PJ's & Coffee

The Winning Meatball!

As you may recall, we blogged about Meatball Wars last month. Eight restaurants competed in order to raise money for the charity 100 for 100 kids. The winner took home the title of BEST MEATBALL. I didn’t really have any expectation of who would ultimately prevail, but as a judge of the event, I know everything was fair, and that, in fact, Pasta Via‘s meatball was the best meatball that day!

Mary Schaffer of The Outbound Station, Betty Stanley, owner of Pasta via, Betty’s mother and Mary’s daughter at Meatball Wars ~ picture from More Than The Curve

I grew up in Conshohocken, as I have mentioned, like 1 million times, and therefore it is very near and near to my heart. We used to order delivery from Pasta Via when my husband and I had our 1st home there. We always loved their food. I have been to family events where their food was served and I always enjoyed it, but I am not sure why they don’t immediately come to mind when I think of restaurants in Conshohocken.

After their victory, I just had to go back again. When I walked inside, I remembered immediately why I don’t think of them. It is very small inside with only 3 or 4 tables. We are a family of 5, so our group noise alone would shut the place down! For me, that makes Pasta Via take-out or catering as my two viable options. Because I don’t live in Conshohocken any longer, I don’t really take-out from restaurants there very often, unless I am in town already, but catering is a wonderful option for one of the children’s next birthdays!

If I did still live in Conshohocken, I would be a regular again. Owner Betty Stanley has been serving her family’s Italian specialties for more than 17 years. The pastas are delicious and the portions are generous. All of their food, from sandwiches to salads are substantial in portion size and priced well.

Mushroom and Pepperoni Pizza from Pasta Via

The one thing I never realized was that they also have pizza. It never occurred to me! If you read my blog on pizza, you would know that I have become disillusioned with my childhood favorite, although it is still good, my tastes have changed and with 3 growing children, so has my budget! On Friday nights, Pasta Via offers a pizza special: Buy 1 large, 16 inch pie, get the 2nd at 1/2 off, which is $16.45 for 2 large pizzas….hmmmm, I guess to be fair I should add them to my pizza blog!

If you live or work in the Conshohocken area, and haven’t been to Pasta Via, they are definitely worth checking out. In the summer they have outdoor dining and you can BYO. There is seating inside and the “people watching” is definitely entertaining. They also do catering through the entire Philadelphia area, as well as, deliver lunch and dinner to area residents and businesses.

Pasta Via

824 Fayette Street

Conshohocken, PA 19428

610-940-0722

Seafood and Beer Night – missed it last week? They are doing it again!

Wednesday August 4th and Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Each course paired with Belgian Beer

TRATTORIA TOTARO

First Course

Red or White Seafood Chowder

Full of shrimp, clams, crab and fish in a creamy broth or zesty tomato

Second Course

Soft Shell Caesar Salad: Soft shell crab sautéed in garlic, olive oil and butter, served over romaine lettuce with fresh ground black pepper and house made croutons, tossed in our cheesy Caesar dressing

Third Course

Seafood Sampler A sampling of fish cooked in parchment paper served over brown rice with grilled vegetables:

Flounder Porto – Sautéed spinach and lump crab meat baked between two flounder filets and topped with port wine reduction and cream sauce, and

Swordfish Putanesca – Sautéed capers, kalamata olives, fresh tomato, anchovy and white wine

or

Cioppino – Clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops and crab in a vegetable tomato broth

served over home made pasta

Fourth Course

Claire’s Chocolate Cake, CapoGiro Gelato or Creme Brule

$40.00 plus tax and gratuity

Call for reservations: 610-828-7050

White Sangria

Trattoria Totaro the BYO on Spring Mill Avenue in Conshohocken, not to be confused with the restaurant on Hector Street, has started to offer FREE Sangria to dinner guests Monday through Friday beginning at 5PM.

The free beverage trend continues. What can we say? WE LIKE IT, that’s what we say! Tables will likely fill up faster than normal now, and outdoor tables are limited, but they do accept reservations at 610-828-7050, so if you are in the area you may want to grab your table quickly!

If you are not familiar with the area, this is one section of town where there is unlimited free parking as well, an extra bonus!

The Weekly Rant is back!!

We’ve been slacking lately, yeah, yeah, you’ve heard the excuses. You know the reasons, so I’ll cut to the chase…

I’m pissed enough to return to THE RANT!

Recently a large group of us went out for dinner to a local Italian restaurant. It was a very pleasant evening at a well established neighborhood restaurant. As with most Italian restaurants one of the first items to be brought to the table was a basket of bread. We had 5 children in our group and they immediately reached eagerly and enthusiastically for the basket. Dipping the bread into the olive oil provided, the enthusiasm faded quickly. The bread was completely flavorless. Stale? No. Flavorless.

The crust was not crusty, but thin, stiff, yet not crunchy. The interior lacked the texture expected of a high quality Italian roll. It may have been worse then, gasp, Amoroso! How does this happen in an ITALIAN restaurant? How, you ask? I’ll tell you how. Business is not what it used to be, so restaurants cut corners in all of the wrong places.  They purchase low price rolls to save money. What an awful way to start a meal. An Italian restaurant with bad bread is like a Chinese restaurant with bad rice. It’s the beginning of the end for a restaurant when things like this happen.

There are ways to cut costs. The quality of the food is not the place. Here’s a tip, offer high quality bread and ask if your diners would like bread before you bring it to the table. Many people don’t eat bread these days. Serve less and refill. Don’t serve crap. There are too many options for great bakeries in our area; Conshohocken Italian Bakery, Sarcone’s Bakery, Carangi Bakery, or Wild Flour to name a few.  Or, do what some Italian restaurants like D’Angelo’s do, and bake your own. If you are going to serve bread that makes people talk about you, why not just serve this, at least it’s a real talking point:

Bread Heads

So chew on that thought…..