Libretto's - New Parktowne Village location

Il Diavolo (back half) and San Gennaro (front). The Il Diavolo was spicy and one of our very favorite menu items!

Soon after moving back to Charlotte in 2012 I visited the Ballantyne location of Libretto's - post here. Now a third Charlotte location at Parktowne Village (corner of Woodlawn and Park Rds.) joins Ballantyne and Epicentre. I recently had two very enjoyable meals at Libretto's - Parktowne and even had the opportunity to speak with owner Mike Libretto about his restaurants and the restaurant business here in Charlotte. 

All of the food was good and the atmosphere at this location is pleasant, nice for couples and families with a bar available for single diners as well. The eggplant parmigiana remains a personal favorite. However, this was my first time trying the pizza and it was also very good - so many delicious specialty pies to choose from. My husband and I both love spicy foods so the Il Diavolo was right up our alley with pepperoni, spicy sausage, jalapenos and roasted garlic - yum! The stuffed mushrooms were also fantastic as an appetizer and we enjoyed the linguini with clam sauce as well. The best news is that this new location delivers to where we live - awesome! I look forward to returning to Libretto's to try more soon, including the wings, Square pizzas, Calzones and Strombolis. 

 Out front.

 Neat bar/outdoor area. When the weather is nice you can sit outside overlooking the fountain!

Full bar. 

Half of a Roasted Beet Salad - kitchen was nice enough to split this for us.

Linguini with White Clam Sauce - garlicky and delicious!

Florentine (right half) and New Yorker (left).

Display of pizzas and garlic knots. Easy to stop in for a quick lunch.

Tasty garlic knots with the wonderful tomato sauce.

Stuffed Mushrooms with sausage in a creamy alfredo sauce - so good!

Eggplant Parmigiana - a beautiful rendition and still one of my top picks.

Eggplant Rollatini - awesome appetizer - would be enough for small appetite meal.

Side of meatballs. Must try. The baby also loved these!

Cannoli we tried was good! Tiramisu, cheesecake and a brownie are also available to satisfy the sweet tooth.

Grilling Lamb Chops, Eggplant and Okra - a success!

In honor of July 4 I am posting on a recent meal that my family cooked together - lamb chops from Costco (really meaty and a great deal) plus grilled eggplant and okra. I tossed the okra in olive oil, salt and pepper and threaded them onto skewers (use small okra). I sliced the eggplant fairly thin and put each slice through a combination of olive oil and high quality balsamic vinegar, then finished it off with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Everything came out really delicious! If you do this be sure to watch the okra carefully or it will burn. HAPPY JULY 4th everyone! Hope you have a fun-filled and safe holiday.

Fern, Flavors From the Garden

The Fern Salad.

I recently tried Fern, Flavors from the Garden, a purely vegetarian restaurant on Central Avenue. My mom was very excited to bring my grandmother here since she keeps Kosher and does not eat meat when she goes out. Fern is owned by the Something Classic / Halcyon folks. Halcyon is on my "to-try" list and Something Classic is great for lunch - love their new location on East Blvd. and their awesome take-home products and baked goods. Fern's dining room is fairly small, with plants (including ferns of course!) providing a calming decor. Hanging mason jars add to the homey, farm-inspired ambience.

Our experience with Fern was mixed. We wanted to much to love this place but we ended up leaving feeling disappointed. Of course this is based on one meal and I would like to try more of the menu items offered but first impressions mean a lot. Our party of three tried several things, taking recommendations from our somewhat aloof server.

The highlight for me was the fresh Fern salad with cashews and a delicious herbed vinaigrette. Suggestion: serve some bread on the side. With the addition of avocado and cheese (available to add at additional charge) and some good bread, this would really hit the spot. The roasted cauliflower was my second favorite menu item we tried. The pistachio-pepper brittle added a nice sweet crunch and the squash/sun-dried tomato purees provided additional highlights. You can sense the chef's creativity here, which I appreciate.

The disappointments came with the veggie burger and the eggplant/zucchini parmesan. To me the veggie burger was just not that flavorful. I've had veggie burgers made with nuts that tasted so much better. Also the bun was so huge you could not eat this as a burger. I ended up giving half the bun to my mom (to have with her salad) and cutting the rest with a fork. This could easily be fixed with a smaller bun. The NC Hoop cheddar did add a nice flavor to the burger so if you are not vegan I definitely suggest cheese. The quinoa salad tasted like quinoa with lemon juice to me - the balance of flavors was off.

The eggplant/zucchini parmesan sounded so delicious but there were a couple of problems. First, grandma had a really hard time cutting it up in the bowl it was originally served in. The problem was that the eggplant skin was tough to cut and getting to it in the bowl was difficult. We finally asked the waiter to put the dish on a plate which he hesitated to do because "it would ruin the presentation". Well.... since she could not eat it that way I don't think the presentation really mattered anymore! The dish was also underspiced to me and although there was ample cheese it did not seem well incorporated with the dish - either you got a huge chunk of cheese or veggies with tomato sauce.

