Aromi d'Italia = Aromi di Rip-Off

Something just doesn’t smell right at Aroma D’Itlalia, a little Italian restaurant in twenty mall at the crossroads of Route 20 & 155 in Guilderland. Myself, Mrs. Freak and Little Freak went to eat there the other night and decided it didn’t quite come up smelling like roses, not to mention Italy.

Little Freak ordered a sausage orzo soup to start. The sausage was plentiful, and in irregular chunks, like it was hand formed, and was obviously home-made. I found it to be the most redeeming quality about the soup, which was otherwise very salty and contained an abundance of crushed black pepper. I tend to use a lot of pepper on my food but even this was a bit much for me and definitely too much for Little Freak, who rarely leaves soup left behind.

Mrs. Freak ordered a crab stuffed portabello mushroom, which we all agreed had enormous potential but failed miserably in the end. Both the mushroom and the crab were of good quality, but there was so much cheese covering the plate that the food was just lost to it. This appetizer started out in theory as a gourmet treat but dish ended up as a leftover 50’s appetizer that was completely non-committal and unmemorable, over-cheesed and unfinishable. At this point I was feeling pretty good about NOT ordering an appetizer.

For dinner I ordered a grilled pizza. Out of all the pizza on the menu (around 10) one of them was billed as grilled pizza, simply adorned with cheese, fresh tomato and basil. If anyone has enjoyed grilled pizza, it is quite simply a unique smokey treat. However, I came to discover the crusts are pre-made, boboli-type things, and this hard disc of a crust was just thrown on a grill for a second for grill mark effects, then loaded with the toppings, and baked to melt. To make a long story short, I have had better frozen pizza in my time. The crust was dry, hard, and despite someones previous efforts to over-salt everything, virtually tasteless.

Little Freak ordered linguini with white clam sauce, an all-time favorite. Kudos to the chef for the generous amount of whole clams that adorned the plate, around ten in all, however this dish did not stand up to the test as well. Neither little freak nor myself could eat it, other than the clams. The sauce was absoutely tasteless, devoid of any seasoning and sat at the bottom of the bowl, lifeless and unwilling to coat the pasta. This leads me to believe they must rinse the pasta in water, or add oil to the end to keep it from sticking. Mind you the pasta was not over cooked, just not cooked right.

Mrs. Freak’s sausage and sweet pepper penne on the other hand had so much potential. The thin, red-based sauce had a rustic quality packed with flavor and not over-salted at all. The peppers and sausage melded together for an authentic taste but once again, the sauce refused to coat the pasta. Both dishes were bowls of pasta in water and suffered miserably.

We ordered a pint of gelato to go, as I couldn’t bear to stay any longer. With one wine for the Mrs and I, this meal came to over $70 before tip! Yikes and ouch! This was the real kicker! I make pizza at home as well as clam sauce and it’s ten times better than this. This is why I have such trepidation when it comes to dining out. I just can’t stand to waste my money (and my time) in this manner when I can cook these things myself.

I cannot reccommend Aromi d'Italia, unless you are go solely for the gelato, which proved to be quite good, but not that good for $8.99 for the pint. You have been warned by the Freak.

Troy Night Out, plus: El Mariachi

I guess I need to do some back-tracking today. On Friday night I took my out of town guests to Troy Night Out. I am ashamed to say that this was my first time going as well. I have always avoided Troy, as people never seem to say anything good about it. We had a great time. The weather was perfect and we all thought that Troy was beautiful (at least that part). The community turn out was impressive as people ambled down the streets poking in galleries and antique stores, bars and restaurants. There was an outdoor vendor selling schwarma, chicken & beef, cut right off the spit. Packed into a fluffy pita (the kind you never find in markets) smeared with tsatsiki sauce, lettuce, and tomato, onion, the smokey meat was delicious and a perfect appetizer to start our adventure.

One gallery in particular which stood out amongst the others was Kismet, located on Fourth street. The four person band playing white noise in the front of the gallery set the tone for a very unussual but exciting gallery scene. It was obviously the most popular place in all of Troy night as people billowed in and out, and swarmed the inside. An intense mix of art from artists from opposite ends of the universe dotted the walls. I won't attempt to be so presumptious as to describe the art so just go and see for yourself, there is bound to be something you'll love and something you'll hate. To me that just means good art. To top all of that of was this table which flanked one wall filled with beverages and exotic dumplings and other tasty niblets which all seemed to have a Far Eastern/Asian influence. Somebody's been in the kitchen cooking up some good finger food for this gallery. The food created a nice touch and a damn good incentive to hang around and look at art. Also, home-made sangria and dollar tap pints were available. Not your average gallery by far. I was very impressed with Troy Night Out and will go again before summer's out. It is nice to see people get together to support a community. It was something I haven't seen in a long time.

As for dinner, my friends were hell-bent on going more casual than intended, now that we were stuffed with dumplings and schwarma. We had once taken them to El Mariachi years before and they loved it, so back we went. Although my friends are from a major metropolitan city, they claim that El Mariachi rules in authenticity and flavor, which is unmatched where they live. I tend to go to the Washington Avenue location and having never had a bad meal there, that's where we stay.

My ultimate favorite are the soft tacos. Cheap and awesome, you order them by the piece,they can satiate any size appetite. They come in all the obvious flavors: beef, chicken, two kinds of pork, but the best are the more exotic meats. The lamb is quite different. You can taste that you are eating a different meat. It is slightly salty and shredded, studed with fresh onions and herbs which help bring out a wondeful gamey flaver that I can't get enough of. On advise of the owner I ordered his favorite soft taco which is the beef tongue. I was very hesitant, as I have never had tongue that I liked, but it was awesome! I new favorite for sure. Little tender chunks of char-grilled tongue meat looked like grilled liver but tasted sweet and nutty, almost like the consistency and taste of frois gras. I know you all probably think I'm crazy but for a few bucks you should try it for yourselves. Friend 1 ordered carnitas, his all-time favorite, and he swears this is the best place he has every had them. Carnitas are basically pork chunks boiled down with seasoning and water until just the fat and pork remain. After this you continue to cook the chunks until they brown from their own fat. The meat is so tasty, fork tender, and beautifully crisped. They serve it with tortilla. Friend 2 ordered papas con chorizo for the table, which is another stellar dish. Basically fried potatoes with chorizo sausages. However, the chorizo meat has been taken out of the casing and fried down to a tiny crumble. It coats the potatoes nicely and makes for a dish everyone seems to love. The margarita's are great but if you like straight tequila, this is the place, with well over 25 select tequila's to choose from. Ask your waiter to reccomend a good repasado or anejo (on-yay-ho). It will be served in a small brandy snifter and will taste like you are sipping a fine brandy. This will shatter your perceptions of tequila. Mariachi is one of my family's staple restaurants as it is afordable and delivers a great product.

All in all a great night.