6-8 weeks have passed again. This time our dinner group tried out Gabriele's in Orange. I am proud to say that my previous Gabriele's review inspired 4 people to order steak. I was tempted to order it as well but because I blog, I need to be the one to try new things. 9 of us went to dinner and there were 9 full and content bellies that night.
Let's take it from the top- Reservations were made and we were given this large table in sort of a nook within the restaurant. It made us feel like we had our own private room. We were seated in a comfortable area and had a great waitress. (Catherine, I believe) Menus and a list of the night's specials were placed at our seats upon arriving. There were also baskets of bread, butter, and olive oil at the table. The bread is delicious. I always think that's the most important thing. If you have good bread then that says a lot. Good bread means good subs, good stuffed breads, good pizza, good baked items. It only took minutes for us to order.
4 dishes were chosen that night among the 9 of us. 2 ordered a chicken dish which I believe was chicken velluto. (chicken breast sauteed in a vodka cream sauce with prosciutto and mushrooms over fettuccine) The chicken customers were very happy with their choice. A large bowl/dish filled was filled to the top with all of components, not just pasta. 3 ordered the steak gabriele (based on my recommendation) which is NY strip sauteed in butter with mushrooms and artichoke hearts topped with mozzarella. I had described this dish as tasting like butter that just melts in your mouth. My dinner companions agreed. Fabulous. The other steak choice was the NY strip diavolo. This was steak cooked with hot cherry peppers and mushrooms. The diavolo was another success for Gabriele's. Very, very hot. Recommended for spicy-lovers only. I ordered one of their frequent specials- the salmon. The salmon was lightly seasoned and grilled served over a bed of spinach fettuccine with cherry tomatoes, onions, and capers in a white wine sauce. Fabulous. It tasted great, I felt somewhat healthy for ordering salmon, and I left with a doggy bag. It wasn't fishy tasting but it wasn't overpowered by any other flavors. The fettuccine was divine. I love eating colored food. Didn't taste like spinach at all, but it was worth it.
All entrees were served with a salad and I was the only person who ordered a soup as well. Granted it was 90 degrees that day, but I always love a good soup. I was intrigued because tortellini soup is usually made with cheese tortellini, but Gabriele's makes it with meat tortellini. I wasn't sure if I liked meat tortellini or not but I figured this would be a safe place to try it. First of all, the soup was chock full of tortellini! I would say it was a good cup of dry tortellini. The meat- delish. I was afraid they would taste more like mini wontons but they did not. I didn't even really notice a meat flavor in particular. Usually tortellini soup consists of 6 tortellini in chicken broth. I was pleasantly surprised to see Gabriele's had a different take on soup. It was well worth it. Their house dressing or creamy garlic dressing is delicious. I'm not really a fan of salad. It's more of a solid object to soak up the dressing for me.
I didn't order any dessert- typical. I ordered coffee while some of the others ate their dessert. I'm not positive of what they ordered. I believe there was a cheese cake, something really chocolatey, and maybe a tartufo? This was when the conversation got juicy so I really didn't pay any attention to the dessert, other than the fact that no one complained.
To sum up, Gabriele's is a great place to get Italian food. It is a nice restaurant with good linens and dim lighting. Great place to go for a date, not after a walk on the beach. I highly recommend all of the food eaten at this dinner. I plan on heading to Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale this week so stay tuned. Until then, happy eating!
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