drago

after being totally depressed by march madness, all i wanted was to get my social time over with. i really didn't want to see anyone or do anything.

fortunately/unfortunately, i'd made plans w/ruby (em, and ed) for dinner -- and it would've been totally rude to cancel last-minute, especially w/ruby coming from 3000 miles away and me being depressed by sports (of all things). so after conferring w/all the necessary parties, i decided to push dinner up, instead of cancelling completely. thankfully, the restaurant would accommodate us (which was lovely), and the girls (plus ed) were up for eating earlier as well. (personally, i don't like eating after 7:30 -- i know, i'm such a grandma.)

even though i really just wasn't sure what the cross streets were, it was still really good to get off the bus, walk around a bit, and tear up about the game before dinner. the one annoying thing was that i was in the midst of telling miki how depressed i was when two random girls in UCLA shirts piped up with "we're depressed too" right behind me. granted, i might've been a bit loud (though i swear i wasn't), but i hate when strangers join in your PHONE conversation w/o being invited. i mean, that's just totally RUDE. (ok, unless you're k-love or psycho-t or something.)

at any rate, i found my way to the restaurant just in time. (apparently, i'd been so distracted by my depression that i totally missed poor ruby waving at me and calling my name -- eek!) as soon as we walked in, we were seated right away in a side room. given how quickly the hostess had said yes to my request for moving up the reservation, i'd been worried that the place was going to be empty. thankfully, there were groups already in the midst of dinner, which made for a nice dining atmosphere.

as soon as we were seated, our slightly eager waiter offered two amuse-bouche (how do you pluralize this?) for our enjoyment -- a fried corn/rice fritter (which made me a little sick just looking at it after having ingested all the fried stuff at the brew co.) and a basic bruschetta. at this point, i wasn't remotely hungry, so i'd convinced myself to have nothing but veggies all night. that being said, i found the fritter (and yes, i did eat it) pretty tasty (though not as much as if i'd been eating it on an empty stomach). i didn't even bother touching the bruschetta, especially since i'm a fan of neither the bruschetta nor the basic bread it's made from.

some may find it odd that i chose italian (since i generally hate italian), but i know ruby & em love italian, and i always make it a point to push myself to go to places i don't like b/c i inevitably find something i enjoy on the menu. and it's always good to sample other people's food -- as long as they're up for it!

while there were so many other things i would've tried if i'd been less full, i ordered the basic insalata primavera w/mixed greens, roasted bell peppers, grilled eggplant & goat cheese (all of which i love) as well as the vegetable minestrone soup (very basic). i thought both dishes were quite excellent, and i almost freaked out when the waiter tried to take my salad away too soon. (yes, the service was VERY attentive.) em picked the cavatelli w/venison ragout, which looked like little green beans, but tasted divine w/the venison flavor infused into the pasta. ruby chose the penne w/cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, & crispy eggplant, which is what i would've chosen (b/c of all the veggies) if i actually ate pasta (which i don't -- at least in regular servings). the dish totally tasted like fresh veggies (though i must say that the crispy eggplant was a little weird), which made it seem like it would've been just as good as a salad (thereby nixing the pasta).

ed, a seasoned foodie (from what i was told), decided to let the waiter pick for him. a very classy move, i must say, and one that served him well. b/c the waiter picked exactly what he would've picked if he'd had to pick -- the wide fettuccine in a pheasant & morel mushroom sauce. while i wasn't a fan of the flat pasta (i suppose i prefer the chinese ho fun), the sauce was AMAZING. next to duck, pheasant may seriously be my next favorite foul. (i'd consider quail, but they can be quite small.) and of course, anything w/mushrooms is DIVINE.

after a fun night of catching up and conversing about random stuff (which was oh-so-therapeutic for me considering my earlier depressed state), we decided to skip dessert (even though the menu looked oh-so-good) and find some shaved ice on sawtelle instead (especially since ruby hadn't experienced it out in LA).

while i may not enjoy italian, i must recognize a hit when it's a hit. and the group definitely seemed to think drago was a hit. thanks to bud bundy for his recommendation!

drago
2628 wilshire blvd
santa monica, ca 90403
310.828.1585

http://www.celestinodrago.com/