We headed into town to a teeny Italian place with a friend of ours last night and the experience was indeed varied from our arrival, when the owner could not find the reservation and said he was full, to him quickly saying he had a table. Very weird. The place was full and indeed a large group arrived to sit at the next table, only to be escorted out and immediately be replaced by another similarly large group.
Our server Liz proffered the wine list saying, "please have some second choices" as much of the list might not be available. The menu was varied and large and in the end, they did have everything we requested. An upstate Finger Lakes Dr. Konstantin Frank 2019 Chardonnay was a good start and went superbly with the amazing Burrata with pear, gorgonzola, hearts of palm, tomato(not sun-dried as on the menu, but fresh, which was better) and a balsamic glaze.
We told Liz to give us a break and that we wanted to first split a pasta and then split one main. She brought the two plates at the same time and we sent the duck back to be kept warm.
The Pasta Special was a heavy and rich but yummy Broccoli Rabe & Sausage Ravioli in a Vodka-Tomato based Sauce. We switched to a Franco Amoroso 2017 Barbaresco which was also very nice, if a bit tannic for a Barbaresco. Our split main course was the Roasted Long Island Duckling which said "extra crispy" on the menu and came in a yummy Cassis Sauce with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli. Sadly, mine got a bit dried out while it was kept warm during the pasta course. It was very crispy and the sauce was quite nice; but alas, the serving error was an issue.
Will tried the tasty Creme Brulee (again) and indeed the topping was hard as we demand; the creme itself okay, but quite rich and thick and sweet.
We had heard some odd stories about Toscana and while in the end it was okay, there is still that but.....
