Lovely Locando Positano

I love eating with people who know and enjoy excellent restaurants. Those of us who have worked in restaurants, catering, or cook for our friends, know the skill and work it takes to achieve that elusive smile when excellence is attained. Very few places make it to the top of our dining list and even fewer stay there, but Locando Positano now has a place on our list and it looks like it will be staying.

I had dinner with Katie, an 8 year old gourmet (her palate & sensibilities are more sophisticated than many 38 year olds), and her parents on a Blackboard Eats menu that included three courses for $35 (a glass of wine with dinner would made it $42, but instead of glasses, we ordered a bottle of Mozzini Rosso 2009 that was excellent).

Janet started with the heirloom tomato and burrata caprese. This classic combination not only looked beautiful, but the tomatoes and burrata were as fresh and balanced a combination as I have ever tasted.

Bob and I had the beef carpaccio and we were both amazed by the quality of the beef, the perfect lemon vinaigrette on the baby arugula, and the proper ratio of parmesan to arugula and beef. I would rate this as one of the best beef carpaccios I've eaten in years.

Our 8 year old gourmet, Katie, had the pappardelle with bolognese, served with freshly grated parmesan and adored it. Her Dad adored it too since he polished off her leftovers after eating his main course :)

Bob's main course was scallops over spinach with thick cut bacon and mushrooms. I wasn't sure I could eat the scallops since I am allergic to farmed scallops, so I tasted the spinach and loved the rich combination of flavors.

Janet and I ordered the home made pappardelle with wild boar braised in a Brunello sauce. It was heaven on a plate. Perfect pasta with a perfectly braised meat. I could eat this everyday as my comfort dish.

They were out of the lemon mousse, so we opted for the other dessert choices of the night. The only rating of "fair" to anything we ate went to the tiramisu, which we all agreed was a bit too "wet" and not very creamy. It was a fair rendition of the classic, but not a dessert we would reorder.

The baba  was delightful, with a wonderful rum soaked spongecake as light as air, paired with freshly whipped cream and farmer's market strawberries.

Katie & I both had the tartufo, made with gelato, rolled in cocoa powder and presented with farmer's market raspberries and a rolled wafer cookie. We both finished our desserts!

Bob capped his meal off with a double espresso and when it arrived Katie looked at it and asked "Where's the lemon (twist)"? I think maybe one day when I retire from writing about food, Katie may take over for me (she's already in training, she took the pic of her own pappardelle bolognese:)