Bill and I decided that it wouldn’t do to drink our dinner on Saturday night. So we decided to head back down the hill to a wine shop/osteria I had noticed during our earlier walk. We neglected to make reservations, which was kind of a mistake. Fortunately, there was an available table at Osteria Monti when we arrived at about seven o’clock. We took a seat and proceeded to enjoy a fantastic dinner.
This place has wine for purchase as well as a delightful restaurant.
Bill decides on dinner. I noticed a lot of tables had been booked, but most of the people never showed up. By the time we left at about 9:30, the reserved tables were still empty and had been all evening. The couple sitting behind Bill brought their well-behaved dog with them and the staff brought out a bowl of water. Given what we discovered later, we should have brought ours, too.
This wine was superb! I’m definitely going to look for it around here.
The amuse. This was warm octopus with tomatoes and peppers. It was delicious.
I had a substantial starter. These were shrimp fried in phyllo and served with fried potatoes and a mild, citrusy sauce. They were a hit with me!
Bill had dried beef, which was flavorful and satisfying. I preferred my shrimp, though.
For dinner, I had Iberian pork served with mashed potatoes and mustard. This pork was absolutely delicious. It was tender, flavorful, and cooked to perfection. And it was just the right size.
Bill had Irish beef with lentils, again perfectly cooked to medium.
A pre-dessert dessert– vanilla chantilly with a dash of strawberry.
And I had a lime and gin ice cream creation. The ice cream was so creamy and rich that it reminded me of custard. That’s probably what it actually was.
Bill had moist chocolate cake with hazelnut and pistachio ice cream. Our bill came to 115 euros and it was worth every euro cent.
The walk back to the apartment was very pleasant. There was a warm breeze and the air smelled of flowers. Little did we know, we’d come back to a mess. While we were gone, Arran the mischief maker managed to pull a crate full of supplies off the counter. In the crate were a couple of partially eaten chocolate bars, an entire bag of expensive Orijen dog treats, and a small bag of dry dog food. Arran helped himself to the dog treats and the dog food and ate part of the chocolate.
As most dog owners know, chocolate is toxic to dogs. Fortunately, the bars we had were not especially dark chocolate and Arran didn’t eat all of them. I think he got about 100 grams. Also, Arran apparently didn’t let Zane get into the booty because only Arran was looking pregnant.
Naturally, we were upset about the mess and the potential chocolate poisoning. I went looking to see if the area had emergency vets. Of course, both Bill and I had also been drinking wine at dinner, so neither of us was in any condition to drive. As it turned out, Arran was totally fine. He didn’t even so much as suffer a loose bowel movement or vomit even once. For those who are wondering, yes, there are emergency vets near Domaso. Fortunately, we didn’t have to pay a visit there.
We didn’t sleep well on Saturday night, though, because we were worried about Arran getting very sick. Next time, we will do a better job of beagle proofing. The kitchen in the apartment where we were staying does have a closing door. In retrospect, we should have closed the door and that would have prevented this little mishap. Lesson learned.
Just before Bill and I got married back in 2002, our dog CC broke into some chocolate that I hadn’t hidden well enough. CC ate about two pounds of Hershey’s Kisses and Dove candies that I had used as wedding favors. He did get pretty sick, although we were able to take care of him at home. This situation with Arran wasn’t nearly as dramatic as that one was. Every once in awhile, we have to be reminded not to get too complacent. Consider us reminded.