Peppino's

A good friend can be someone who encourages you to hit the gym even when you don't want to...but she also knows when to just say 'screw it' and go out to eat! Balance, people, balance. Kelli & I were planning to hit the gym one chilly night last week when she bribed me instead: she'd buy me dinner if I went out with her instead of hitting the gym. It was cold, we were both tired, and we were even more hungry, so I readily accepted. We walked about 10 blocks to one of her favorite Bay Ridge spots: Peppino's.

Peppino's has the checkered tablecloths (that plastic, picnic-type cloth) and a brick oven and smells a lot like garlic. Yum. Kelli suggested we get both the mozzarella and tomato salad (which serves 2) and the bruschetta. I agreed on the condition we'd split the entrée. We came to a delicious agreement and quickly ordered. This place was hopping, but we had fast and friendly service all night.

The bruschetta came out quickly, and I could smell the garlicky deliciousness wafting up from the plate. It was on a loaf, as opposed to smaller slices I've normally seen,but it wasn't too thick or dense. This tasted super fresh and super crunchy--a win. We ate this quickly and happily.

The tomato-mozzarella salad came out next, and it was good, but not my favorite. I'm kind of spoiled now--I prefer this salad with the Mozzarella di Bufala, but that's also very expensive, so I haven't made that in some time. ;) I did also wish we had more basil on it, but overall, it was a simple, flavorful dish. Halfway through I realized there were strips of roasted red pepper underneath, which made me even happier.

We split a calzone (9 dollars) with meatballs. Since the calzone didn't come with red sauce, we decided to be infidels and order some red sauce on the side (I LOVE RED SAUCE!) The sauce came in a gravy boat, which we passed between each other during the meal. The sauce was a little thinner than I'd like, and the tomato flavor wasn't super-rich, but it did the job for adding something extra to the calzone. And yeah, the portion you're seeing on my plate is ONE HALF of a regular calzone. Holy waistband!

Desserts are pretty basic here--I think they are all pre-made, but who cares when they feature some of my favorites? This place carries tortoni, the almond-amaretto-coconut crack dessert that comes in a little paper cup. Yum. I love this stuff. It came with a serving of whipped cream even bigger than the little cup--this meal definitely doesn't count as healthy eats! Scrumptious? Yes.

Kel got the lemon sorbet, served inside the peel of an actual lemon. This was ONE TART TREAT...almost face-collapsingly tart! I expected super-sweet, but that was not the case. This was brisk, refreshing, and better than I thought it would be!

This was my view of Peppino's: good, simple, basic Italian. It's no-frills, it's family-friendly, and it's affordable. A good standby in the Ridge.