Saturday, June 28, 2008

Vic & Angelos, Palm Beach Gardens







Last night we were all in the mood for something light, fun & quick. I, however, was wearing a new t-shirt so I wanted to give it a full and proper premiere. We compromised and ended up getting incredibly full at a long, lazy dinner at Vic & Angelos.

Vic & Angelos has what so many successful restaurant wannabees lack. It has a spectacular atmosphere. It doesn't try too hard, the music is right, the noise level perfect, the seating close but not too close and the wait staff are friendly and welcoming. It sucks you in.

We've had the pizza here a few times and its authentic, cooked at 900 degrees in a coal oven; mega thin, crispy crust, great quality ingredients on top etc., so on this occasion we decided to go off the board. We ordered some appetizers; salami $8 each and some cheese $15 for 3. We went with pecorino, fontina & provolone at the servers suggestion. This comes with a truffled honey, black cherry and apricot glaze. Not really necessary but pretty, I dipped Ceci's bagel in the apricot and she loved it! They also bring to the table a superb warm crusty bread with a bruschetta, olive oil & butter which is a really nice touch. I suggest both diners have a bite of the bruschetta as it packs quite a garlic punch! Then it was onto the entrees, Chicken Picatta for me $19 and Rigatoni Bolognese $19 for Dr. Dave. My chicken was perfectly cooked with caper berries & artichokes and served with a garlic heavy rapini. The Bolognese was excellent, scented with rosemary which I thought was odd for a true Bolognese but it was clearly long & slowly cooked and Dr. Dave loved it. They have a great selection of wines by the glass which is another winner that keeps the bar crowd, of which there were many, very happy.

I spent every summer as a child in Italy and as an adult I toured around the country with food on my mind and I have to say I adore Vic & Angelos; the buzz, the warm service, the effortlessly elegant & authentic food, the spot on music and the people watching. If you've always wanted to go to Italy, take a little detour to Vic & Angelos to put you in the mood. It gets it SO right!

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