There are several other menu items I'd like to try at Fern including the beet tagliatelle and the Tribal tacos as well as the arancini. There is really a wide variety here so hopefully next time we will have better luck with the food. In May a Farmer Dinner was offered which sounds fun as well - perhaps they will offer this again soon.

Ferns!



Roasted Cauliflower.



OM Burger with NC Hoop Cheddar and quinoa salad.



Deconstructed roasted eggplant and zucchini parmesan.

Libretto's Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen

Eggplant Parmesan lunch special.

Soon after arriving in Charlotte I dined at Libretto's Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen for lunch with a family friend who works in a similar field. There are two area Libretto's: this one is in Ballantyne and the second one is uptown at the EpiCentre. Additionally, there is a NYC location and a fourth location in Jacksonville, Florida.

Libretto's serves a full Italian menu with specialty pizzas, salads, soups, traditional entrees and pastas as well as heros, wings, calzones and desserts. For lunch there are some great specials including the eggplant parm special that I tried. To start, we shared some of the delicious, buttery, garlic knots served with tomato sauce for dipping. These are truly worth the carbs and were great with the salad that comes with the lunch special (salad not pictured). The eggplant parmesan includes choice of pasta with sauce and it's a huge portion! I took half home for later. The dish itself was quite pleasing, with a well-balanced tomato sauce, lots of cheese and plenty of eggplant goodness. The pasta was also tasty with that same great tomato sauce.

I had one odd thing happen when I went to the restroom - I won't go into great detail but let's just say that the restroom needed some real attention! I mention this mainly because as soon as I told our waiter about the problem we noticed that the staff shut down the restroom for cleaning - a good sign that they actually checked out the issue when I brought it to their attention. Service was actually quite good overall, which is always welcome.

I really enjoyed my visit to Libretto's and I look forward to trying them out again soon for another lunch or for dinner. They are also prepared for folks who want takeout also as you can order pizza near the door and take it to-go. I will be back!

Garlic knots.

The Original Italian Pie - Charlotte

During our last visit to Charlotte we tried The Original Italian Pie for pizza and salads. This is a franchise with a dozen outposts in Louisiana and one in Texas. This is the only location in North Carolina.

We split the Italian salad and the Caesar salad along with a large Roasted Eggplant pizza from the "Gourmet Pizza" section. The salads were pretty average, although fresh and the pizza was better than expected. This particular pizza is made with "zesty garlic sauce" and includes fresh mushroom, fresh tomato, sauteed onions and feta as well as mozzarella and the roasted eggplant. My dad previously ordered takeout here and was pleased, but for pizza it's best to eat it right out of the oven, of course. I look forward to trying the calzones and the oven-baked sandwiches here.

Gu's Bistro

Tea smoked duck with scallions and ginger.

While my dad was visiting we took a group out to Gu's Bistro, a fairly new Szechuan Chinese spot just OTP in a strip mall on Buford Highway. This is now one of my new favorites, mostly because of the unique, delicious dishes served and the huge menu. Gu's also offers dim sum set lunch meals available by reservation on some weekends. Once a large enough group makes a reservation, other smaller parties can too and the dim sum is served course by course individually, instead of on carts. I really want to do this soon! The smoked duck and cumin lamb were outstanding as was the eggplant, which had just the right level of spice without the grease that sometimes accompanies this dish. I will definitely be back. This is definitely a fun new destination in the Atlanta area.

Menu - they have a traditional Szechuan menu as well as the American favorites for your non-adventurous friends.



Eggplant with garlic sauce.



Cumin lamb - very spicy and delicious - not for those who can't handle a little heat!



Salt and pepper jumbo shrimp - just wondering, why no squid?!



Chengdu dumplings - Zhong style - delicious and flavorful.

Fran's Filling Station - Charlotte

Huge salad with grilled salmon.

Fran's Filling Station is a relatively new addition to the Dilworth dining scene. Located on Park Road across the street from the American Red Cross, Fran's functions as a place nice enough to take company but inexpensive enough for a casual dinner anytime. Restauranteur and owner Fran Scibelli serves a varied, tasty menu including soups, sandwiches and salads as well as some heavier entrees. Having dined here twice recently, the second time indulging in dessert, I recommend Fran's wholeheartedly. Try the grapenut pudding if it is offered - a real New England treat not usually found down south.

Special fries plain and (back) with blue cheese.



Chicken sandwich - I can't remember which variety!



Greek salad with seared tuna.




Eggplant parmesan.



Burger with fries.

Thai It Up!

Lemon Sea Bass and Spicy Eggplant with Chicken

Little Bangkok on Cheshire Bridge Road is one of my favorite hole in the wall ethnic restaurants. I was first introduced to it by my cousins Joanne and Craig, and as it's quite near where I live and where I work, I've been a regular there since I moved to Atlanta. One of the keys to dining here is to recognize the small specials list that stays on each table. The lemongrass steamed sea bass is like a flavor explosion in your mother - really a unique and tasty dish. Little Bangkok will tailor the spiciness of the dishes to your taste and thankfully, if you ask for it spicy, it really is hot!