The Beeze Reviews Alto Cucina

This past weekend The Beeze Family went to Erie PA. Mrs. Beeze's parents are there and many of her friends...We went in for her birthday...saturday night the kids stayed with the grandparents, and the Mrs. and I went out to dinner....I found a nice place...Well at least from what one of her friends said, and by what the menu looked like....Feel free to take a look yourself...http://www.altocucina.com/contactus.html

I have to be honest...I didn't think Erie would have a place like this...It's a town littered with chain restaurants and bars...and bars...and more bars....Which isn't a bad thing...Nobody loves a good dive bar more than the Beeze!

So we walk in and right off the bat I'm surprised....The atmosphere is great...Great decor...You feel like you're walking into a very nice home...They may because at one time it was a home...Also There was music playing...Not crappy restaurant music...Live music...A pretty cool band called The Heliotropes...

http://www.myspace.com/theheliotropeserie

I'm not sure if they would descibe themselves this way...But...I would say they were kind of a Folk, Jazz fusion...They did a number of contemporary tunes, but with their own spin...Very enjoyable...

But now on to the important sh!t....The food!

I started with the Fontinella Cacchione...Baked Fontinella cheese in puff pastry topped with mushroom ragu....Yes, it was $13 and they may seem too much for some cheese, puff pastry, and mushrooms...But it was well worth it...I would say it was the highlight for me...Well food wise...We'll get to the other highlight later...

Mrs. Beeze started with the Spider Bellinis...Crab cake stuffed soft shell crab, polenta crusted and sautéed...Served with a spicy garlic aioli....Also very good...

We both had house salads...They were simple but good...Not too filling...Romaine lettuce...2 cuke slices...2 tomato slices...8 garbonzo beans...2 olives...And a light red wine vinagrette....

For our entrees...I had the Pollo Ferrito...Lightly breaded and sautéed chicken breast topped with sweet peppers, mushrooms, marinara sauce and a blend of Italian cheeses...Served over cremini mushroom ravioli...This was very good...It's basically a hot rodded Chicken parm...The mushroom ravioli was the best part...I only wish the would serve it with a couple more...It came with 4...Not enough! Especially when it is truely the best part of the dish...

Mrs. Beeze had the Scampi Ferrando....Sautéed jumbo tiger shrimp in garlic lemon butter cream sauce...Served over shrimp & ricotta cheese ravioli...She loved it...It looked good...And the little that she let me try was great...

For dessert the Mrs. had the Key Lime Cheesecake...It was was very light and had great flavor...I had the Strawberry Shortcake...Again, very light with great flavors...That is something you don't get enough when you order dessert...Most the time desserts are heavy, and make you feel like shit afterwards...These were so light and airy...Just excellent!

So along with all this great food...The Mrs. had 5 glasses of wine...Now it was her birthday...and all week I was telling her I was gonna remind her that she isn't old yet...I kept telling her that after dinner we were gonna find a nice dark place, and get it on like a couple of high school kids...She kept saying..."whatever!"

Well as we walked out of the restaurant and I was asking "where should we do it?" we noticed it was pitch black in the parking lot that was surrounded by a very wooded area...So she says..."We may as well do it here!" So there we are...Mrs. Beeze all buzzed up...just taking like in the front seat of a Honda...

It's good to relive your youth....Car sex is awesome...Keeps you on your toes...or knees...Or knees behind your ears...So get out there and get to humping in your car!

If your ever in Erie PA...Check out Alto Cucina...And then get your f*ck on!

Later, The Beeze.