Carpaccio di manzo con rucola e parmigiano
Culurgiones
Milanese di pollo con rucola e pomodoro
Finally, the chance for our Protagonist to sample the Sardianian dinner selections at Americano after whetting his appetite for two months reading the flyer while passing on his daily rounds! His dinner companions this evenings were regulars who ordered their standard fare; they raved about the carpaccio, which will have to be indulged in on another evening. The point of this dinner was to try the culurgiones, the Sardinian take on ravioli, so the only protein consumed was in the first course, the Guazetto. This was a stew of "mixed fish" in a tomato broth which was nicely spiced and not too salty. The seafood was tender, and the portion was just right. The culurgiones were round rather than square as ravioli, with a rather small pocket of filling in proportion to the size of the pasta. The impact of the dish is more of a small burst of flavor from the filling in conjunction with the marinara, as opposed to to the filling being the main event in many overstuffed raviolis.
Our Protagonist also tried the Pollo, a pounded and breaded chicken breast, but in this meal nothing rose to the level of the seafood stew at the beginning. Except for the arugula salad at the end, in a smooth and buttery olive oil dressing. The choice of olive oil was excellent, and the variety will have to be found out.
The dessert was also of Sardinian origin, sebadas, which are flaky pastries filled with cheese and drizzled with honey. Variations of this dish can be found in the various Mediterranean cultures, which our Protagonist enjoys sampling each and every one. The sebadas provided as nice rounding out to the dinner after the great start. Still not the level of Cafe Epicure, but enjoyable, nonetheless.
Cafe Americano
1409 Main Street
Sarasota, FL 34236
941-365-1026
Sarasota, FL 34236
