Thursday, July 21, 2011.
Mi Piace. More Barpetizers.
One thing (not the only thing) I love about the Langham Hotel in Pasadena is its bedding. I am sleeping a little too well in it, awakening at seven-thirty. That's nine-thirty in New Orleans. I will be a little jet-lagged coming back.
Lunch at an Italian restaurant in downtown Pasadena. Mi Piace is one of Jude's favorites, and on their numerous past visits to L.A. the Marys came to like it, too. I can understand why. It's sleek and cool. Looks like a chain place, but isn't. (As I think I've noted before, all the restaurants in Los Angeles look like chain locations to me.)
The aromas of red sauces and pizzas created an illusion about the food that wasn't quite right. The menu was more ambitious than I expected, nearly on a par with that of Andrea's or Carmelo. The actual food was a bit less impressive, but still better than I expected.
We started with the pizza. The presence of the kids meant that it had to be a pepperoni job, which made it much greasier than I like. (I have come to actively dislike pepperoni pizzas for that reason.) Despite that, I found the pie very good, with an excellent thin crust born in the brick oven twenty feet away.
Entrees were nice and fresh. Jude had chicken with artichokes and loved that. The girls ate Caesar salads. I know--what's the point? But they are both alarmed that they are eating too much on this trip.
In lieu of a salad, I did a pasta course: fettuccine bolognese, which proved to be the best dish in this meal. Just right on the tomato and beef components, and the wide pasta ribbons were slippery and good.
The meal continued with more pappardelle, this time with shrimp done two ways: medium shrimp in the sauce, and monster shrimp in their shells, right off the grill. It looked good, but that's not what I ordered. What I ordered was scallops with guanciale (like bacon, but from the jowl) and linguine. They swapped it out and all was well.
We (well, I) finished with tiramisu and an espresso, both adhering to the Italian standards. If these guys in Pasadena can do it, why can't more restaurants in New Orleans?
I was surprised that this lunch for four ran up to $170. One of the culprits there was the sangria, which was $12 a glass, with a lot of ice. Oh, well. This was the kind of lunch that the Marys most looked forward to.
As well we should have, we skipped dinner. Instead, Mary Ann and I had a couple of barpetizers on the hotel's lovely patio. I had a Pimm's Cup with the cheese. I've never been a fan of that drink, but whenever I say that on the air or on the website, I get some flak for it, followed by the inevitable "Have you had the Pimm's Cup at the Napoleon House?" Of course I have. Where else would one order that? The bartenders here did their best, but it still seems to me that the only reason to drink a Pimm's Cup is to drink something refreshing without much alcohol. Which is reasonable, I guess.
Mi Piace. Pasadena, CA: 25 E. Colorado Blvd. 626-795-3131.
It has been over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
