Erin's Review
As a thank you to Kate for taking such beautiful photos of Annie, I wanted to treat her to dinner. We finally were both available and since it was such a beautiful summer night, we wanted a patio. I had just driven by Muffuletta last weekend, and remembered how much I wanted to go back - it's not a restaurant that gets a ton of press, so sometimes it's not exactly at the top of my mind. Ben and I did visit Muffuletta before, before we even started the blog. It is perhaps the most pathetic post that we have, so I knew I wanted to update anyway :) Some of Kate's foodie peeps over at Heavy Table said that Muffuletta is doing awesome things right now, so she was in.
I arrived at exactly 7:30 to find Kate already sitting on the patio - Muffuletta is in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood, which is quite cute. While Como is a pretty busy street, the patio is separated enough by being on a deck that it doesn't feel as crowded or loud as some sidewalk patios. The server came around and noticed me taking photos - she made a comment about it being a photoshoot which we both basically ignored. I think she was looking for an explanation but we both just said, yup, we'll be taking photos and that was that :)
Muffuletta has some great deals right now - a $10 special every night of the week. Luckily for us, Monday's special is $10 bottles of wine, so we quickly ordered a red to split. When the server brought it out, I indicated that Kate would be tasting, and Kate noticed that it wasn't the same wine she ordered. After a bit of back and forth over if we wanted the actual wine that was on the list, Kate finally decided to own up to her snobbery and preference for California cabs versus Argentinian and the server was happy to go back and exchange the bottle. I left that decision solely up to Kate as most know that I'm DFW (down for whatever) when it comes to wine.
Since I wanted a heavy pasta type dish for my entree, I ordered the heirloom tomato salad to start. I also have been missing tomatoes this August, as our CSA has suffered tomato blight for the 2nd year in a row. I used to hate tomatoes, but since joining a CSA have grown to love them, so it is sad to have boxes in August with no tomatoes! The salads came out quickly - I loved my salad, it was the perfect mix of tomatoes, melon and basil with just a bit of dressing and cheese but nothing overpowering. Delicious! Kate's beet salad looked gorgeous as well.
I ordered the ravioli for my main course since I mainly just wanted something cheesy. It certainly didn't disappoint, and in addition to the gooey cheesiness of each bite, I loved the tomato sauce as well. There was just the right amount for me to get my fill and have a tiny bit left over. It also seemed to go well with the wine. I had a bite of Kate's gnocchi which I think I got last time and it was definitely delicious - the hint of lemon made it feel a bit lighter.
We hung out for awhile as the sun went down - I love late August evenings where it's still quite warm in the evenings, perfect patio nights. If you haven't been to Muffuletta in awhile, or have never been there before, I definitely recommend making a trip!
Deets
2260 Como Ave
St. Paul, MN
