DEANNA"S

I was extolling the virtues of "locals night" at DeAnna's moments ago in a meeting. I thought a word about why this delightful, cost saving evening is worth the effort of having date night on Tuesday would be in order.

$25 includes an appetizer, a choice of main dish, and a dessert. Usually there are three wonderful options from each category. It has been our experience that the appetizer option is either a salad, a soup, or some kind of savory pudding or tart. The  puddings have always been wonderful - somehow they ooze butter and richness but retain the flavor and freshness of the vegetables that are included in their fluffy folds. And a word about the vegetables...they are always very seasonal. So Fall really feels like Fall - high lighting root vegetables and not hot house tomatoes. If there are tomatoes they are roasted(in-house) and intense. 

DeAnna makes her pasta fresh everyday.So usually there will be a pasta choice. When you order a non pasta main dish, there is an opportunity to order a vegetable or a bowl of pasta. It comes with homemade tomato sauce but we special order the pasta with olive oil, garlic, and lots of fresh ground black pepper. Fish is always a great choice too - usually whole and grilled - bronzino most recently. 

There is also always a specials menu. From that I highly recommend the pate with fruit. Highly. 

The menu has remained largely unchanged for awhile, which I like because I always know that when I don't care about getting on the scale in the morning I can order the pasta with proscuitto, peas, and cream sauce and then ask the wait person for extra grated cheese. The raviolli is excellent as well and often featured on the locals menu.  

My personal favorite is the grilled romaine. Which makes me an even cheaper date. Usually it is two nicely sized romaine hearts that are perfectly grilled so that only the tips of the lettuce are charred and then there are nice olive oily grill marks on the body of the lettuce. The Caesar dressing is perfect. The shaved parmesagne also perfect. 

Two other things to mention  - the bartenders at DeAnna's are delightful. When ramps are in season you might find a freshly pickled one in your martini courtesy of Russell. And try the St. Armand - a bourbon based cocktail invented by - you guessed it - Armand. Talk records with Russell and motorcycles with Armand and your evening will be complete. 

Almost. 

Any of the home made Italian pound cakes are amazing. My personal favorite is the blueberry almond. And the bread pudding changes according to - who knows - but every time it is fantastic. The ricotta cheesecake is renowned far and wide. Emphasize wide. Because we always seem to order dessert no matter how many St Armands and how much pasta has come before someone asks if we want dessert.