic bread. I advise to try to restrain yourself during this onslaught. A ridiculously large meal is still in store.

Piatti Del Giorno

Quote of the night: “I’d rather end up in rehab than have cats.” Ha. I almost spit wine on my menu.

Although the menu is quite extensive and includes the probably fantastic, but typical Italian fare, the real gems lie in the specials. My only problem with this is that the specials were almost as long as the menu itself and they recite them to you tableside. I used to be a waitress, so I understand how impressive it is to be able to rattle off a long list of specials for diners who can’t imagine being able to memorize all that information.  However, when specials are so long it takes 5 minutes to explain, I would prefer to have it written down. Listening to all the specials was way too much to digest (pun intended). But at the end of giving us the specials, the waiter said, “and if you a wanna something else, we can make you whateva you like-a.” Perfect. I had remembered a lamb ragu pasta dish that sounded wonderful. But it was served with spaghetti, and I prefer ragu with a wider pasta. I explained this to the waiter and asked for a tagliatelle, but he understood and immediately recommended the parpadelle over the tagliatelle, which is really what I wanted. I just get my pastas confused. I was in good hands. I relaxed. I had previously heard rumours about the larger than life portion sizes here, so my friend Wendy and I decided we would split a pasta and a fish. The branzini special sounded light and perfect – our waiter recommended that we get it grilled. He said it was much better that way. We were also instructed to get another fish, so we also ordered the salmon special, which came pan-seared with chanterelle mushrooms and broccolini sautéed in garlic sauce.  I had already resigned myself to letting my waiter determine my culinary fate.  I was in his hands, and I was not going to argue. Ginger and her mother split the porcini and truffle ravioli and grilled branzini. Ginger’s brother, Chuck, got the filet. Despite the massive amounts of antipasti we were already served, I was ready to dig in.

Primi: Number of bottles consumed: still 2 / Number of times “Happy Birthday” sung: 4

When the large bowl of pasta was set down in front of me, I immediately assumed that I would be splitting this bowl with Wendy. However, another large bowl was placed in front of her as well.  Simultaneously, we looked at each other, then at the waiter. “We split it for you already,” he said. Holy mother. At the moment, I was happy we decided to split.  But the next day, when I wanted to relive the sweet taste of lamb ragu, I was admittedly a little sad. The lamb was tender and it melted in your mouth and the homemade pasta was cooked perfectly. I was in an Italian wonderland of flavor. I also had the fortune of sampling the porcini and truffle ravioli. The sauce was thick and creamy and it highlighted the porcini flavor and the hint of truffle coming through in the background. The filling was similarly decadent. The ravioli pasta itself was good, but I thought it was a bit too thick. I would have preferred a more delicate ravioli. But who am I kidding? If that was my dish, I would have inhaled it.

Photo of Raviolo ai Porcini (from CheekyEats)

Secondi: Number of bottles consumed: 3 / Number of times “Happy Birthday” sung: 5

Next came the grilled branzini and the salmon.  Each dish was extremely different, both in presentation as well as in taste, but they were both delicious.  Before cooking, the waiter brought out the whole branzini fish to present to us.  We just nodded our heads in drunken approval, as if we would have objected. The branzini was grilled with a tad of olive oil and simply presented with just a side of lemon. The fish itself was light and flaky. The fish was definitely the star of this dish. The salmon was pan-seared with mushrooms and broccolini in a garlic sauce that complemented both the fish and the vegetables perfectly. It was hearty, flavorful and scrumptious. I was impressed with a kitchen that could put out two completely different fishes (one practically bare and one dressed up) and yet they each stood up against one another in taste. I was so full that I only finished less than half of the fish. But luckily I took them home and ate them again for Saturday’s dinner, and Sunday’s lunch. I also got to try a small, but lovely piece of Chuck’s filet.  It was tender and cooked a perfect medium rare.  All in all, the entrees were fantastic. I only wish I had room for more.

Dolci: Number of bottles consumed: 4 / Glasses of homemade grappa: 1 each / Number of times “Happy Birthday” sung: 6

Please note, Chuck was drinking only beer and left us after his filet

We decided on one light dessert (for our stomachs) and a classic dessert (for just a taste). We ordered the Zabaglione Caldo con frutti di bosco – a warm Italian custard with marsala wine, egg yolks and sugar (supposedly prepared tableside – I do not remember this) served with strawberries; and tiramisu.  While awaiting our dessert, a friendly Italian waiter (is there any other kind?) came over with what looked like a wooden bucket full of homemade grappa, on the house.  He ladled out a cup for each of us.  After a few hair-raising sips of grappa, we decided on one more bottle of red to coat our throats.  I was disappointed with the tiramisu – I have had better tiramisu during the feast of San Gennaro. However, the Zabaglione was delicious. I couldn’t believe I had never had this dessert before. Light and sweet, it was perfect after a big meal. After over four hours of utter indulgence, I rolled out of the restaurant Violet Beauregarde-style, blissfully content with my first meal at Il Mulino and eagerly anticipating my next.

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