Don't Eat Italian, But Eat Gelato

It's sad when a place than locals love lose their chefs. This happened in my neighborhood with La Petite Creperie (five times in one year), and it has apparently happened at Eat Italian.

On the bright side, Bob brought this wonderful Italian wine and I brought my French Chateau Courreges 2006, so our drinks were great (it's not a good first sign when you must bring what you want to drink because their menu does not offer a selection you would want to imbibe).

Their thin crust pizza with prosciutto had excellent prosciutto, but that was the only thing going for it. There was no texture or flavor to it. If you like matzo bread, you will like this "pizza". I am a huge fan of of a Napoli style thin crust, but this one did not work for me.

I ordered the Napoli with anchovies, and although it was decent for a flat bread, but I would not order this (or any) pizza here again.

The grilled vegetable salad was one of the best plates we ate all night. Simply grilled eggplant, red and yellow peppers, onions, and zucchini in a balsamic glaze was done simply and perfectly.

My friend Dar ordered the spaghetti carbonara which was so bland she added salt to make it palatable. I tasted it and found it lacking any depth or richness, which is the whole point of a carbonara!

Katie (the future food blogger) and her mom Janet, ordered the tagliatelle bolognese with their home made pasta. Although the pasta was cooked perfectly, there was no seasoning in the dish, and it was about as good as the blurry picture of it.

I ordered the spaghetti puttanesca which promised a spicy anchovy flavor and delivered only a salty  pasta with olives, capers, and the barest hint of anchovy and pepper. I will never order this dish here again.

Bob and John ordered the lasagna and although their orders took at least 10 minutes longer to arrive to our table, they were looking forward to it until they tasted their plates and found their lasagna was lukewarm (or cold in parts). They asked for their orders to be heated and when they arrived for the second time they were piping hot, but still bland.

It's nice to see the open factory where they make their pastas.

And to see an open clean kitchen is always a plus.

A nice assortment of pastries and desserts makes the industrial space warmer and more welcoming.

The best part of this entire dinner and space is their home made gelato!

I got the coconut and passion fruit and both flavors made me forget the mediocre meal I had eaten.

Katie (the future food blogger) got the nutella and mint.

Bob got the caramel and cappuccino.

Dar got the strawberry.

John got the green apple and berry.

We were all happy with the gelato ending of our meal, but my South Bay friends (who have been here many times before) apologized profusely for the meal we ate. I told them that they did not cook it, so they had no reason to apologize.

Would I ever come back? Only for their gelato, which is made in house and absolutely epitomizes fresh perfect Italian cuisine. But I would eat elsewhere, at least until they get a new replacement chef.