Mmmmmmmmmm....

I have found a little slice of heaven in Kansas City.

Bravo! Cucina Italiana is a small chain of restaurants across the central and eastern parts of the U.S. of A. My friend/coworker had been talking this place up as one of the best places to eat that is close to our place of residence. We decided to partake in this culinary event this evening so that should anything go wrong, I would have a day to recover before having to board my flights back to the top o' the panhandle.

Two things to say: oh my goodness, it was meant to be.

First a disclaimer; I didn't have Italian food when I was there. The special for the evening was grilled trout over pan-fried red potatoes with fresh green beans. I was tired of "heavy foods" (such as all you can eat pork ribs and fried foods) and when the waitress said "trout", I was sold. By FAR, that had to be the best trout I have EVER had from a restaurant (in other words, 3c trout is still the best...you know - trout I caught, cleaned, and cooked or the 3c). Perfect flavor, perfect consistency (not too dry, not undercooked), perfect color. It was so perfect, the butter-lemon sauce did the trout injustice. The veggies were impeccable, the taters reminded me of the german-style taters my Oma would cook and the green beans were like those we would pick out of our garden and cook. I could have...no, should have stopped there...but I didn't

The waitress came out and asked if we wanted any desert and once again when she said "chocolate cake", I was sold. 5 minutes later, the Torta Di Cioccolata arrived. As the menu states: "Rich chocolate cake with warm center topped with vanilla bean gelato". Oh no. That is NOT what this thing is. Try a chocolate torte with a warm, gooey dark chocolate center topped with what most Americans would call ice-cream but in fact actually is more of a custard made with raw eggs and flavored with aged/authentic vanilla beans. All I can say: heaven.

So here I am sitting on the couch watching the latest "storm chaser" show on Discovery. All I can think of is a line Homer Simpson said: "belly button going from innie...to...outie...". Even though I'm a bit stuffed, it was well worth it.

Food coma...here I come.