Il Grillo Date Night

While the boys are away (thanks, Nonni!), Mommy and Daddy will play. Earlier this week we headed to Il Grillo for a date night last night because La Balena had no open tables, according to their online reservations. No matter. We love both spots.

La Balena tops our favorite restaurant list for a few of different reasons: (1) we adore the owners, Anna and Emanuele; (2) Chef Brad Briske is a culinary genius; and (3) it doesn't matter what you order, it's going to be amazing. La Balena is our pick for celebrations - my 40th, Easter lunch, capodanno, and more - and for delectable, romantic meals.

But I'm glad they were booked because we had a fabulous, low-key dinner at Il Grillo and got to chat with Jay who gave us the scoop on what day of the week to come back. It's the day that Brad plays with ingredients and tests out things for the menu. Ummmm...yeah...count us in!

We started off with the octopus carpaccio plate. You can click to read the post I wrote for Edible Monterey Bay before Il Grillo even opened: Il Grillo Delights in Carmel. Back in June, the octopus was served with grilled watermelon, chili oil, lemon, and mint. This week it was topped with marinated white beans, escarole, and crispy prosciutto.

Jay suggested the butternut squash involtini. [photo at the top] Butternut squash, chevre, apple, fennel, walnuts, and saba. What a great dish that felt like simultaneously Spring-y and fresh and an homage to the Autumn season with the squash.

Then, we ordered - my favorite! - whole roasted branzino. It's not that branzino is my favorite. I just love getting the entire fish with the head, eyeballs, fins, and tail all there on the plate! It was so tender with the peppery bite of arugula, and tang of the capers and golden balsamic butter

We made light work of the sea bass, eating it down to the bones! I refrained from licking the plate.

We ended the meal with an Italian caffé. Potent, dark, and delicious.

Well, I planned to end my dinner with just the caffé. But Jay brought us a chocolate tart with a hazelnut crust. It was rich and delicious. I know my husband wanted to scrape the plate clean - with his tongue! - but people were watching!

If you're local...or visiting the area...don't miss this!

il Grillo

Mission between 4th & 5th. East Side. Carmel-by-the-Sea

Monday — Friday 11:30 am — 9 pm. Saturday 5 pm — 9 pm.

Mission St & 4th Ave, Carmel-By-The-Sea

Comments

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy. Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the Bread Bakers home page . We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating childhood favorites. Thanks to Stacy of Food Lust People Love , Sue of Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of Making Miracles , and Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: "Childhood favorites. Did you have a favorite dish growing up? It could be something your family cooked or a restaurant dish, even a Chef Boyardee canned good or packaged ingredients like Rice-a Roni or mac and cheese. Recreate THAT dish from SCRATCH for this event." Here's the #SundayFunday childhood favorites line-up... Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds Meat Chilly Fry by Sn

Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Search This Blog