Mamma, Mia

Nick and I celebrated a year and a half of lovin' yesterday. Because he insists on taking me out on our big, year-averseries, I decided that I'd wear the pants on our half-years and take him on a date to celebrate.

Nick loves Italian food, so Italian food we got. We went to Mamma Melina, a restaurant that a few locals told us is incredible and authentic.

When we first walked in, we admired the unique interior design. The furniture and linens are all white, the walls are gray and oil paintings are tacked to the ceilings. It was comfortable, "smart casual," as their website calls it. I'm not sure how smart the guy in basketball shorts and a Fubu shirt was, but hey, if anyone there got the memo for the casual part, it was him. We got there around 6 pm. I made a reservation so we were seated immediately, but there wasn't much of a wait, anyway. The place was fairly full, though, with a steady flow of people coming in. As we got closer to our table, we noticed a few things that just didn't quite fit. The chairs were plastic and had an outdoor, pool-side feel. When Nick pulled out my chair for me, he could have easily lifted it up and brought it to the nearest recreation center. The salt and pepper shakers were also plastic and so clearly could have been from any market nearby. It was close, Mamma was on the right track, but putting the salt and pepper in a different container would have made all the difference. The same goes for the table linen. While it was white and clean, it needed to be ironed. The pleats in it came up and looked like it had been crumpled in a bag for weeks. Two brothers own the restaurant, but I know Mamma Melina must have taught them to iron. Come on, guys, you could even put them in the de-wrinkle cycle in a dryer-- the ultimate bachelor trick.

But, it's all about the food, right? We ordered the prosciutto, caprino e rughetta pizza and gnocchi di patate con pomodoro e mozzarella. The pizza had a thin, wood-fired crust and was topped with tomato, goat cheese, rucola and prosciutto. The potato gnocchi was topped with sauce (organic tomato), mozzarella cheese and parmigiano. The pizza was great, no complaints there at all. For 12 dollars we each had a generous half. It was light and full of flavor. Thankfully, that flavor wasn't from just cheese or just sauce; both of which were surprisingly light, letting other flavors come through like the strong rucola and salty prosciutto. The gnocchi, however, well, it wasn't as great as the locals talked it up to be. I lost the taste of the cheese in the heavy marinara sauce it was filled with. The dish was just alright. It was gnocchi, and that's about that. Not worth the 13 dollars for the taste or portion, that's for sure.

I think we'll go back, though. The couple next to us got a great spinach fettuccine dish I'd like to try, and I could go for a variety of their other pizzas anytime. I've learned to take care of my pizza cravings the second they come. Otherwise, I'll eat a whole box, literally, again.

http://www.mammamelina.com/