Sunday, October 19, 2008

Ernesto's Ristorante, White Plains

We were hungry and wanted to talk, so even though it was way too early for dinner we headed out to the closest place where I could get the pasta I was craving. We got to Ernesto's at about 5:15. No way were they ready for customers (the head waiter was buttoning his shirt as we came in), but they welcomed us graciously and offered our choice of tables.

Several waiters promptly brought ice water and a basket of bread, and we got into the menus and conversation. Ernesto's has great bread -- crispy crust and light center, yum! We let the staff know we were in no hurry, and they provided some focaccia pizza fingers on the house to tide us over till we made our decisions.

We eventually ordered lasagne, sauteed escarole, chicken tasca (chicken breast stuffed with proscuitto, spinach and more, served with a brown mushroom gravy), one seltzer and one wine. They brought two wines, took one away, never brought the seltzer. It took a while for our food to arrive, and when it did, it was barely lukewarm. Kind of odd, since we were the only people in the place, and takeout from Ernesto's is usually delivered piping hot, regardless of the time of day.

Everything was pretty good, the chicken was a little overdone but tasty, and the serving of lasagne was big enough to share and relatively light -- lots of ground beef, no ricotta. The escarole, which many places serve overcooked and waterlogged, was right up with the best I've had: crisp, bright green, very fresh tasting, lots of garlic, divino!

We order takeout from Ernesto's way more often than we actually go there, and it's likely that we'll stick to takeout in the future. The takeout prices are one-third to one-half lower, and while the restaurant is comfortable enough, it's not the kind of place you'd seek out for its ambience. The dining room is very, very simple -- Zagat's gives it a "7" for decor.

Granted, we were quite early, but the staff seemed kind of flummoxed, the food was tepid, and our bill was screwed up (they apologetically fixed it once it was pointed out). Eating there in the future isn't entirely out of the question, but we're likely to give some of the other local places a try before we head back to Ernesto's.

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