Hello blog readers, today I am going to do something different and depending on the response I get, I may do this on a monthly to biweekly basis...I'm going to review a restaurant. Now, mind you, I am not a food critic by any standards, but I could be and maybe this is a way for me to get started. Who knows? I am, after all, a chef. So, here goes!
Tonight, I am going to tell you of my experience with the restaurant Levanti's American Bistro, located in the quaint little western Pennsylvania town of Beaver. It is right on the main drag through town, also known as 3rd Street. Let me give you a brief history of this restaurant and how I came to be dining in this particular pervayer of cooked food. This is a family run restaurant that started out as an italian restaurant. This restaurant was featured two weeks ago on Gordon Ramsay's show, Kitchen Nightmares. According to the show, it was run by a brother and sister, I dont know their names. The restaurant was financed by their father. There was a lot of bickering going on between the brother and sister, they let their food standards slip, and as a result, they contacted Gordon to come and fix their issues in a week, according to the show. Gordon caught them serving tomato sauce that was moldy and sitting in a baine marie, the chicken was slimy and green cause it was so old and spoiled, so he stopped service and forced them to shut down till things got cleaned up, etc etc. That's how it went according to the show. Gordon gave them a new interior, cleaned up their act, and got them on the path to success. Show over. I actually passed the camera crew while they were filming the show back in June. This is now Febuary, and seems that business has slowed since the filming of the show, and when the show aired, I'm sure that a lot of people did not want to go to their restaurant as they may have slipped back to their old ways, as is common with those that Gordon helps. Needless to say, a friend of mine called and said "hey Gene, let's go to Levanti's and give them a try!". However, I will say I was very reluctant to go eat at this particular establishment due to the show. I finally went, preconceived notions and all. I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised!
When I walked in the door, I could see that the interior was warm and inviting...that was expected as Gordon and his film crew spent a lot of money to revamp their interior. The place was practically empty, so I immediately thought, "ok, so they went back to their ways and are suffering for it. Here we go, sigh..", but we were seated immediately and we ordered our drinks, and were given nice menus that seemed to fit a bistro. My friend ordered the wild mushroom marsala, and I ordered the wild mushroom burger with seasoned fries, salad, and as an appetizer, thai barbeque buffalo wings. When I got the wings, there seemed to be little on the plate, just a few of them. Now mind you, these are NOT wings, they are chicken tenderloins, so they are boneless and very meaty. They served them with a ranch dipping sauce and a homemade blue cheese dipping sauce. They were very delicious and even with their few numbers, quite sufficient. To me, it was a perfect combination of thai barbeque and buffalo sauce. Then came our salads. The mixed greens were perfect, the tomatoes a little ripe as they should have been firm to the bite. Yet, very flavorful. It was a perfect pallet cleansing salad. Then, our main course came. I must say I was quite shocked at the size of the burger, it was so small, I thought they made a mistake and served me a slider, as they have those on the menu as well. About that time, as I was looking over the small stature of my burger, the father came in and was interacting with customers as he walked around the dining room. I told him that the burger seems a little small, but he insisted that it was filling. So, I took the chance. Please indulge me here a bit as I describe this burger to you. This is a beef patty that is covered in mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, topped with lettuce that is tossed in a mayonnaise that is infused with truffle oil. I have to say that they did go a little heavy on the truffle oil, but still was very tasty! They gave enough seasoned fries that you would easily fill up on as well. I have no real complaints about the burger. Yes, I was very surprised at how well that burger filled me up. Now mind you, I'm a guy that can eat an entire large pizza by myself!
My friend ordered the wild mushroom marsala, and I tasted this as well. Wow, the different nuances of the many flavors danced upon my taste buds! They had the perfect combination of garlic, cream, marsala wine, and mushroom and chicken in this particular dish. Not too much sauce, just enough to flavor the penne pasta that was in the dish as well. Amazingly, they did it in such a way that you could taste each and every individual flavor! The only real disappointment was the dessert. I ordered their tiramisu. Unfortunately, this particular dessert was rather bland. Everything else was pretty much perfect. If those who work at Levanti's are reading this, can I suggest something? A little more sugar to your tiramisu and I'm sure it will be perfect. So, there you have it. I give them a four star rating! If you are ever in the town of Beaver, Pa. and need a good place to eat, I strongly suggest you stop in and check out what is going on at Levanti's American Bistro. I dont think you will be disappointed, and the prices are just right!
