Sinatra's

i'm not saying i'm Kreskin or anything but i'm Kreskin as i somehow managed to correctly guess and reserve for eight (2 rookies) last night as a number of people dropped in and out over the past few days and last minute for Italian at Sinatra's on Kenmore Avenue. we've been to a bevy (i've been playing a lot of Words with Friends lately) of Italian restaurants in the 2 1/2 years of doing this and i must say that they are my favorite (San Marco, Carmelo's and Mulberry being the crème de la crème) and Sinatra's almost joins that trilogy (pun intended).

it was another pleasant evening (except for the rain, again) but the camaraderie was terrific. i've attached documentary proof of some of our conversations - enjoy. that doesn't include some of our talk about Cary Grant and basil leaves among many other things.

the table started with two orders of their specialty - braciole. it was awesome - tender and delicious. i also sampled their artichoke francaise (so much for watching my cholesterol) which was almost as awesome as the braciole. the table also split their stuffed peppers (see my previous commentary).

for entrees:
i did not try their ravioli or their lasagna and i did not hear how they were except for the lasagna didn't have braciole on top as advertised. apparently the grilled seafood (crab legs and lobster) was pedestrian.
i tried the veal piccata (lemon and butter goodness) which was very good. i also had their shrimp fra diavolo over spaghetti - the spaghetti was perfectly cooked and the sauce was perfectly spicy - an excellent dish. i personally ordered their veal palermo as opposed to their chicken palermo at the urging of another. i'm not a huge fan of veal for a couple of reasons. one being it's usually tough and chewy and usually doesn’t add any more flavor than chicken which i quite enjoy but Sinatra's veal was excellent - thin and tender. atop the veal was eggplant parmesan which was also fantastic. for a side i had al dente spaghetti with red sauce - all together it was an excellent choice.

i sampled their assorted berries and cassata cake for dessert - both were pretty good.
although Sinatra's doesn't quite make it to the pantheon of San Marco, it gets close. so out of a possible four mannillos, Sinatra's gets ****. nice, eh?

at some point, i'd like to revisit some of the restaurants we've gone to already so let me know if there are any someone is dying to try. i'd also like to possibly hand out new grades for past restaurants relative to the entire group that i've tried, but we'll see about that.