Whoever knew...

...that Sunday would be the new Saturday?

My friend S, being a native South Shore-ian, is always raving about how wonderful Providence is.  I've got to be honest that my Providence experiences have been limited to Providence Place and the under-age "clubs" that I may or may not have gone to while in college.  At my birthday pre-party last month, S and I got to talking and decided that we're going to have a nice dinner in Providence and she would prove me wrong.  A, who lives in central Massachusetts, said the drive was good for her so a plan was hatched for a Sunday dinner in Providence.  

After relaxing Sunday morning, I met my girl T at Park Street and headed to Quincy Adams.  It was great to catch up with T and S picked us up in her shiny beamer and we headed back to S' place.  S knows that I'm a malbec fan and she picked up a bottle of malbec that we jumped into.  The ever gracious hostess, we munched on pita chips and Sabra hummus (my fave) and this delicious baked brie with mushrooms (yum).  I brought a bottle of one my favorite malbecs (Tilia) and eventually we cracked into that one as well.  After catching up over work and grad school talk, we headed down to Providence.  S assures me that its only a twenty minute drive, but we drove slower last night since the roads were so slick.

S made reservations for Mediterraneo Caffe(http://www.mediterraneocaffe.com/Fhome.htm), located in Federal Hill (which I'm told is the equivalent to our North End).  A was waiting at the bar with a glass of wine and I was surprised at how packed it was for a Sunday night.  In celebration of an improptu ladies' dinner, we treated ourselves to some bubbly.  They had a great prix fixe dinner option, which we all opted for.  I started out with a Caesar salad, and the canneloni al forno.  Baked pasta is a favorite of mine and this was no exception.  The portions were huge and I'm looking forward to diving into the second half tonight.  We finished the night with tirimisu and a shot of limoncello to hit the road.  The food was exceptional and the restaurant is even a member of the James Beard Foundation.  The only downfall was that the service of the food was noticeably slow and there was a small mix-up on sauce on S' dish (but it was quickly fixed).  However, with great company on a rainy night, I couldn't complain.  I would like to check out this restaurant again in the summer as there are great open air cafe windows and there were definitely items on the menu I'd like to try again.  

Give me any night with good food, good wine, and good company (not necessarily in that order)...

xoxo