L'Orcio - New Haven, CT

This is probably the fastest review ever written (in relation to the time I left the restaurant, which was approximately 30 minutes ago)  I just couldn't resist.  There are so many things I want to comment on.  Okay so to start, my cousin, Gerry, gave us a gift certificate to this restaurant for our wedding.  He knows how much I love eating out and recommended this restaurant to us for a romantic evening.  We figured our anniversary would be a perfect occasion to do so.  I have been sick these past few weeks so we ended up celebrating our anniversary tonight (January 2nd).  We weren't sure how busy the place would be so we made reservations, as we usually do.  The reservations were for 6:15 p.m.  We arrived fairly quick and looked around the area for a parking space.  L'Orcio is an Italian restaurant located on State Street in New Haven.  The parking was a bit ridiculous, which is one of the few reasons why I only venture to New Haven sporadically.  There were no spaces on State Street in front of the restaurant, or across the street.  We went down a few of the pain in the ass side streets that only go one way to find another spot.  We were coming up Pearl Street when we saw a few open spaces on the street.  Now there were plenty of literal spots on State Street but all of those spots had signs that said "No Parking" or something along those lines.  On Pearl Street, however, we did not see such signs.  As we parked and started to get out, a sketchy hobo-type man walked by the car.  I told DJ to wait a second and pretended to look at something in my purse.  As the man crossed in front of our car we made direct eye contact, which kind of freaked me out but then I thought I might need to identify this man's face later on so take note.  He was white male.  I would say about 5'10" with blue eyes and a very long beard,  His hair was brown but his facial hair had a reddish tint to it.  I was thinking about holding DJ's hand after we stepped out of the car but then I remembered a scene from that movie- I believe it was called "Crash" and it had some stars in it.  I think Sandra Bullock and maybe Ludacris?  There was a scene with those two people and Sandra Bullock latches on to her husband's arm and Ludacris says something about race and how she saw two black guys and grabs on to her man and then they proceed to jump Sandra Bullock and her man.  So even though this guy wasn't black, I was like I'm not going to look like he scares me and I'm just going to walk out of this car like I own the place.  I do and there were no problems.... see me at the end of my review.

We walked into the restaurant which was in a building that looked like one of those typical New Haven homes.  There was a stoop, a front door with a foyer.  The waitress took our name and we were seated up stairs.  Like I said, it was just like you were in a home.  We walked up the stairs and were seated at a table for 2.  There really was no need for our reservation.  When we walked up stairs there was one other table for 2 and there was another group of 4 to 6 people, with one of those people wearing a Yale baseball cap.  The room was nice.  Very intimate, dark, and still had festive decorations.  We started off with drinks- I had a Prosecco and DJ had a Moretti.  (Italian beer)  It was very quiet in the restaurant and it was very easy to overhear the conversations around us.  Let me just say, I hated that Yale group.  It was so cliche.  There we were in a quaint New Haven restaurant with dim lighting, and this group of possibly parents with their Yale-attending son and his girlfriend talking about (no lie) vegans, the Michael Brown trial, and overturning the death penalty.  I was like what the hell is this? Who talks about this kind of stuff over dinner?  People who think they're better than everyone else but then try to act like they're so liberal and caring for everyone else.  Give me a break.  I was sickened by them.  So the menu is not too large and everything was separate.  I wasn't sure how I should order.  Should I get an app?  Should I order a salad?  Because it seemed as though nothing came with a salad.  They did not have any soups otherwise I would have certainly tried one.  They also had side dishes that you could order on the side.  I just wasn't sure so I ordered my main course and called it a day.  

I had the lamb.  Out of this world delicious!   It said that it was prepared in a white wine sauce.  I've never had lamb cooked that way and really wanted to try it, and I'm happy I did.  It was divine.  You were give two pieces of lamb on the bone which is equal to 4 chops.  So good but not quite enough food.  I never know with lamb.  I need to write in to "Ask Ina" to find out the proper etiquette for eating lamb in public.  There is so much of that delicious and juicy meat left on those bones that I don't think you're supposed to just pick up gnaw on.  I think you should be able to because that clean bone serves as a perfect little handle.  I'm not going to lie.  I did gnaw a little.  I wanted to disgust my vegan crowd from Yale.  I ordered the lamb medium-rare and man was it cooked to perfection.  I could've eaten 5 more chops.  It came with roasted potatoes (also very good) and Brussels sprouts with a balsamic reduction.  The sprouts were okay.  They have kind of have an odd taste.  I have tried to cook them before and thought that I was cooking them wrong because all of the celebrity chefs talk up Brussels sprouts, but this outing at L'Orcio confirmed that I have been cooking them correctly.  I guess I'm just not much of a fan.  The plating wasn't fancy or pretty.  Your meat was there along with a scoop of potatoes and a scoop of sprouts.  It looked very "rustic."  I liked my meal but could've gone for more lamb.  DJ had chicken .  I forget what it was officially called but it was basically chicken Florentine.  Egg battered chicken cooked with lemon, white wine and spinach.  He liked his.  I thought that too was a bit skimpy.  His was served with nothing other than the spinach.  Next time I will definitely get an appetizer or at least a salad.

