Who could say no to a 16 oz Kobe Beef meatball?

Not me!!

Hello Friends!

So I want to tell you about a lovely experience I had on Friday Night.  My Friend Coreen and I had decided to go to dinner and a see movie...we ended up seeing Last Vegas at the Multiplex in Farmingdale (which was a very funny, light movie...Just what I needed!).  

We decided to meet earlier for dinner and here is the story of our little culinary adventure at Trento - Italian American Retro.  A new restaurant that colleague of mine had gone to Trento and she recommended the meatball so I knew I had to try that!  I suggested it to Coreen as it is very close to the theater and I knew she'd be game to try a new place with me!

We were there early - 5:45pm on a Friday night. After looking through the menu, Coreen and I decided to share some dishes...as we both love trying new places, experiencing new flavors and enjoying what hoped to be a really good meal.    

To our table comes Carmela, our waitress.  She was such an energetic, professional young lady and was very informed on the menu.  We mentioned a few dishes we wanted to share and she was right in there with the why's we should absolutely do that and some great recommendations!

So we ordered for our first course... as Carmela described it, "a 16 oz Kobe Beef Meatball with a gorgeous sauce and a dehydrated ricotta on top".  

While we'd normally not have the two come out at the same time, due to time, we also ordered the Troffolini... "little purse like filled pasta with ricotta cheese and pear in a light truffle cream sauce".

In the back..that's still 1/2 of the freaking Meatball
(which was just as delicious and tender the next day!)...
And note what looks like shaved parm on the pasta... Nope!!

So, our dishes came to the table and Carmela jumped right in there and had separate dishes and served both Coreen and my self a little of each dish... Great service!!  Carmela then asked if we wanted some fresh cheese for the pasta.  I looked a bit quizzically at her (seeing on the dish some shaved Parm...but you all know I never say no to more cheese...) and said yes.  It wasn't until I actually took a bite that I realized what that cheese impostor was... thinly shaved pear!

But I digress... my first bite was the Meatball....a bit of the meat, some of the sauce and a touch of the ricotta - collecting the perfect bite.  Folks, you can just put it all in your mouth and it practically melts away!  I've never had such a tender more flavorful meatball!  The sauce was deliciously sweet but the ricotta's texture completely complimented each element of the dish.  I don't know how anyone can go to Trento and NOT order the Meatball...It is seriously that good...and yes, I dare say - the best I've ever had!

On recommendation from Coreen, she said "Just put one whole purse in your mouth - don't cut it...just eat"... so I followed suit. I built a 'perfect bite' of some sauce, the pasta and a shaving of that pear and boom!  I swear I had to close my eyes and just savor what was going on in my mouth...the pasta was so thin and al-dente... the filling was not too much, but so full of flavor...the sauce was so light...you could taste the bits of pear in the filling but it all just accented the shavings of pear that was on top!  Oh My Goodness.  Sweet but savory and earthy but light as a feather...This was amazing.  This was "I don't want to stop eating it" delicious.  This was "if I didn't have 10 more ounces of meat ball to eat...and an entree coming to boot...I'd eat the whole plate and order another" delicious.  Perfection. 

After all that...(and wrapping up the left over meatball and pasta)... yes..we did have an entree coming out!  We decided to try the Black Sea Bass special... served on a parsnip puree with wilted spinach and a muffaletta olive sauce on top with a hit of tomato oil. The fish was cooked perfectly and was hearty enough to stand up to the flavors of the muffaletta sauce but not over power it.  The spinach was tender and delicate...but along with that parsnip puree - a fabulously delicious and light entree.  I could picture on a cold night, eating a bowl of that parsnip puree and being a very happy girl!  By the time Coreen and I were done, there wasn't a trace of it on the plate at all!!

Perfectly Cooked and Amazingly delicious!

So - my ratings:

Food: A - for our first time there, I was super excited to taste and try.  What I did taste and try was delicious and made me excited to bring Dave there to experience it with me.  Well done!

Price: Moderate - We had one appetizer and two entrees (yes, the pasta was an entree!) along with one cocktail each (yum!!) and the bill came to about 100.00.  For the food we got, I'd pay it again!

Service: A - Carmela was attentive, professional, knowledgeable and energetic.  She has a super "people" personality and it was a pleasure experiencing Trento under her guidance.  She even told the chef how excited we were and he came to the table several times to chat and see how we liked the food.  Well done, Chef Avallone!  I promised to be back with my husband... and we absolutely will!

Yes, friends - Trento is a must!  Yelp and TripAdvisor reviews are 4 stars + and I now know why.  I'm sure as a new restaurant there are kinks and growing pains happening, however we didn't see or experience any of that during our meal.  I do look forward to returning and trying more of this delicious food!

Ok - off to do some pre-Thanksgiving prep...

Until Next Time...

EAT