dinner out with my “star of the week”

Ms. Lori, my daughter Alyssa’s wonderful teacher at the KidNet Learning Center, has many creative ways of inspiring her Pre-K class, one of which is picking a different “Star of the Week” each Friday.

Alyssa was thrilled to be selected, and to celebrate, we took her to dinner at the neighborhood restaurant of her choice. She picked Luna Rossa by
Biagio Lamberti in Turnersville, NJ.

The restaurant was renovated last summer and the newly designed interior is casual, but inviting. A friendly smile and warm welcome from the owners greet you upon entering. The servers are all extremely knowledgeable and very accommodating of families with children. As with all of the Lamberti family restaurants, a huge basket of warm breads is served as soon as you are seated.

We started off our meal with the Mozzarella Sticks (a must for dining with small children) and Fred and I each had a cup of the homemade Escarole soup. The soup was rich and thick and made with spicy Italian Sausage, which gave it a nice kick.

For dinner, the kids shared a personal cheese pizza from the children’s menu. It was large enough for them to both be satisfied, and they took some home, too. Fred selected the Shrimp & Scallops Bella Festa -white jumbo shrimp and pan-seared scallops, with fresh tomato and white wine in an olive oil sauce. I chose the House Specialty, Chicken Abruzzi, two breasts sautéed in a shallot brandy cream sauce with fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. The portions were quite generous and we enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day.

For wine, I selected two of my favorite choices for Italian BYOB restaurants, the 2006 Cantina del Castello Soave Classico and the 2004 Ca La Bionda Valpolicella Ravazzol. The versatility of the wines made them a nice accompaniment to both the seafood and chicken dishes.

It was a rare treat (and challenge as anyone who is the parent of a three year old knows) for us to go out to dinner as a family, but the wonderful people at Luna Rossa made it a special night for my “Star of the Week”.

Download the tasting notes for these wines in PDF format.

Posted by Megan Shawver

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