Monday, May 01, 2006

Gratzi, I Might Actually Come Back!

Alright, this week I've been summoned to stay in West Virginia for work, and I was dragging my feet about coming here. Why, you may ask? That's because for the last couple of times I was here, the food just plain and simple sucked. I went to a seafood restaurant that I was told was "excellent" by some other people, and the food was so crappy and I was tramatized. My poor taste buds! I could hear them weeping when I slept. But today OGD#1 emailed me a website that's sort of like The Other Paper and had dining guide, so I decided to be adventurous. And I've decided to start from a safe place like an Italian restaurant, and that's when I went to Gratzi.

Gratzi was located outside of the Charleston Town Center, and the ambiance was hip with a touch of old Itaian village vibe. It also had Andrea Bocelli's music playing overhead, so I was in a pretty good mood already. When I got there I found out that Gratzi also had an "early dinner deal", which consisted of 30 - 40% off of 5 or 6 of their best seller dishes. And a bargain meal always made me happy. The hostess sat me close to a table with two women and a baby. The baby girl was cute and quiet throuout the dinner, but the adults were extremely annoying. They played "peek-a-boo" through the ENTIRE DINNER, while I sat there wondering if annoyance and dumbness was inheritable. Anyways, I ordered their Baked Ziti and a house salad and tried to tuned out the "peek-a-boo" sounds.

The house salad was good and the vineagrette was made with extra virgin olive oil, so the olive taste and fragrant was strong. The pine nuts sprinkled on top, however, didn't really go well with the salad because the salad mix had a bite to it, and it just didn't go well with the flavor of pine nut. The Baked Ziti was baked with lots of mozzerella and Gratzi's own bolognese sauce. The sauce was cooked in tomato and white wine cream sauce, and the sauce had veal and some cured ham. The Baked Ziti was actually pretty good!

It was a pleasant surprise to find some edible food in WV, and Gratzi got a 3 out of 5 on my yummy scale. As I'm writing the blog now, I'm still recovering from the shock. But at least I don't have to deal with my weeping taste bud at night.

If you were ever in Charleston WV area, you should come to Gratzi at 1061 Charleston Town Center, Charleston, WV 25389 and try it out. www.gratzirestaurant.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am glad that I was able to help! Perhaps you may find another gem or two!