The World, She is Over...

[ellyssian]

If you hear that rumbling sound deep underground and wonder what it is, I can explain. No, that will take too long. Let me sum up.

Italian-Americans, Italians, foodies, and those who enjoy good Italian food even if they aren't foodies are rolling over in their graves.

A while back, some of you may remember me mentioning how the excellent Italian eatery Pane e Vino underwent change of ownership, change of name, change of menu, and bastardization of purpose. Pasta e Vino was created and had *most* of Pane e Vino's menu imitated - not bad, but not great - and added. A. Breakfast. Menu.

Yes, that was bad enough, but now they have gone one step further.

Pasta e Vino - and perhaps all the other neon lighting in the colors of the Italian flag - has been removed from the building. Blue - yes, blue! - signs with white letters now proclaim it to be Westgate Diner. A diner. You take a decent class - first class, for this area, because it's no North End - Italian place and turn it into a pancake and hash brown joint. In a replica of a Tuscan villa. Do they still play Sinatra and all that other stuff, or did they just scratch the needles across those records in their rush to remove them, like they did with the menu.

What really irks me is that there is a perfectly usable, perfectly suitable, venue diagonally across the intersection where the former Dempsey's sits unused, and with a larger and more accessible parking lot no less.

Bah. Someone, quick, hand me a bit of brick-oven baked bread sopping with olive oil and piled high with lightly roasted garlic...

Comments

[jenjiyana.livejournal.com]

thats a shame..very few places actually make good Italian food...most of it is too catered for American tastes (i.e. sweet sauces, standard dishes etc)

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say these dishes branched out that far from the expected range of dishes, but it was good stuff.

Their garlic knots defined the dish.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

And I need to not change a post part way through. Dish is a wee bit overused. =)

[jenjiyana.livejournal.com]

mmmm garlic knots...

[blackbyrd2.livejournal.com]

Time to open an Italian restaurant? (Only half-joking here.)

In other news, I'm sorry for your loss. Maybe they'll go out of business and some reasonably intelligent person will say "Hey, this would make a great Italian restaurant!"

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't open an Italian place. For one thing, who would take an Irish-English-Polish-Lithuanian heritage as a serious substitute for Italian? True, I took Italian in 7th and 8th grade, but that was only considered the equivalent of a single year course. I also like Lamborghinis and the music of some Italian composers, and make damn good stuffed shells, but I don't know how much that would help. =)

I couldn't specialize in something like that. Ellyssian's will probably have a menu based around - but not limited to - permaculture.

I did get a report from a co-worker who used to work part time at Pane e Vino that the son of the original owner has a place over on the South Side (Sal's) and the original head chef has his own place (Paulo's) over in Northampton. Haven't tried those places yet, but hope is not lost! =)

another diner villa?

[noone234.livejournal.com]

Great, that makes 2 diner villas in the area.

The other one is north of Bethlehem, on Route 512, a few blocks north of Wegman's. I cannot remember its name. Their scrapple is so-so. They added a sunroom -- HA! -- so it looks less like a villa than it originally did. A couple of years after they moved in, a pizza shop and Anna Belle Ristorante opened right down the street. Now if the world was just, Anna Bella would have the nice stucco villa, and this diner / family restaurant would have the ugly new building with an orderly rectangular parking lot.

Re: another diner villa?

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Annabella's is very good - especially for breads from the brick oven.

Good side salad, too.

Next time we head over there for lunch we'll give you a call.

Give me an A. A! Give me an N...

[noone234.livejournal.com]

Yes, that would be delightful. I have not been to Anna Bella's in an age. My vague memory of their personal pizzas is making me quite hungry. (It is 10:30. I think it is time to find breakfast.)

So Anna Bella's has a brick oven? I hadn't thought of that. Oh, darn, I forgot, a restaurant is more than a pretty face, a theme, and atmosphere. With all the theme restaurants popping up around the area, I had completely forgotten about the important things like the KITCHEN.