Italiano!

So... what to say about this little place. First off I really liked the location for multiple reasons! It had a nice atmosphere more so of what you are use to when you go eat Italian.

As I was ordering our my food I somehow got talked into paying my debt of owing a starter all though i shouldnt have had to do such a silly thing, it is not my fault that I am grandpa's favorite and he wanted to pay for my mistakes. But that is neither here nor there. When I got this starter lets just say it started the meal off on the right path. It was a huge portion of all of your favorites calamari, hummus, and much more and to be honest i enjoyed it much more than the actual meal.  As for my meal which i enjoyed with a delicious wine, I had the seafood ravioli and I hate to say it I was rather disappointed. It had no seafood taste to it, no chunks of shrimp or lopster, just cheese and the Sauce I am sure was poured from a cambells tomato soup can. Now I may be being a bit negative towards this place as I did enjoy the food and if I had for my lunch today I would not complain. However, compared to Anna's and cost for what I got back... I just didnt think it was quite as much bang for your buck.

To end the night we did enjoy some glace which is top 5 best ice cream in the world... or at least KC!

Overall I would go back if it was a date night and maybe dress nice and show off my lady, but for just going back to grab a bite I'd head up the road a ways to Anna's overall 3.510012344232133333333.

Il-Centro: Another great excuse to drink wine & eat ice cream

This little Italian restaurant captured my attention with the interesting architecture of the building and doesn't disappoint on the inside.  It feels more formal than the typical pasta joint, but cozy and comfortable nonetheless. Although they have an extensive wine list, they post a small list of featured wines which helps one from feeling overwhelmed with choices.  I ended up with a lovely Moscato, sweet, sparkling, delicious!
A great start to go along with the lovely combo appetizer platter Josh supplied our table with.  Goat cheese and warm pita was the best!  The menu had several delicious looking pizzas, but it is hard to pass up seafood ravioli.  I haven't realy met a ravioli I didn't like, and this one was no exception.  I liked it just fine; but it wasn't special and I was hoping for special.  I got sucked in by the atmosphere and the appetizers but was disappointed in the bland pillows that didn't hint of fresh (or otherwise) seafood, just ricotta.  I had to ask for fresh parmesan cheese and was sad to see glass shakers of dried parmesan sitting on our table.  Il Centro didn't seem like a "Pizza Hut" joint, so the shakers seemed out of place.
All was not lost, however!  Crispy eggplant parmesan ordered by Sara had such a generous serving Sarah shared with the table allowing me several heavenly bites.  Ravioli forgotten, I enjoyed my appetizer, Moscato and eggplant and wouldn't mind returning to try one of the pizzas.
Final score 3.5 of 5.  It doesn't hurt that Glace' is just down the street!

Il Centro - A little slice of Italy

Mr. Ref here and this time we dined at a real Italian restaurant and it was great.  When I go eat Italian, I always order spaghetti because it is my favorite meal and this was no different.  I had Veal Meatballs and it was delicious.  I have never had veal meatballs before, I usually get meat sauce or regular Italian meatballs, however the veal meatballs were very good and I was glad I ordered it.  I also tried some of the other dishes that were ordered and I will say the eggplant parmesan that Sara had was the best eggplant parmesan I have ever had and the chicken Walnut pasta that Erin had was also very good.  I did try Mrs. Ref's seafood ravioli and did not think it was one of the better dishes that was ordered.  I felt the decor was very nice and I thought the waitress did a very good job taking care of us.  I would definetly recommend Il Centro to anyone that wants a nice Italian dinner.  My only compliant is it is a little pricey compared to other Italian restaurants, but the food is very good.  I gave it a 4.25 out of a possible 5.

Il Centro: no red-checkered tablecloths here

 On Thursday the club ventured to Osterio Il Centro in the south Plaza area. This place comes highly recommended and for good reason: it's delicious. I've wanted to try it since I first drove by and saw this quote painted on their window: "Garlic is the catsup of intellectuals." (Flattery will get you everywhere.)

It's exactly what it's presented to be: a casual nice dining place. It's pricier than most dinner club restaurants (entrees in the $15-$20 range), but well worth it if you're looking for a special night out. It's small with dark wood and bright art. The waitstaff wears long black aprons and ties, so you know it's legit.

Josh started us out with a delicious appetizer sampler platter, with goat cheese, pesto, bruschetta and lots of bread. We all had wine--I had a malbec which was delicious.

The menu noted their eggplant parmigiana as a customer favorite, so I thought I'd test out just what these customers liked so much. (Usually when I order anything eggplant at a restaurant, it's delicious.) It stood up to the status. The eggplant was lightly breaded, topped with lots of cheese, and served with fettuccini with tomato sauce. There was enough for a large supper and leftovers for lunch.

