When I saw these Mushrooms & Truffle Pastificio G Di Martino Stuffed Gnocchi at the World Market (~$4), I got pretty excited. I love gnocchi, I love ravioli, and the idea of stuffed gnocchi seemed logical. They had them in a variety of flavors, and I decided on Mushrooms & Truffle as everyone in my household loves mushroom ravioli.
It wasn’t until I came home that I noticed the Prop 65 warning in the package: the gnocchi have lead in them! There is no safe level of lead exposure, and the consumption of even a standard portion of lead contaminated mushrooms can have negative health effects. Lead is particularly problematic for children, who absorb a far greater proportion of it than adults. Before this purchase, I had not realized how mushrooms – in particular dried wild mushrooms – often contain lead as I hadn’t seen the Prop 65 warning before. I probably wouldn’t have bought the package if I had noticed it, but I decided to make them for myself anyway.
I shouldn’t have bothered. The gnocchi were a complete failure. The gnocchi themselves were simply not tasty. Even though I cooked them in salted water, they hadn’t really absorbed it and were in need of it and probably some type of spicing. The texture was very dry and even powdery, perhaps because they were made with dried potato flakes rather than fresh potatoes. The filling suffered from the same issue, it was very dry and had a strange consistency. Its main ingredient is ricotta cheese, and it really didn’t taste much of mushroom.
I tried them both by themselves and with tomato sauce and grated cheese. The sauce and cheese helped with the flavor, but they couldn’t really do anything about the very unpleasant texture. And for that reason, I wouldn’t bother trying the other flavors.
I got Dolcetto Tuscan Crisps at World Market ($5), and seldom I’ve been more disappointed on a World Market find. Granted, it’s my fault for not having closely examined the ingredients before I bought them. If I had, I’d noticed that far from having an “Italian cheese blend,” they had practically no cheese at all. Indeed, “natural cheese flavor” is listed as an ingredient after salt, and “cheese” is the next to last ingredient.
The result is that they don’t taste like cheese. They are mildly salty, but they don’t really taste like anything. They might be a good conduit for actual cheese – I haven’t tried them with any yet – but on their own, they are just insipid.
This Foggy Bottom hotel restaurant offers solid food in a relaxing setting
During our trip to DC, we stayed at the River Inn in Foggy Bottom. The hotel has its own restaurant, Matera, which serves breakfast and dinner daily. It wasn’t particularly busy during our stay, but I imagine that is different during more touristy times and when there are events at the Kennedy Center, given that it’s one of the closest restaurants to the venue. Of course, it’s unclear that the Kennedy Center will continue existing as anything but a center for Neo-nazi rallies now that Trump has taken it over.
We dined at Matera twice. We had breakfast one morning with our friend Maximilian, who was in DC for work. And we had dinner another night when I was craving Italian (after an amazing pasta dish at The Hamilton) and we were too tired to go out.
The restaurant has a smallish dining room, and a pretty casual vibe. There are some interesting posters on the walls, and the candle and rose on the table give it a somewhat romantic atmosphere, but the tables are bare and the place is more utilitarian than special occasion. Service was attentive and friendly, but it’s what we experienced almost universally in DC.
I’m not usually much of a breakfast eater, so I only had a coffee that morning (perfectly acceptable), but Maximillian and Mike ordered food. I didn’t pay attention to what Max had, and we were too busy talking about politics (it’s Washington, after all) to discuss the food, but Mike had the western omelet ($22). It came with ham, onions, green and red bell peppers and American cheese and Mike pronounced it to be “just fine”. It wasn’t remarkable or something he’d order again.
Dinner the following night was tasty and relaxing. We skipped appetizers, but had plenty of bread before our main dishes arrived.
I had the gnocchi with Italian sausage ($28) and was very happy with it. The gnocchi were soft, airy and pillowy, the sausage was tasty, the grilled peppers soft enough and the whole thing came together with a nice tomato basil sauce. I wished there were more gnocchi, the other elements sort of overwhelmed them and I absolutely loved the texture the gnocchi provided, but overall I loved the dish. People (ahem, my daughter) who prefer hardier pasta might not be as enthusiastic, however.
