Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Carrabas! Carrabas! Carrabas!



I had a marvelous experience at Carrabas this Saturday - all thanks to the brilliant and unique Tastemaker Program through Foodbuzz and the fantastic staff at Carrabas.

We arrived on Saturday at noon. There were no other patrons as the doors are closed until 4. There were about fifteen to twenty Foodbuzzers and Guests. My guest and I was the first to arrive. We walk into the double doors and are escorted to a bar right in front of the kitchen. A few minutes later the festivities started…..

The kitchen was amazing with all the water boiling and the mind blowing aroma of garlic and spices.


The Managing Partner of Carrabas, Angela Gutierrez, entered the kitchen and introduced herself and began cooking up a storm. Angela descriptively gave us the directions of each dish. She was incredible.



The first dish the Foodbuzz Tastemakers tried was Carrabas Calamari. The Calamari is lightly breaded and served with their marinara sauce. The Calamari was tender and cooked to perfection. It was my guest first time in trying Calamari and she enjoyed it immensely

The second dish was the simple but delightful Tag Pic Pact. Roma Tomatoes, Garlic, Olive Oil and Basil is all. The garlic was caramelized and had a delightful taste. It was served a top homemade pasta! The pasta alone was to die for!

I loved this photo...I had to include it!
This special sauce is jammin' - for all you G-Love fans.
Angela is cooking the dish and serving it to the Foodbuzz Tastemakers.
The finished product. Look at that huge slice of garlic at the end of my fork! It tasted so yummy.
Angela is showing us the garlic and oil used to make this dish and how it caramelized the garlic.


The third dish was undeniably my favorite dish, The Linguine Pescatore. This dish contains massive tender scallops, Prince Edward Mussels, and Shrimp. It is tossed in a spicy tomato sauce containing crushed red pepper. I finished the entire dish. I am ready for a nap.

What a beautiful dish. It was topped with lots of freshly chopped parsley. YUM!






Sea food, see...






Service!




Mmmhh. It is almost gone. Oh. I miss this dish. I need a Carrabas fix SOON!
As for our last dish, my stomach would not allow me to finish it. Penne Franco is a light sauce using the pasta water, garlic, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives and topped with freshly grated ricotta salata. Angela served ours with roast chicken. Oh my! The chicken was to die for!
simple. beautiful.
The char marks from their grill. It is cooked with wood under a grill!! I am not sure what kind of wood, but you could taste they smokey taste in the chicken. They used their own seasoning mix on top of the chicken.


Angela grating fresh Ricotta Salata on top of our pasta dishes.

We were not disappointed! Every dish was simple, yet flavorful and delightful!

Last but not least...THE DESSERT!!! We had a variety! My guest loved the Cannoli one and ate three of them! The first dessert is strawberry, banana and pineapple with whip cream and it was amazing! The second was a chocolate moose with nuts. The third and final was the cannoli cream with crushed up pistachios. Wow.....


I do not think words can describe how unforgettable this dinner was. I am now a huge Carrabas fan!
Thank you Foodbuzz Tastemakers and Carrabas for the most amazing dinner!!