Orfano's

I'm not really a Halloween person.  I don't love costumes, and as a teacher the day is pretty draining, but last year JO and I discovered the most amazing thing about Halloween.  If you don't have your own little trick-or-treaters, you can get a reservation anywhere in the city.  JO and I took advantage and got a reservation at one of the hottest restaurants in the city, Orfano's.  Orfano's is the latest creation of Fenway restauranteur extraordinaire Tiffani Faison.  I had been wanting to try this place since pictures starting showing up on Instagram of the gorgeous interior.  (Please visit their IG, you won't be disappointed.)  I loved the blacks, whites, golds, and velvet I was seeing in the pictures.  The restaurant is a spin on an old fashioned Italian steak house and it did not disappoint.  We enjoyed watching the "martini man" travel around with his cart.  

We were seated in the dining room, which was a bit smaller than I had anticipated.  The bar area looks amazing and I would love to come back and check it out sometime.  Our waiter earned extra points for replacing my white napkin with a black napkin so my black dress wouldn't get covered in lint.  We ordered drinks.  Of course I got a glass of prosecco and JO tried the Grammie's fix which featured sherry, pineapple, chamomile tea, scotch, gin, and lemon.  It smelled like "grandma's house" and was delicious! Later in the evening JO tried the spritzer.  I wish the picture I took had come out because the presentation was adorable.  It was served in an old fashioned soda bottle with a cute paper straw.  

Orfano's menu features a lot of antipasti options.  We started with the hand cut mozzarella, which was cut into 4ths at the table.  It was finished with delicious olive oil and sea salt.  We probably should have ordered the "garlic bread" served old school style in a red plastic bag and covered in paper to go with the cheese.  We ended up eating it straight and it was delicious.  

The people next to us tried the parmesan mousse and I definitely want to try that next time.  We also got the chopped salad featuring the most amazing pickled cauliflower.  The flavor was like right to the limit, any more and it wouldn't have worked.  I definitely stole some pieces from JO.  (The only thing we didn't care for was the shrimp cocktail.  The sauce was on the sweeter side and it was lacking lemon.)  For our main meals I got the chicken with sausage gravy and spicy peppers and JO got the Bolognese.  My chicken was really good but JO's pasta was out of this world.  I don't understand how they got the level of flavor that they did. For dessert we tried the tiramisu and I think it ruined tiramisu for me.  It was delicious and extra boozy and perfectly balanced.  

Orfano's earns an A+ rating from me, for sure!  The food, the service, and the experience were all amazing!

How I felt about teaching the day after Halloween!