Va. Bene.

So all my neighbors and even my mom keep raving about this little Italian restaurant down the block called Peperoncino... I've walked past it regularly for a couple of years now but have never gone in - to be honest it seemed pretty indistinguishable from the hundreds of other "rustic, cozy" pizza-and-pasta joints that line 5th Ave. However, there was one key difference - it's about 30 yards from my front door. And ever since they started writing up their daily specials on a little chalkboard out front, I've been going out of my way to pass it every day, often dragging my poor dog past the wafting scent of grilled meat and hot pizza, to see what's cooking - fried artichokes, stuffed portabellos, risottos of every style and flavor, and many items featuring seafood and shellfish, a delicacy I was deprived of during my time in Tuscany (it's rather inland, you know) and thus have a special spot in my heart for.... So finally, one lazy evening, Danny and I caved and decided to give it a go....

And damn, had we sold it short. Right away they sat us down with a basket of warm bread and a scrumptious sun dried tomato-roasted chili olive oil dipping sauce, which was so delicious we felt like we were stealing. We didn't even get the chance to look over the menu before the waiter arrived and listed special after mouthwatering special... we took a look over the actual menu, which sounded equally delicious, but we were already sold, and ordered the two pasta specials that had us drooling from the start - I obviously went for my old standby, linguini con frutti di mare, but this one set the standard, as they used fresh linguini neri (pasta infused with squid ink, giving it a deep, almost black color and rich, salty flavor), topped with some sweet crushed tomatoes and fruity olive oil, and lots of plump, juicy clams, mussels, calamari, and even a few halved langoustines... and for the boy, the proportionally heartier, house-made shredded beef tortelli (a.k.a. bigass tortellini) with prosciutto and spring peas in a light cream sauce (I can't lie, I definitely pulled a little order-management with this one.. "Ooh, the linguini neri and tortelli both sound so good... why don't we just get both and share them?"... classic. You know you love me...).

After enjoying every glorious second of it, we could have easily stopped there... but of course, they had to bring over the dessert menu. Those bastards. We tried to order the night's special, torta di mela, or apple cake, which we ate all the time in Italy and were so excited to have found in the states, but alas - the couple before us ordered the last slice of the night. THOSE bastards. So we settled (HAH. Settled. Yeah right) for a delicious tiramisu... which was gone in about .2 seconds. Fat and happy, we hobbled home (all .5 blocks of it) and collapsed onto the couch. I see this becoming a habit veery very soon...