Il Centro is not the type of family-style Italian joint you'd see in a Martin Scorsese movie. I recommend it for a quiet, special dinner for a couple or group of four. My rating: 4/5 stars.

Uncle Josh is redeemed

A special note from Luke:

I was very disappointed in my dear Uncle Josh for not ponying up and participating in the appetizer of shame. This dinner club has rules, and he didn't follow them. I'm just a baby but have been told this is wrong.

But on Thursday, my loving Uncle Josh redeemed himself by treating us all to the mother of all appetizer platters at Il Centro. I didn't get to try any of it, but could tell my relatives really enjoyed it.

Thanks, Uncle Josh, for being so generous and a good role model for me.

Get to know the gassies

Time for another thrilling installation. This month's pick went to Beth, so we're spotlighting her in this post.

What is your favorite Kansas City restaurant?
Pierpont's

Of all the restaurants the dinner club has tried, which one would you like to eat again at most?
I've been back to Grunauer twice and the Indian place several times. I'd pick Oklahoma Joe's.

What’s the most delicious dish you tried at a dinner club outing?
Lentils at Blue Nile

What’s the most unique food you’ve ever eaten?
Oxtail

If you could banish any one ingredient or dish from the earth, what would it be?
Coconut

Is there a food that you enjoyed as a child that now you don't like?
No

Is there a food that you didn't like as a child that you now enjoy?
Everything

If you could travel to any country for the sole purpose of eating, where would you go?
Italy

If you could eat dinner with any three people, living or dead, who would they be? 
Winston Churchill, Teddy Roosevelt and Eckhart Tolle

Dinner club meeting this evening

Greetings, blog readers. This month is Beth's pick, and she's selected an Italian restaurant in the south Plaza area.

The club gathers this evening. Stay tuned for our reviews of the mystery restaurant.

Blue Koi: good

Last month, we went to Blue Koi, which is on west 39th St. near Anna's Oven.  It is a Chinese restaurant, and I had duck and noodles.  I really like duck.  It is really fatty, but good fatty, and tender and flavorful.  And Blue Koi did a good job of letting the duck stand on its own, and not using it as a base for something else.  The noodles went well with the duck, and were thick, fat noodles, with a nice sauce.  Unagi.... uuuunnaaaaaagi... uuuuuuuuuuuunnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagi.

I was late so I missed the beginning, but everyone saved me some fried tofu which was good with the awesome sauce.  It is really called "awesome sauce".  It is a much more enticing than its former name: "pretty OK sauce" (that one was for you, mom).

By the way I am petitioning the Gastronomical All-Stars for Josh to still deliver an appetizer-of-shame.  Basically, he got to pick an appetizer as punishment for forgetting to blog.  Pick is not the same as pay.

Overall, Blue Koi was good.  The menu selection was good, the food was good, the atmosphere was good, etc.  But it was missing something to make it stand out, something unique to Blue Koi, its own personal El Guapo (one beer to anyone that can name the movie reference - no wikipedia, honor rules).  Blue Koi was good, but a victim of the personal El Guapos of its predecessors.   

I give it a 3.1 out of 5.

Also, one more note for all our crew: tune in next time for a special review. 
On pins and needles, wondering what this could be?  Well, my friends, just wait and see.      

So I was welcomed back to KC by the lovely gas members as it was my turn to choose a restaurant.  I was very excited about getting to choose and although we didn't get to go to my first pick (thanks Josh for not telling me until last minute) it was easy to find a replacement.  I actually found Blue Koi a while ago and was going to take Josh there for his birthday, but chose somewhere else instead.
We walked into Blue Koi and I immediately noticed that the kitchen was in view and you could watch what the cooks were doing, which I think is neat. I did not feel like the restaurant had a "Chinese" feel, however it was a nice environment.  Josh had to buy appetizers, since he was a slacker, although he didn't end up paying for them!! The tofu was DELICIOUS!  I absolutely loved it.  Tofu is always something I want to like, but am never pleased due to the texture.  This tofu was lightly friend and yummy!  I really enjoyed the sauce to dip it in.  We also had pot stickers, which I thought were ok.  For my meal I ordered the Almond Shrimp with Asparagus, without the mayonnaise of course and it was delicious.  I had mine with chicken rather than shrimp.  I LOVED it.  I thought it was very refreshing, the right amount of sweet and spice.  The slivered almonds added a nice crunch to the dish.  I wish there would have been a little more asparagus     
Overall Rating 4.3/5