My daughter’s dish, unfortunately, wasn’t as successful. She had the mushroom ravioli ($28) which came in a creamy pesto sauce and she was disappointed both with the flavor and the quantity. There were only four or five ravioli in the dish, and the sauce just wasn’t that tasty. She wouldn’t have it again.
Mike had the calamari ($22), as he felt he wasn’t hungry enough for a main dish and nobody would want to share this. It cam with both a cocktail sauce and an herb aioli. The calamari was perfectly acceptable, with good flavor and texture. The herb aioli, however, was out of this world delicious. I was sad we’d eaten all our bread and couldn’t dip it in it.
I had read in reviews that Matera had a great tiramisu ($12), and we just had to try it. I’m happy to say that the reviewers were right. It featured a very light and airy cake, and thick layers of light and flavorful creams. Even the chocolate was tasty – no Hershey syrup here. We’d definitely get this again.
In all, it was a nice dinner made better by the convenience of it being at our hotel. We’d eat there again.
A favorite San Leandro pizzeria never fails to satisfy
Last night, my oldest was in town and had a hankering for pizza. I didn’t myself, but I still have been craving pasta, so I decided to order from an old favorite: Porky’s Pizza Palace. This is a restaurant we have frequented ever since we moved to San Leandro, almost a quarter of a century ago. I love the old-fashioned, family-oriented, small-town-America feel of the place, and there food is pretty good as well. I didn’t take pictures this time, we just dived into the food.
The kids had a half-pineapple, half-Golden cheese pizza ($28). They thought the pizza was OK, pretty average pizzeria pizza.
We also ordered cheesy garlic bread ($6.3) and it’s definitely very cheesy. However, the cheese is not that flavorful. Next time we’d order the garlic bread without the cheese.
I decided to order a quart of ravioli ($14) and three meatballs ($12), so I’d have food for three meals. I really like Porky’s ravioli and meatballs. They are not going to win any culinary awards, but the ravioli are well cooked, with soft pasta, and are bursting with beef filling. The meat sauce is flavorful and tastes home made and the meatballs are light and, while commercial, not something I can actually buy myself at the supermarket. They are also pretty large.
In all, I like Porky’s Pizza, in particular the ravioli, and I’ll continue to order from there from time to time, as I have over the decades.
Porky's Pizza Palace 1221 Manor Blvd. San Leandro, CA (510) 357-4323 Mon-Thu 3 – 9 pm Fri 3 – 10 pm Sat 1 – 10 pm Sun 1 – 9 pm
A couple of weeks ago I saw a commercial for The Olive Garden‘s Never Ending Pasta Bowl and since then I’ve been obsessing about it. I’m not sure why. Maybe because I’ve been watching my carbs and avoiding pasta. Or maybe there is just something about the fantasies of limitless eating that appeals to human at an instinctive level. Olive Garden has been having this promotion for decades, so it’s obviously working for them.
I’m by no means a regular Olive Garden customer. I can count in one hand how often I’ve gone to the restaurant over the decades, with fingers to spare. Mostly I found it unmemorable, and with better Italian options around, often the same or more affordable prices, there has never been a compelling reason to go
I actually did a fair amount of reading on the Olive Garden and the Never Ending Pasta Bowl before my visit – such was my obsession. I learned that it wasn’t a particularly good deal for the customer, as most normal people can’t finish a single plate of pasta, much less have seconds. I also learned that you can take leftovers to go, and that you can order a serving of just the sauce. Finally, I learned that waiters hate it because they have to make multiple trips to the kitchen without the corresponding increase in tips.
We visited the Hayward location for lunch a Friday in October. I remembered the restaurant looking cuter back when I last went, this time it was just utilitarian. We were seated near the bar – and the kitchen – in a room without any decorations at all. Given that the food is not that cheap, I expected better.
We went there a little before noon and the place got fairly busy as the lunch hour came, though it was never really full. The restaurant is rather large, with good distance between the tables.
As the entrées all come with soup or salad and breadsticks, we didn’t bother ordering appetizers. My husband and daughter had the salad which they found to be unremarkable. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it was just a salad.
The breadsticks, on the other hand, were delicious. They are served warm, have garlic flavor, and have a soft interior. They are a tad dry, so they’re great for dipping. They were our favorite part of the meal – though I only had half of one, as I didn’t want to get full on bread (plus I’m watching those carbs).
