Sometimes, you can read all you want, but it doesn’t substitute experiences in the real world. Thanks to a Twitter response from @Ariel_Yong, I decided to go to Graffiato. I wrote about this celebrity chef’s Italian (mostly) small plates restaurant in an earlier post, but it was time for me to eat my words.
Entering on a Saturday at 1:00 p.m., I expected there to be a lunch menu, but it was only brunch, to my surprise. However, my server, Becca, told me that the menu still has small plates for brunch. I tried the broccolini, but the hanger steak wasn’t on the brunch menu. So I ordered the pumpkin bread pudding instead.
While I was waiting, I was sitting at the bar and watching the people in the kitchen do their work. I noticed a woman doing prep work. I know from previous experience that this task is something patrons don’t usually notice, so it was nice to see it again after many years. She was dicing a lot of fresh mozzarella, which I’m guessing is mostly for the multiple pizzas this restaurant offers.
The décor has sophisticated colors, mainly black and white. The napkins and the menus are the color of caramel cardboard. But the flat screen TV adds a more casual touch.
The décor at Graffiato (Photo credit: Selma Khenissi)
A similar atmosphere pervades the food. The broccolini looked very festive, but crowded the serving plate. Even though a smaller square plate offered me the possibility to solve that problem, it would have felt odd to do so.
Broccolini pasta (Photo credit: Selma Khenissi)
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