La Parolaccia Osteria

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

There is this small Italian restaurant in Long Beach that has great food and a couple of owners that are as "mad" as I am. La Parolaccia Osteria. (the name means "dirty words"). It has been quite awhile since I have attended a wine dinner there.

One of the nice touches about this particular place is that the owners are hands on and that they always give prizes out at their wine dinners. Usually from 6 to 10, including T-shirts, aprons and bottles of wine. I managed to score a nice bottle of Italian wine this evening.

The restaurant usually has a wine rep at dinner but tonight Stephan and Nick were winging it. They decided to do a dinner with their favorite wines. Some pairings work and some did not.

Appetizer was "Crostini de ricotta e cotto" - Toasted bread with a mousse of ricotta cheese, Italian ham and anchovies. The wine paired with this dish was a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, Monteschiavo. This wine was similar to a Sauvignon Blanc and it did pair well with the appetizer.

Next up was "Ditaloni alla Viareggina" - Large tube pasta with Manila clams, black mussels, light broccoli cream sauce with roasted bell peppers. For some reason I had in my mind the seafood would have the shells on which was not the case. I think it would have made for a much better presentation. Messier to eat. This was a generous portion and by time I finished I felt that it should be the end of the meal. The wine was a Orvieto Campogrande, Antinori. A white wine that seemed to be softer in style than the previous wine and I did like it better.

Third dish was "Insalata di patate e cipolle" - Potato salad with red onions, black olives and oregano. This is the third starch we were served. It was overkill. I did not finish this dish. Flavor was good but I think I would have preferred the potatoes to be on the warm side to bring out the other flavors more. This is where the wine pairing went down the tubes. It was served with a Neprica Tormaresca, Antinori. It clashed with the food. I did have some of the Orvieto left and it was a much better pairing.

Main dish was "Ossobuco di cinghiale con polenta" - Wild boar ossobuco, cooked in red wine with vegetables and polenta. The polenta was formed then either baked or lightly fried, which is the way I like it. The boar was good. The meat was slightly dry but that is the way boar is. It does not have the "fat" that a domestic pig has. Flavor was good and the whole dish was done well. This was paired with a Lacrima di Morro, Monteschiavo. A red wine from Puglia. I felt the first red , the Neprica went better with this dish. The Lacrima was not as well balanced wine as the Neprica and it had a washed out back palate.

Dessert was "Soffici di fichi" - A puff pastry filled with figs and Sambuca. I am not a big "fig" person but this was a well made dish. I had 2 bites and took the rest home. The starches were starting to really get to me.

I truly wished that they had substituted one of the starch dishes with a vegetable dish of some type.

The dinner was fun and on the whole good. Hopefully I can do the next dinner they have which should be before the end of the year. The dining room was closed to sold out for the dinner. The other dining area had a huge group of about 20 people (noisy) and the third dining area was busy all night. The price of $50 for the wine dinner has something to do with it. For a Tuesday night they should be happy with the turnout. A lot of restaurants in town should so lucky.