Antinori at Prego

Last night I had a delightful dinner at Prego, and I wanted to share the experience since I pretty much wrote them off in my previous review.

Prego orchestrated an evening of fine food and wines from the world renowned Italian wine-maker, Antinori. There was an elaborate four course dinner paired with an excellent wine from Antinori. We started off with an amuse bouche of prunes and mushrooms with a sparkling wine that was ever so light. That was followed by an artichoke and black truffle "salad" that was quite lovely. Every single dish was superbly matched with the wine served. We ended the reds with a Tignanello, the most famous of all the Antinori wines. I even sampled the dessert wine, which I'm usually loathe to try. With the coffees and teas came the Grappa. Ah. It was an amazing meal.

Antinori, originally from Tuscanny and Umbria, were the pioneers of the "super Tuscans". They have now expanded beyond Italy and have gone as far as Napa (and have acquired one of my favorite wineries in Napa, Stag's Leap). We met and chatted with Alessia Antinori, one of the three daughters of Piero Antinori, who together manage the family business. She was extremely friendly and filled with great tidbits and information for us amateur wine enthusiasts!

Kudos to Prego for organizing this evening.

If anyone wants details of the wines served, please let me know and I will post it here.

Prego

After the sad demise of the Patio, we were all waiting with bated breath for the opening of the replacement. Everyone hoped it would still have that great ambience, a relaxed elegance and a haven to escape to when you needed a long lunch with a good friend or a special place to celebrate a family birthday.

Well, Prego opened with much fanfare and I was lucky enough to be invited to a tasting menu and a pre-opening lunch. Well, the ambience was not relaxed and a little "flashy", the menu was nouveau Italian, and the waitstaff was very well trained. I went truly hoping that the food would speak for itself. It did not. I had an appetizer of different cheeses which was superb, and ordered fettuccine for the entree which was just passe. Another diner ordered chicken which was terribly overcooked.

The wines were superb though, and the one redeeming quality. The sommelier was very knowledgeable and recommended excellent wines. And, of course, you can't go wrong with chocolate - and so the desserts were amazing.

When we tried to make a reservation for a birthday, we wanted the private dining room and it was very difficult to organize with Prego. In the end, we decided we didn't want to go there anyway.