On a rainy Ides of October, my wife and I joined friends at Morello Italian Bistro in Greenwich.
We ditched our umbrellas at the hostess station
and proceeded to the busy lounge,
where we found our friends at the bar,
who were already well ahead of us.
From Morello’s intriguing drinks list,
we caught up with terrific cocktails, including my Blueberry Smash (Beefeater Gin, juniper syrup, basil and fresh lemon juice)
and my wife’s Fiore Lix (American Harvest Organic Vodka, Saint Germain, fresh lime juice).
Later, I graduated to a Vanilla Bean Colada (Luksusowa Vodka, vanilla bean pear purée, lemon juice and Amaro Meletti).
The helpful gal behind the bar
had other refreshments I’d have liked to tap.
But one shouldn’t drink without eating—and our host made sure we didn’t,
bringing us these spoons of chicken francese,
stuffed baby ’bella mushrooms,
and eggplant Parmesan.
I left my wife and friends reluctantly to take a few more shots of the restaurant.
Some customers preferred to take their entire meal in the lounge,
where Morello’s clearly accepts American Express.
We spotted these scrumptious looking butternut squash ravioli being eaten at the bar
before we headed upstairs to one of Connecticut’s handsomest dining spaces,
where we could look down upon the other diners (literally, not metaphorically, of course).
We were followed by our retinue,
to a nice table where we all took our seats.
It was clear from these gleaming goblets that wine was in our near future.
Some chose white wine,
some chose red.
It was also clear, from these special menus at our places, that some spectacular food was headed our way.
We began with a serious antipasti platter of cured meats, cheeses and house-pickled vegetables
that was probably assembled at this food station downstairs.
Oysters with creamed leeks, pancetta and herbed bread crumbs were next.
The oysters were followed by the prettiest house-smoked salmon carpaccio with lemon aïoli, baby arugula and shaved fennel. Here’s my wife’s,
and here’s mine.
Next up was a roasted black mission fig salad with Gorgonzola, frisée, toasted walnut and baby arugula in a lemon dressing.
On the salads’ heels came a chanterelle mushroom risotto with Parmigiano-Reggiano and white truffle salt.
Just as appealing was Morello’s signature garganelli Bolognese with handmade garganelli, a tomato-meat ragù and herbed ricotta.
We were filling up, but we had a ways to go. Our next course featured halibut roasted in parchment with local corn, carrots, squash, hothouse toy box tomatoes and basil.
Our final savory course was beef short rib served over roasted parsnip purée with spiced squash and parsnip chips.
We were pictures of contentment,
and like guardian angels, there were always staff on hand to assure that we remained so.
Our desserts were preceded by a palate cleansing Merlot-berry sorbet with some kind of wine or berry “caviar.”
Our coffees came next.
Then we each received
our own dessert platter,
which included a salted caramel cheesecake
and a white chocolate mousse cake,
the dark plate beneath which turned out to be delightful edible chocolate.
And finally, we were brought little packets of housemade biscotti.
At the end of this feast for the ages, chef Forrest Pasternack came out and took a well-deserved, if metaphorical, bow.
My wife and I left in a far better mood than we had arrived in the rain and gloom.
Morello Italian Bistro, 253 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, 203-661-3443, www.morellobistro.com