Ok. So yesterday, I went to Caffe Luna for the first time with some friends of mine after graduation rehearsal. I go to downtown Raleigh all the time, and had passed by countless times, but had never actually been inside. I had been told that it's pretty good, and that the food is "Italian 'with a Tuscan twist," and that it was a little pricey but not excessive, and for the most part, what I had heard was true. It's pretty nice. The atmosphere is interesting; the place isn't huge, but I'll stop right there before I get carried away. Let's get to the food, now shall we?
First, I can't just not talk about the bread that they gave us. I know that I live in the South and all, but I was surprised to find that they gave us sourdough bread and olive oil to start us off. That's right. Sourdough. Not classic Italian bread, not ciabatta, but sourdough. It was good bread, and it had a nice fluffiness about it, but I had expected something a little more, err, Italian.
Yummy, but definitely not Italian, bread.
Now I shall talk about my meal. Whenever I go to Italian restaurants that are do not strictly serve food that has been accepted by the average American as Italian, as in spaghetti with meatballs, fettucini alfredo, chicken marsala, eggplant parmesan, etc., such as this one, I tend to stray from the typical fare as listed above and order something different (I went to a restaurant like this with my dad in Boston and ordered chicken parmesan, while he ordered spinach stuffed chicken with herb roasted potatoes and sauteed vegetables, and wished that I had ordered his dish instead by the end of the night).
So, straying from the chicken parmesan, I ordered what they called "Filetto di Spalla," or grilled tenderloin shoulder with roast potatoes and a salad, and it came out looking quite lovely. The steak was cooked perfectly, the inside being the perfect shade of pink, and had a nice texture similar to that of a flank steak, reminding me of an unchopped and grilled vaca frita (here's a recipe and a picture that describes it pretty well). I am utterly confused as to why they called it tenderloin shoulder, though. It is most certainly not tenderloin, as the meat itself was not to that calibur. It was just shoulder meat, and nothing more. I bet that the menu writers just used the word "tenderloin" to capitalize on what people would think was a good cut of meat for a good price. Those sneaky little boogars.
The salad wasn't much to speak about, but it was good. It was just lettuce with grape tomatoes with oil and vinegar, but the flavor from the oil and vinegar and the juices from the steak did do wonders for the potatoes. Once again, the menu did a subpar job of labeling its food, for despite the fact that these claimed to be roasted potatoes, they were without a doubt fried. How do I know, you ask? Well, any Cuban that puts chunks of potato in their Picadillo would know. Whenever we make Picadillo (ground beef hash to the gringos out there, here's a link to the Wikipedia page), we cut the potato into little chunks like the ones in the picture and fry them either in a pan or in a deep fryer until they come out looking like those, and they taste like little french fries. On top of looking uncannily like Picadillo potatoes, they tasted unequivocally fried to boot. If anyone from Caffe Luna is reading this, you do not fool me. I know your secrets. Even if your food is delicious and left me feeling more satisfied by a meal than I had been in a long time, your menu lies. Roast potatoes. Hah! :P
My costumed, yet still satisfying, meal.
After I happily consumed my delicious and disguised main course, I was in the mood for some coffee. I was hesitant to order espresso, because I don't trust any non-Cuban to make espresso. No, not even in an Italian restaurant. I will gladly make myself my own little cafecito at home, thank you very much. However, that doesn't mean that I won't enjoy a nice cappuccino every now and then. And since it was lunch time, I figured it was still early enough for a nice cup of frothy goodness. So I ordered a cappuccino. And this is what I was delighted with:
Yes, that is cinnamon on top. Calm yourself.
After mixing and stirring and taming and adding sugar to that mountain of frothed milk and the hidden coffee that lie under it for some time, I took a sip and was quite impressed. I didn't need to add much sugar because it was already a little sweet, and the cinnamon added a nice twist to it as well. It was quite delightful.
Overall, the meal was quite impressive, and it left me more satisfied than I had been by a meal in a long time (really since the last time I had been to Miami, at the beginning of April). Thank you, Caffe Luna, for a noteworthy meal! My tummy was quite happy. It was smiling the whole car ride home, and saying things like, woohoo! We should do that more often! Yeahyeahyeahhhh!!!!! I recommend all of you to try this cut of meat, and the little fried potatoes as such. They are quite delicious.
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