|
View the
Possemato's Italian Gourmet, Arcadia Menu
|
Restaurant:
Possemato's Italian Gourmet, Arcadia
Where: 1212
S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia
Phone: (626)
446-3171
Reservations:
Not required
Cocktails:
Full cocktail service
Service: Full
table service
Atmosphere:
Casual
Outdoor Dining:
Yes
Credit Cards:
MC, AMEX, Visa, Discover, Debit Cards (with Visa or MC logo only)
Kid’s Menu:
No
Senior Discount:
No
Hours: Open
Tuesday – Sunday at 5pm
Food to Go:
Yes
Catering Menu:
Yes
Price Range:
$5.95 - $29.95 avg. $12 - $17 |
|
Complementary hors d'oeuvres |
Deep
fried artichoke hearts in garlic butter at left, antipasta appetizer on
right. Note the presentation on the antipasta |
|
Garlic bread |
Minestrone |
|
Canneloni |
Chicken Marsala |
|
The
dessert tray. That's the tiramisu at 6 o'clock, the wedge with
chocolate on the outside |
|
|
DOT COM DINING
A Look At San
Gabriel Valley Restaurants by SanGabrielValleyMenus.com
A few weeks back I wrote about Anthony’s Italian
Deli and Posse’s Sports Bar, and mentioned that there was another restaurant at
the same location called Possemato’s Italian Gourmet, and said I thought I’d do
that review another time. Well that time has come.
All three stores have the same owner, and so you
might figure that as good as the food was at the Deli and the Sports Bar, you’re
probably going to find good food at the full-service gourmet restaurant. Well
I’m here to tell you that you’re figuring right if you do that.
Everything at Possemato’s is a step or two above the
Deli and the Sports Bar. Instead of paper napkins and plastic utensils found at
the Deli, you’ll find white table cloths, fanned napkins and silver on the
table. Instead of t-shirts and aprons on the employees at the deli counter,
you’ll find crisply pressed white button downs and black slacks on the server
who greets you at your table. Instead of walls lined with refrigerators,
televisions and Baldwin Ave. in an open, airy dining area, as found in the Deli
and Posse’s, Possemato’s intimate dining room has walls that are adorned with
beveled mirrors or paintings of Italian garden scenes. The one constant is
delicious food.
Katie and I stopped by Possemato’s, sans child, who
was performing with his school's honor chorus at a private institution dinner,
and decided to enjoy an appetizer prior to having dinner. As soon as we sat
down, we were greeted with a complementary dish filled with fresh cut carrots,
celery, green onions, and lots of olives. We ordered the “Carciofino Fritti,”
which consists of deep fried artichoke hearts in a garlic butter sauce. We also
got an Antipasta Appetizer, which had salami, buffalo mozzarella, cucumbers,
olives and sweet roasted bell peppers with an Italian dressing on the side.
Both appetizers were quite good. The artichoke hearts had a delicious breading
on them, there was plenty of them, and the garlic butter sauce was excellent.
We kept the sauce around and dipped our garlic bread in it later, too and that
was quite good. The buffalo mozzarella was so fresh, it was like melt in your
mouth cheese, and worked well with the other ingredients. The Italian dressing
topped it off just perfectly. Katie wants to go back and order just the
Artichoke Hearts and the Blue Cheese Wedge that we had in Posse’s, she said
those two appetizers together will satisfy her as a meal.
I ordered the “Petto Di Pollo Alla Marsala,” aka
Chicken Marsala. It came with Minestrone soup and Penne Pasta on the side.
Katie ordered the Canneloni, meat filled crepes with a creamy tomato sauce.
Our waitress, Julie, was prompt, and attended to our
every need, including offering freshly ground (tableside) parmesan cheese and
fresh ground pepper for our appetizers and our entrees. The minestrone was a
brothy soup, with garbonzo and kidney beans, potato, carrots, broccoli,
cauliflower, green beans, even some noodles. And not too much tomato, so that
alone was a plus for me. It was quite good. My Chicken Marsala, a boneless
breast of chicken served with a mushroom and marsala wine sauce, was also served
with steamed vegetables. Everything was served piping hot, which I seem to be
appreciating more and more as I get older. The marsala sauce was excellent, the
mushrooms were delicious, and the chicken breast ample in size, and cooked just
right. Katie enjoyed her Canneloni, the crepe was light and fluffy, everything
had a good flavor, and even though it was a meat-filled canneloni, it was still
very light.
There were a variety of specials, including salmon
and swordfish, pepper crusted pork chops and pepper crusted NY steak, seafood
ravioli with a lobster sauce, a bacon wrapped filet, and others. Possemato’s
regular menu includes several veal dishes, medallions of beef, rack of lamb,
half a dozen stuffed pastas and numerous pastas. It can be found at
www.sangabrielvalleymenus.com/possematos.
One nice thing is that many of the dishes from
Possemato’s are also available in the Sports Bar, so you can go into Posse’s and
catch the World Series, or Monday Night Football, while enjoying a nice NY
steak, which to my mind beats the heck out of peanuts or buffalo wings . Not
many sports bars offer that kind of delicious fare.
Julie (our waitress) recommended the Tiramisu for
dessert, noting that it was not the same Tiramisu that is served in the Deli.
She even went so far as to say that it was the best Tiramisu that she’d ever
had, and considering that she lived in Italy for some time, that’s saying
something. We tried it, and it was a perfect finish to our meal, light and
airy, sweet and not overpowering.
One other thing I noticed was that while the service
was good and the food delicious, there was a lot of time and effort put into the
presentation. The antipasta appetizer in particular, but everything that came
out of the kitchen was presented nicely. We had noticed the same thing about
the blue cheese wedge at Posse’s, this kitchen takes the time to put out a nice
looking dish, as well as nice tasting.
Everything we tried was excellent, the service very
good, and I give it a hearty recommendation. When you stop by, be sure and let
them know you read about them in Dot Com Dining.
Bill Coburn is owner of SanGabrielValleyMenus.com, a
restaurant website featuring dozens of restaurant’s menus, as well as
downloadable coupons. He has nearly 20 years experience in the restaurant
business, and has been eating for much longer than that. |