Olive Garden has four soups, and I’d read that the Chicken & Gnocchi soup ($10, if ordered on its own) was particularly popular, so I ordered that. It was OK. I did like how soft and pillowy the gnocchi were, but there were relatively few of them in the soup. The chicken cream base wasn’t my favorite, but I’m not a fan of cream soups (or soups) in general. I did like it as a dip for the breadstick, however.
I got a second portion to go, as part of the Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion (which gives you never ending soup or salad and never ending breadsticks as well), and I was surprised at how small it was. I think it had all of two gnocchi.
My daughter had the chicken parmigiana ($21.3). It was a large portion but not a particularly successful one. My daughter compared it to the frozen chicken parmesan we buy at the supermarket.
Mike had the seafood alfredo ($23.5) and he was equally unimpressed. He found the alfredo sauce to be thin and not particularly tasty, and the seafood just OK. He wouldn’t order it again.
In both these cases, you can get a much better plate of food for a similar price at a mom & pop’s Italian restaurant.
I, of course, ordered the Never Ending Pasta Bowl ($16) with a side of protein ($5). The protein this time around are meatballs, Italian sausages or “crispy chicken fritta”, which I think are breaded and fried chicken slices. You are given a choice of four pastas (fettuccine, spaghetti, rigatoni and angel hair) and six sauces (garlic herb, alfredo, marinara, five cheese marinara, creamy mushroom and meat sauce).
For my first plate I had the fettuccine with half mushroom sauce , half meat sauce and meatballs. The plate was rather generous and definitely enough for a lunch entree, particularly after eating the few gnocchi from the soup. The fettuccine itself was rather bland (but it’s pasta) and a little past al dente – with some parts that were on the rawer side. I don’t think I’d order it again. I did like the mushroom sauce, particularly when I got a mushroom. It was creamy, mushroomy and very tasty. The meat sauce, on the other hand, was a disappointment. It had very small and scant pieces of meat and tasted like jarred sauce. I definitely wouldn’t order it again. The meatballs weren’t bad. They were light, and tasted like the meatballs you get in pizza joint and sandwich places – which I, personally, like. The first order came with three meatballs.
For my second plate, which I took home, I had the angel hair pasta with the five cheese marinara sauce. I liked the angel hair better, but the sauce – a mixture of marinara sauce with alfredo sauce – tasted like supermarket vodka sauce, basically, a creamy tomato sauce. It was too acidic. I would not order it again. This second portion of pasta was also pretty small, and it came with two meatballs.
I also had a bowl of alfredo sauce, as I wanted to try it. As Mike noted, it was on the thin side, and it also didn’t differ much from the jarred stuff. It wasn’t bad as a dip for the breadsticks, but I also wouldn’t order it .
I had water with dinner, Mike had a soda ($4), and my daughter had the raspberry lemonade ($4.50). She really liked it. They come with unlimited refills as well.
Service was fine, a little bit rushed but that’s to be expected.
In all, it was a mediocre and yet pretty expensive lunch – though we all took some leftovers home. I can’t imagine rushing back to the Olive Garden.
Olive Garden 24688 Hesperian Blvd Hayward, CA (510) 782-6385 Su - Th 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM F - Sa 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
This Hayward pizzeria serves great wings, but just average pizza
I discovered Susie Q’s Pizza a couple of weeks ago while going to dinner at Khao Hom in Hayward. I don’t usually pay attention to pizzerias, but they had posters expressing support for Palestinians and calling for an end to their genocide by Israel – which made me want to support them in turn. So when Mike was out to dinner one night, I suggested to my daughter that we get some take out from Susie Q’s. Mike never wants to get pizza, unless it’s Zachary’s.
Susie Q. had pretty good reviews online, and I decided we should try a little bit of everything. They have a family pack for $40 that includes a large one-topping pizza, cheesy bread, an order of wings and a 2-liter soda, and I got that in addition to a sub for my daughter.
The cheesy bread ($10) was really disappointing. It had gotten really good reviews online, but it was way too salty and just not that tasty. It came with a green sauce and a red pasta sauce, neither of which was particularly great either. I still have some of it left in the fridge waiting garbage pickup tomorrow. Needless to say, I wouldn’t order it again.
