Caffe Riace

Originally, I wasn't going to review this restaurant at all because I didn't take any pictures of the food or the place itself. I mean, I was meeting one of my best friends' parents for the first time and I didn't want to be remembered as that-weird-girl-who-takes-pictures-of-food (even though that, essentially, is exactly who I am).

But, you know what, I had the best time there and really enjoyed myself and decided I'm going to rave about it anyways. 

I went with these three lovelies: Karen, Cassandra, [me], and Lauren. Besties4lyfe. We went with Karen's parents to celebrate her birthday belatedly. Caffe Riace is located in Palo Alto and features a Sicilian menu. It was amazing.

We chose to sit outside, in this very Secret-Garden-esque patio area with lots of statues and a fountain. Very picturesque and pretty, especially on such a nice day. The service was also impeccable- all of the waiters were friendly, upbeat, and knowledgeable. 

Now. The good stuff. The food.

For appetizers, we shared the arancine siciliane - fried mozzarella/risotto balls with peas - which was fried very lightly and was very flavorful, the insalata caprese - so freaking good, it is seasoned the perfect amount and practically melted in my mouth - and also the calamari fritti - I'm usually a calamari fan, but this was sort of bland and not very special.

For my main course, I had the ravioli luigi, which was a crab ravioli with lemon herbs sauce. Honestly it was such a great choice... The ravioli was so buttery and creamy and melt-in-your-mouth amazing. I couldn't get enough! I also stole a couple forkfuls of Lauren's Concetta's cannelloni (Reason #293084 why she's my best friend: she lets me steal her food), which was heaven to the taste buds! Slightly sweet, very ricotta-y, and just plain perfect bites of paradise.

Lauren and I shared a mascarpone semifreddo, which is described as a 'chocolate and pistachio custard.'  Super decadent and divine, you can't go wrong with chocolate!

But of course the best part was the Vespas. Great decorative touch and they gave me my new goal in life: to go Vespa-ing in Italy with my best friends Lizzie McGuire-style.