panini (mmmm) dessert mayhem is good thing

vijzelgracht 3/5,
amsterdam
(020) 626 49 39

summary:

food: 8 (7.5 for fresh sandwiches and 8.5 for delicious desserts)
service: 8.5 (our server was outstanding; attentive, interactive, and efficient)
decor: 7.5 (comfortable and relaxed)

mmm rating:

mmmm/mmmmm

comments:

Yesterday, I met up with my writing group for our "kick-off" lunch. (I almost wrote the word "luncheon" but this sounded even more pretentious than the fact that I am part of a writing group... think of it as a support group and it sounds ok.) We met on a little Italian restaurant, Panini, that serves very nice panini, salads, pasta and other tasty treats.

Our little group sat in a lovely empty corner of the restaurant and talked about our summers' experiences: featuring solitary retreats to isolated islands, frightening hotels in Istanbul with blood colored stains in the bathtub, and team building events that enforced manual labour as "fun". At any rate, our wonderful waiter kept arriving at the table just as someone was making outrageous statements like: "I looked down and he was just lying there, as limp as seaweed." (Ah, the world abounds in metaphor.)

After consuming our sandwiches, and drinking several glasses of wine, we were happily content, and most definitely entertained by one another. Our wise writing mentor boldly assented to our waiters suggestion: a plate with a combination of all of the desserts in the restaurant menu. This fabulous decadence is not normally on offer in this restaurant. (Maybe our strange conversation made him feel that we needed some dessert comfort... or maybe we managed to entertain him too...)

He brought two large plates to our table with the following:

• Raspberry semifreddo: creamy, cold, and lovely
• Lemon meringue pie: lovely, lemony and wonderful
• Tiramisu: decadent layers of custard and coffee and lusciousness
  
• Raspberry tart: sweet berry delight
  
• Panna cotta: erm. I don't really like panna cotta. So I can't comment.
  
• Fresh fruit: the plate was adorned with beautiful strawberries, raspberries and currants

We nibbled on this incredible display of glorious dessert artistry for about another hour.

What was best? As always, the company, but I have to say that everything was great. The restaurant gave us a wonderful cozy homey feeling with a comfortable table in a sunny corner, a warm (not freddo ... ha ha) waiter who was attentive and very kind, and of course, our foray into a jungle of perfect, simple desserts.

I love going out for lunch.

mmmore:

iens review
panini defined
semifreddo