For my large 1-topping pizza ($25.2), I got half mushroom, half cheese. The mushroom were very, very scant – you’d think they could have used the half they saved on the cheese only part in the other half. Where I tasted them, the mushrooms were fine, but a single mushroom in some slices was just sad. Other than that, the pizza was OK, but not memorable. It has a medium crust, and a good balance of bread to sauce to cheese. It just wasn’t better than any of the other pizzas at local pizzerias. If Susie Q was my closest pizzeria, I’d order it from them – but otherwise there isn’t a particular reason to.
Susie Q has lots of options for make-your-own-pizza, including different sauces and thicknesses, as well as a number of specialty pizzas.
The tossed wings ($13 for 6), however, were delicious. They have them on several flavors and we went with the honey garlic. The wings were very crispy and the sauce clung to them very well. The honey garlic was a little spicy for me, but I could only eat one anyway, as the kids just loved them. I will definitely order these again in the future and try the other flavors.
Finally, my daughter ordered a classic Philly cheese stake ($15), which comes normally with mayo, grilled onions and sweet peppers only. Other toppings are extra, but they didn’t charge her the 80cents for the lettuce (perhaps because she held the onions and peppers). Still, the fact that they charge you extra for lettuce and ketchup since a little bit stingy.
My daughter liked the sandwich, though the filling was a little stingy too. She wasn’t awed by it – she’d have it again if were eating there, but wouldn’t go out of her way to get it.
I really, really wished I had liked Susie Q’s better, as I’d love to support a Palestinian supporting business. And I will give it another try – they also have pastas, and their wings were that great.
Susie Q's Pizza 22580 Foothill Blvd Hayward, CA (510) 537-2888 Sun - Th: 11 AM - 11 PM Fri - Sat: 11 AM
Last night, my friends Eddie and Aamani took me out to Traboccoto celebrate my fifty-something birthday. I had gone a couple of times before but not since the pandemic, and it was a great experience. The food was good, the service was exceptional, the atmosphere convivial and the overall experience felt as COVID-safe as any dining experience can be. In all, it was the perfect place for a girls night out.
Trabocco is the creation of Italian chef Giuseppe Naccarelli and it offers a menu of pretty traditional Italian (as opposed to Italian-American) dishes, with several salad, pizza and pasta choices in addition to a few main dishes. There is a strong emphasis on the quality of the ingredients and the flavors – at least the ones I experienced – seemed very authentic.
The restaurant has a large dining room with an open kitchen and convivial bar. It offers the casual Even before the pandemic it offered outdoor sitting but it has now expanded it to a larger area with a canvass roof but semi-open sides. Our table was next to one of these sides, and there was a nice, if slight, breeze (which also meant it got a bit chilly, so I was happy I’d brought a cardigan). Perfect for pandemic dining.
One of the thing that makes Trabocco a good place for a girls night out is its selection of cocktails – mostly traditional American ones with a small twist. I had the kaffir lime cosmopolitan (which just substituted kaffir lime juice for regular lime juice, a great idea), and it was quite good. Eddie had the Milano Mule and found it delicious. Aamani was driving so she skipped cocktails.
The meal started with slices of rustic bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I was impressed the waiter asked whether we wanted the vinegar added to the olive oil and then offered pepper on top. A small detail, but made the experience nicer.
We then shared a plate of burrata con prosciutto, which came with some sort of microgreen. It had three big slices of prosciutto, which made it perfect for three to share (though I wonder if they’d given us four smaller slices if we were four) and a large round of very fresh tasting but surprisingly firm burrata. It came with breadsticks but the burrata was actually solid enough that you could pick it up with a fork. I enjoyed it very much, in particularly mixed with the microgreen in question. The prosciutto was delicious.
For my main dish, I had the ravioli con coda , “house-made pasta stuffed with braised oxtail, au jus, pecorino pepato”. The plate was satisfying and tasted utterly authentic. It tasted exactly as I’d expect it to, which was a bit disappointing – as I’m always searching for new flavors – but on the other hand very comforting. I’d order it again when in need of a hug in a plate.
