San Marco

San Marco has no bar which may have contributed to a somewhat reserved conversation at the beginning of the night (especially compared to Mangia) but things loosened up quickly with conversations about the food, woodland animals and Tiger Woods. speaking of professional athletes, we were joined at an adjacent table by jochen hecht of the buffalo sabres and his german-model girlfriend. not sure what he ordered, but if you are what you eat, he must have had cream puffs. zing!

anyway, wow! the food was fantastic. almost every dish was passed around and I believe everyone sampled or had the opportunity to sample almost every different dish ordered. I started with the caprese, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, olives and mozzarella. it's a staple and I have no complaints except that I could have ordered the other appetizers which were absolutely terrific. dave ordered their penne all'arribiata as an appetizer. perfectly cooked penne in a spicy sausage red sauce which was absolutely delicious. another ordered their gnocchi del barone which was just incredible. are you guys getting the idea with these superlatives? both were so tasty I regretted not ordering them myself.
upon dave's suggestion, I ordered ratatori all'luchiana which they kindly prepared for me as it was not on the menu but apparently had been in the past. as with the gnocchi, the luchiana was very rich - ratatori pasta in a pink cream sauce with tender chicken and sun dried tomatoes. I'm running out of highly positive adjectives here but tremendous sums it up. I also really enjoyed their ravioli all'aragosta - lobster filled ravioli in a pink cream sauce. their sea bass didn't stand out but I don't prefer to order fish filets. their saltimbocca alla romana (veal scaloppini with prosciutto) was good.
if there is one knock on San Marco it would only be that I wasn't enamored by their desserts. if I'm having an italian dinner, I want tiramisu as my dessert and either a cannoli or cassata cake as an alternative (or homemade italian cookies). not wanting dessert is difficult to accomplish with the sweet tooth that I have but in fairness, it may have been because the filling richness of the entrees and appetizers.

I just can't say enough about the food at San Marco so I am giving it the highest grade of A+. I would strongly recommend San Marco if you are looking for a top notch italian meal in the area.