We had a chance to visit my daughter and her husband for a day, while on vacation last week. Like me, Mary is a foodie, and so is Alec. So after a few hours of climbing over cliffs and exploring tide pools, they knew exactly where to take our famished group for a late lunch.
Filippi’s Italian Grotto. It’s in Little Italy in San Diego and Oh My Goodness. This was Heaven.
Filippi’s is a delicatessen – a tiny store packed to the rafters with olive oil, sardines, and a hundred specialty Italian items. Prosciutto. Smoked Provolone. Aged Parmesan. The freshest bread you can imagine.
But the real secret is the restaurant. Even at 3:30, there was a line. As you squeeze through the narrow aisle past the meat counter, the hostess takes you back to a room with tables. Then another room with tables. And another one. It was like a space warp or something. The inside was bigger than the outside!
We decided to forgo the excellent pizza and ordered a large antipasti for the four of us to share. Then we ordered lasagna and ravioli with meatballs and sausage. Alec had a meatball sandwich, deciding to concentrate on the main attraction. The sausage is freshly made in the store and was the best Italian sausage I’ve ever had, with a substantial sprinkling of caraway. Marvelous sauce with fresh parmesan cheese. A decent Chianti – I’m sure they had better ones, but we’re cheap when it comes to ordering wine in restaurants. There was enough food for two more meals, each. I’m serious!
Don’t bother with the rolls. Order the garlic bread and let yourself live.
Health-wise, it’s probably not something you’d do every week, although if you ate just a quarter of what you’re served, you’d probably be all right.
Can we get one of these in Walnut Creek?
1 comment:
Surprise, surprise...there is a Filipi's in Napa on First street near Soscol. It's not even close to the same fun and interesting atmosphere as the San Diego location, but the food is the same and is worth the trip when you get that craving for a great lasanga. Enjoy!
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