Lunch at Sarti's

Since we returned from our holiday in Sicily, I have not got around to update my blog... as soon as I open my laptop, instead of updating this, I have been busy looking up information of small dogs for a possible family pet for our home. My husband is not convinced - no more holidays in sunny Italy or Spain, instead it would be a daily walkie with a pet dog in British weather that can have 4 seasons in one day!

Neverthless, my husband reluctantly agreed to come with me to visit some dog shelters. We have seen gorgeous white Alaskan Huskies, huge mastiff with adorable face and laid-back rottweiler but all too big for us. Last Saturday, we went to Dogs Trust and saw cute Lakeland terrier that has some serious problem with socialising, which mean that he is too difficult to be re-homed. We also met absolutely lovable 9 month old staffordshire bull terrier, but unfortunately still a big for us and a bit too energetic.
I am now thinking of Bishon Fries or Shih Tzu - they are small, cute and low shedding, AND they don't need much exercise that would suit me! However it is very unlikely that I can find them in a dog shelter so I would need to start looking elsewhere. Search continuous, I declare, while my husband shaking his head in dismay. So, we did not come home with any dog after all.

Anyway, back to main business. Before we went to the Dogs Trust, we went back to Sarti's for lunch. This time we opted for set lunch menu. The restaurant gave us a basket of complimentary focaccia bread to start with, which was really really delicious! We like to dip it into olive oil and balsamic vinegar but sometimes we may have it with olive oil and chilli puree or olive oil with garlic puree...

We ordered 2 glasses of house rose but as this was running out, the Manager recommended us to try something different - we tried this Bardolino rose, Bardolino Chiretto, which was really really nice. (Bardolino is by Lake Garda, north of Italy.)

For main course my husband had a generous portion of lovely mushroom soup and I had roasted red peppers and mozzarella salad, and as usual, the cheese was so soft and creamy it just melted in the mouth...

For main course, we both had penne with tomato sauce with roasted peppers, cherry tomatoes and mushroom and we asked for lots of parmesan on top!

And to finish off, we both had cappuccino. Cappuccino is breakfast coffee so Italians don't have this for lunch or after lunch as it's too heavy. We don't mind and we are not in Italy, so we had it anyway!

To tell you the truth, halfway through the main course I was so full and could not finish the pasta that I actually asked for a doggy bag! Yes, I know, how could I ask for a doggy bag at Sarti's!!! I have no shame ... plus the pasta was really tasty and it would be an absolute crime and shame not to finish it.

So in the end, we did not come home with a doggy but we did come home with a doggy bag!!!