Making the most out of eating out

for me, means going to Gypsy's.  By now, you've heard me say a great deal about Gypsy's and how highly I think of their food.  This time, I'll try to let the picture do the talking.

Thomas and I had decided to go out to lunch last night, but we originally intended to go to Zachary's in Oakland, but he didn't get up in time to make it all the way there and back in time for his class.  Instead, we went to Gypsy's because, well, we love it and it's close.  The wait was fairly long since we went right around noon, but we got our food in time for him to eat a good amount of it before having to run off to class.  What I have up there is chicken parmesan over spaghetti with a caesar salad on the side.  Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed.  The breading on the parm was as close to perfect as I've had - it wasn't too heavily breaded, so it didn't slip off the moment I tried to cut it.  Also, look how much mozzarella is on top of that.  Some restaurants clearly put one slice of cheese on top and don't even let it brown.  Not here.  The mozzarella is thick and plentiful and browned to perfection.  I know I've talked about it before, but their garlic bread is amazing in its simplicity.  It's really just toasted french bread with a roasted clove of garlic on top, and that's all you need.  The garlic is roasted so it tastes just the way you want it to - nutty and sweet without the bite that raw garlic has.  Look at me; I said I was going to let the picture do the talking and still ended up waxing poetic about the food.  It's just that good.

The best part about this is that it was too big for one lunch, so I brought back leftovers that became dinner.  It was a Gypsy's kind of day for me, to be certain.  I may not end up cooking tomorrow since I've still got leftover pasta from the night before plus there's a Cal Cooking Club meeting.  I'd hate to disappoint you, though, dear reader.  I'll see what I can do.

P.S.  Yes, I know, pasta again.  If this blog has taught me anything, it's that I love to cook pasta and Mexican food.  This is not to say that I don't appreciate other kinds of food; I just seem to gravitate to these foods when I cook.  I promise I'll make my grandma's chicken rice once I get a hold of some black mushrooms.