07/29/2011 - QC Foodie - D'Alessandro's

La pasta delizioso at D'Alessandro's in Rock Island. This was my third visit since I saw their commercial on TV and exclaimed, Oh! That restaurant looks good, I HAVE to go there! to one of my daughters who was in the room with me at the time, several months ago. I love the background story behind this restaurant of Rosa and her mother, Guilia from the Abruzzi region of Italy. http://d-alessandrorestaurant.com/ My fiance Ricardo and I were greeted by a friendly Italian grandmotherly-woman, whom I assume is Rosa, the founder and previous owner, herself on our first two visits. There always seems to be some sort of large gathering such as a birthday party, going on so it has been a festive, lively atmosphere on my excursions there.

We started with a house salad, which came with Italian dressing. We were served a warm baguette with olive oil, Parmesan and butter on the side. The bread was nice and crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. I have to report that the salad on this occasion was disappointing in comparison to the last visits. Perhaps we were there a bit late in the evening and they were at the bottom of the salad bin, but the lettuce was really wilted this time. In previous visits the salad was much better but was still made with iceberg lettuce.

We ordered a bottle of Placido Chianti 2009 and found it complementary with our pasta dishes. It had a strong bouquet, which the menu described as violets, and it was balanced (not too dry, not sweet) and smooth. The Tuscany wine region of central Italy is home to some of the world's most famous and highly regarded wines http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-28024-2009-placido-chianti-docg-tuscany-italy .

I had the Chicken Parmesan this time (I had lasagna last time) and Ricardo had Manacotti since on previous visit he had Veal Parmesan. The handmade pasta is terrific and the quality is really a different texture and taste than the rehydrated dried pasta. The sauce is delightful and I wish it was available for sale by the bottle. We both enjoyed our dinners and Ricardo was left wishing he had more. We enjoyed our night out, Italian-style, and if I wasn't curious about sampling other restaurants in the Quads, I would probably be back for a fourth visit soon.