La Conca D’oro Takeout – April 2020 (dt)
6.60 – 8, 7.25, 7, 6.8, 6.5, 6.25, 5.5, 5.5
Once again, takeout was the only option.
The Notar pick was La Conca on Catskill’s Main Street, with
Mark & Joyce gathering six orders, with the other two done
separately.
We have twice made DP8 visits to La Conca D’oro (2007, 2016)
although several of us have enjoyed takeout, particularly Monday
nights.
Italian, it is.
Orders this evening included:
Karnes
Teator
Notarnicola
Pisano & Burhouse
All meals came with an accompanying greens salad, a basic salad
– a handful of greens, two cherry tomatoes, a few shreds of
carrots, dressing of choice. An eight inch baguette was also
included, a crunchy Italian recipe.
One can see by the scores that the results were all over the
place. Only one of the chicken frutti de mare dish was deemed
good; one was especially disappointing (too thin a broth, not
much chicken). A meh for another chicken dish (was it dry or not
done?), a couple of just satisfactory, with perhaps three ratings
of good. Surprising for La Conca, usually a dependable.
Prices per couple clumped close to $50: two main courses, perhaps
an extra, tax, and good tip.
Ambiance, of course, was of our own making, except for Lynda and
Ross who dined with the Teators, with two extra leaves in the
table to enable adequate spacing.
Service: I hope your waiters were worthy. I heard only
compliments!
And, yes, there was dessert. Once again, Deb provided way over
the top, with a cake cover bowl turned upside down encasing a
quarter-cake: a six inch stack of dark chocolate cake infused
with bourbon with bourbon infused buttercream and pecan filling
and bourbon infuse chocolate buttercream frosting. (see photo).
Initially, it looked as if it might be fluffy but the first nudge
of the knife told just the opposite – fudgy, borderline dense,
creamy icing layers, crunch of nuts, grand chocolate flavor. D4
– Deb’s delightfully delicious decadence. Our table of four
almost finished one of the pieces meant for two. The half of the
other we kept was a delicious reminder for the next couple days.
Deb, thank you again, for the extravaganca. It was enough to make
teeth drop.*
What else? At our table, and commentary in passing of food, and
in notes:
The obvious big topic was COVID-19 and the
degrees to which life has changed for now. If we stay in our own
house and on our own property, life is generally normal. It is
the venturing outward that has changed. The fact we are doing
takeout. Wearing masks almost every place. Following arrows on
store floors. Not stopping in for a drink or going to dinner. Not
attending church. Not… not… not… And we know it is
nationwide and worldwide. Figuring out who is essential and who
is not. Throw in politics and bleach and billions in bailouts for
companies that do not need them… ok, onward.
Still, life is full. Readying the gardens
occupies everyone who gardens, with talk of new plants and old
favorites. At least one golfer, maybe three, has been out a
couple of times. It seems like everyone is walking more than
ever, with the Karnes and Kalli sometimes joined by Don emerging
from the woods on Weed Rd. And Zoom-ing has taken on a new
meaning and lifestyle, replacing social gatherings that were
Zumba class, get-togethers with family and friends, etc.
Other topics: an April 23 that felt more
like February 23, an update on Lynda’s hip, lots of TV and
puzzles, cleaning up the woods across the street, testing for
COVID, Kieron and Dylan staying at East Conesville with new &
working Internet, running, no Freihofer run, weather allowing
outdoor projects between snow squalls and wind bursts, mulching,
lots of baking, testing new dessert recipes, the postponement or
cancellation of so many sporting events, what would have been if
we were still teaching, transplanting, our animals enjoying more
human contact, someone fishing one’s teeth out of the cake (the
rest of us laughing so hard we could cry), wondering how our DP8
compadres were doing, Dennis in SC, Kerry with his first medical
emergency, everyone cleaning out closets, missing town meetings,
lots of painting in the Teator Gallery, selling a painting at
Brasserie while it was closed, watching the grass green up,
minimal cycling, takeout food at Jake Moon, and lots more stuff,
despite CV boundaries that reshape our everyday routines.
Perhaps, the return of the Monteverds will
signal a return to normal with Ken being able to ask, So, what
was happening in Greene County while we were gone?! ha
the attached photos: the hand-off of food orders; the frutti de
mare; and CAKE