Eddie had the grilled salmon (which, along with a Mediterranean bass and some other fish were the catch of the day), which came with sautéed spinach and arugula salad. She thought the salmon was perfectly cooked and the sides were delicious. Aamani had the risotto, but unfortunately I don’t recall what she thought of it.
For dessert, I opted for the zabaglione with berries. It was, once again, exactly as advertised – a competent zabaglione with fresh berries mixed in. Eddie was disappointed that her affogato had very little ice cream, but she enjoyed the flavor nonetheless. Aamani liked her panna cotta.
The highlight of the evening, however, was the service. Our waiter, who grew up in Italy and had a wonderful Italian accent, was friendly, helpful and efficient. He and other waiters wore well-fitted stylish masks, which as a COVID-phobe I appreciated for their health as much as mine. My dessert was served in a plate with “Happy Birthday” written on it and a candle. The chef and the waiter joined my friends in signing me Happy Birthday, which was nicer and less embarrassing than I had feared when I saw them doing the same to another birthday girl in a nearby table. To top it off, they didn’t charge us for my desert because it was my birthday!
We stayed in the restaurant late, until there were very few guests left, and they didn’t rush us out at all.
In all, it couldn’t have been a nicer birthday dinner.
Trabocco
2213 South Shore Center
Alameda, California
510-521-1152
Su, T-Th 11:30am – 8:30pm, F-Sa 11:30am – 9:30pm
My international food project, started 21 years ago this month, has moved at a glaciar pace since then. But I’m glad to say that I am now done with cuisines that start with an “i”. Or at least I hope so – I keep discovering new cuisines that I didn’t know about when I reached their letter in the alphabet. Indeed, in addition to the cuisines below I caught up on A by cooking an Awadhi meal – only to realize that I’ve skipped Aceh.
Butternut Squash Soup, Split Pea and Barley Stew, Fried Fish for Nowruz, Chicken Kebab, Cubed Meat Kebab, Pomegranate Chicken and Braised Short Ribs with Orange
Panzanella, Pasta with lemon sauce, Bucatini with four cheeses, Pasta in Mushroom Sauce, Gnocchi in a Gorgonzola, Pear and Walnut Sauce, Country Style Chicken and Steak Tagliata
We stayed at the Golden Nugget our last night in Vegas in August 2014, and we were too tired to leave the hotel to go have dinner. Of the several restaurants at the hotel, Grotto seemed to be the best choice in terms of cost and reviews. Indeed, we had a fairly good meal. It’s overpriced, but it could have been worse.
Grotto is divided into two sections. The main section occupies a large, semi-open space near the front desk. The second section is across the pathway that leads to the casino, by the pool and has views of the pool area. We ate in the main dining room, which is kept somewhat dark. It’s nice, but too open to pool-attired passerbys to feel anything other than casual.
I had the chicken marsala ($20), which comes with fettuccine alfredo. I enjoyed this dish very much, I hadn’t had that combination before but it worked very well.
One of the kids had the Margherita pizza, which I also remember enjoying. I don’t remember what Mike and the other kid had.
It’s definitely not fair to review a restaurant a year and a half after you had dinner there, when your memory of the experience is dimmer than the lights at dinner, but I’m creating a travel page on Las Vegas, and I want to include Capo’s. Though the restaurant is definitely overpriced, it offers such a cool Las Vegas experience, that I can fully recommend it.
Capo’s is a prohibition era Mafia theme restaurant. It plays the part of a speakeasy, and the coolness starts from the moment you make your way inside. I won’t spoil the surprise, but it works best if you get yourself in the mood: it’s prohibition era and you are trying to gain admission to a speakeasy, where they may be a bit weary of you.
The restaurant itself is both sumptuous and very dark – it plays very well with the Mafia scene and it’s easy to believe you are in another era. The food, as I remembered it, was good, though not outstanding. I remember service being very, very slow – which I didn’t mind as much, because I loved the atmosphere, but it can be hard with hungry kids. They have live music later in the evening, and I wished I’d been there for more than a song or two – but my kids were tired.
As I mentioned, prices are high but they have groupons and other discounts, worth hunting for (e.g. they currently have a Travelzoo deal of lunch for 2 for $19).
24688 Hesperian Blvd Hayward, CA 
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