Caramelized Goodness

Anna's family was in town after their vacation so what better to do in Charlotte than eat?? We traveled uptown to Aria (complimentary valet, woo-hoo!). I had been working and then cleaning cat kennels where I volunteer, so I stopped at Target to make myself more presentable. I missed the appetizers and ordering but was there for the rest of the meal. However, my dinner buddies were kind enough to order me my top 100 dish, Caramelized Gnocchi.

For those of you who don't watch Top Chef obsessively like I do, gnocchi are thick little dumplings made from a variety of ingredients. I think most of the ones I see on TV are potato. At Aria, the appetizer gnocchi is served with prosciutto di parma, pear, gorgonzola, and truffle oil. The portion is pretty small but honestly OK for an appetizer...although maybe not for the price. The gnocchi were honestly like nothing I've ever had before. The first bite was really kind of sweet with the pear and the caramelized crunch, but then if you get the cheese underneath, it made it savory, almost like macaroni and cheese. I really enjoyed them, although I would have enjoyed them more if they were less expensive!




Little puffy clouds of goodness

 For dinner, I chose the penne a la vodka, which was the Top 100 dish at Mama Ricotta's. It was very good, but not nearly as good as Mama Ricotta's (which I guess is why that one is on the list...). For dessert, of course I had the tiramisu.

The tiramisu was really good, possibly one of my favorites in Charlotte (better than Blu Basil for sure), but nowhere near as good as Mike's. The pictures on Aria's website looks like it could have come close, but it was not representative of the actual tiramisu.

Although it may sound like I'm not giving this place a good review, the food was really great and I had a fabulous time with my dinner companions. However, one of the downsides of the list is that some of the restaurants are really similar. This is the 3rd (maybe more?) Italian restaurant I've eaten in and now it's like they really have to make a great impression to blow me away...Sorry Aria!