Our plates were cleared and the waitress brought us another round of cocktails.  I was a little perturbed that she had a runner bring us our food.  The place was basically dead and there were only two of us, yet you needed a runner to bring out our food?  Before she brought us our second round of drinks she cleaned off the table linens with a sort of squeegee device, which I liked.  She brought us over the dessert menu and by this time some more people came in.  A couple came in and sat in the back.  The man was a loud talker and unfortunately, I could hear all the lines he was trying to use to sweep this girl home with him.  Then two ladies came in and then 4 older people on a double date.  One of the young ladies was using the light on her cell phone to read the menu.  Ridiculous!  I have horrible night vision but I mean come on!  You're in  a restaurant with dim lighting.  The menu was still clearly visible.  I was amazed by this woman an began taking notes from that point on.  I told DJ to look in to buying me a little pad and clicky pen that I can bring with me to these restaurants as I review them.  I felt like Ego from "Ratatouille."   The oldies behind me said something about how they had never eaten upstairs before.  So that answered my question as to whether or not there are tables downstairs.  I guess there are.  Perhaps there was a large party down there tonight.

We ordered our dessert and the waitress offered to hold off on putting in our desserts until we finished our cocktails.  That was a nice touch.  The lights oddly kept flickering. We finished our drinks and then our desserts were brought to us.  I'm usually not a dessert person but because I was still a little hungry, I ordered one.  I had the chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.  It was okay.  The chocolate was very rich.  It was more of a grown-up chocolate cake made with more cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate.  It would've been fine if the cake had been warm but it wasn't.  It was ice cold.  DJ had the Charlotte cake, which was a chocolate mousse cake with amaretto lady fingers.  He said he would give it a 6.5 out of 10 possible points.  We paid for our meal and then left.

On our way back to the car we notice something under DJ's wiper.  What was it?  A ticket of course!  That punk hobo must have called the cops!  Now there were no signs in this area which is why we parked there and the part that makes me really mad is if he lived in the building near there and knew we were parking in a reserved spot, why didn't he just say hey guys you can't park there unless you have a sticker or whatever.  He was just like the guy in the movie Crash.  I tried to act like I wasn't intimidated by his appearance and gave him the benefit of the doubt but he ended up just being an asshole anyway which is why people continue to make judgments based on your appearance.  Which I'm sure he also did as well.  I bet he saw us and figured we were two little rich Connecticut snobs and wanted to stick us one.  Well that's not the case.   I know it was that guy because as I said, there were no signs in the area, none of the other cars had tickets nor did they have permits to park there, and with all of the crime in New Haven, we are going to get a parking ticket for parking in a spot for an hour!?  I really hate this world some times.  There are times you bite your tongue because you don't want to be a jerk, you don't want to be insensitive, you want to be understanding and then have to sit in discomfort but then on the other hand there are times when people just have to straight up ruin your night.  Maybe they could be a little sensitive, understanding, and a bit nicer.  Maybe they shouldn't pass judgement.  Furious that we have to pay this ticket!

So I want to say that this restaurant was quite tasty.  Thank you, Gerry, for treating us to a delicious meal, lovely cocktails, dessert and cappuccino!  I loved my lamb.  It was probably the best lamb I ever had.  If you choose to try this restaurant I advise you to get an appetizer or order a salad with your meal.  I would skip out on the dessert.  I, on the other hand, probably will not go back there in the foreseeable future due to the lack of parking and my personal hate for New Haven.  I was hoping that this restaurant would change my opinion but not tonight my friends, not tonight.  If you know New Haven, live in New Haven, or know where to park on State Street then you'll love it.  If you do not frequent New Haven, go somewhere else or let someone else take care of the driving.  If you can order from this place on Silverspooon - do it.  I'm just so mad about this ticket that I can't think straight.  That jerk smoking his joint with his ugly beard and ratty hat.  I'm going to put a Sophia Petrillo Sicilian curse on him.  May he never eat good meal, may his beard get caught in his zipper every time he puts his jacket on, and may his socks always fall down in his shoes! ** 

Until my next bite!


**This review was written out of rage.  The restaurant was very good but that jerk who lives in the building on Pearl Street ruined my night!  I apologize for offending anyone with my rhetoric, including Gerry Giaimo who graciously gave us this gift certificate.