| | |  Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining 
Genuine Italian Dining at Cardinalli’s
 Bill Peeler - bclocalnews.com
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June 12, 2010
| | Playa del Sol Grand on Flamingos Beach in Riviera Nayarit is the ultimate sun, sand and surf getaway. Enormous infinity pool overlooking the bay. Restaurants, bars, water sports, Spa and Gym. (Visit the website) | |
In an old Mission Impossible TV episode, the villain was a gourmand.
One of the Mission Impossible team members, posing as a chef, served the gourmand a seafood bisque. The villain proceeded to name every ingredient in the tasty preparation. Amazing!
I wish I had had this kind of expertise when I visited Cardinalli’s, one of the gourmet restaurants at Playa Del Sol Grand near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The food was of such high quality, I wanted to know everything that went into its preparation.
Italian ranks right up there with French for me as far as dining is concerned. Then there’s the rest of the world. So I felt fortunate to be visiting Cardinalli’s.
I thought about dining al fresco on the patio, but I didn’t want the breeze, or anything else, to distract from the taste sensations I was about to experience.
A supermodel hostess escorted me to a seat inside. The air of elegance was immediate.
Women who had paraded around the pool in bathing suits showed off their tans with strapless dresses and skirts to the knees. The lighting was muted. The sound of soft jazz floated through the air.
This was the environment in which to hear Blue In Green by Miles Davis and Bill Evans, or the seductive ballad Infant Eyes by jazz tenor saxman Wayne Shorter.
Cardinalli’s boasts the best wine selection on Banderas Bay. I love the bite of brut champagne before dinner, so I ordered a glass. A chilled glass of bubbly arrived. I held the glass up to the light. I could see light through the wine. The perfume of fresh fruit teased my palate, leaving a pleasant aftertaste.
Funny how certain things bring back pleasant memories. Italian bread with olive oil reminded me of a wine tour into the Tuscan countryside to Montalcino with my step-daughter a few years ago.
Next, a pumpkin-carrot soup. Soft and creamy, like a bisque. I held each spoonful in my mouth for a while, savouring the flavors.
My main course arrived. Shrimp on a bed of pasta.
There’s pasta, and then there’s Italian pasta. Fresh and wickedly good in this case. The shrimps were crunchy, the way I like them.
Problem was, I didn’t know where to put my fork next: on the shrimp or on the pasta. My sense of order made me alternate, enjoying the explosion of flavours from each.
The artistic presentation was something other restaurants could benefit from.
Hmmm ... Let’s see ... what to have for dessert? I chose vanilla ice cream.
The waiter surprised me by delivering French vanilla ice cream in a shell, a shell like the one in Botticelli’s Birth Of Venus. No Venus, but delectable just the same.
For some crazy reason, I like the clean taste of Coca-Cola or Pepsi (especially Pepsi) after a rich meal. Cleanses the palate.
Would I go again? I look forward to it! It’s worth going, even if you’re not staying at Playa Del Sol Grand.
Take a bus. Hail a cab. Rent a car. But go there. You won’t regret it. Dinners from 6 to 10:30 p.m.
Bill Peeler is a freelance travel writer based in Courtenay. |
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