Culinary Adventure #5: Michael's on Naples

Dear Hungry Housewives:

We have come full circle!  In April we began with a carload of five Hungry Housewives heading to Long Beach and on Thursday, August 8, we again had a carload of five that headed to Long Beach.

This month I remembered why I began the Hungry Housewife Club.  After a long month of remodeling, I needed an excuse to runaway from my dusty reality and connect with good friends. Our HH night couldn’t come fast enough!

Thanks to our gracious hostess, Karen L., I escaped with Helen, Kathy and Francie to an island oasis…literally.  We journeyed to Italian ristaurante, Michael’s on Naples.

Michael’s was indeed a cozy respite.  We were immediately greeted by a saxophone player playing smooth jazz.  Karen was friends with the Manager, Massimo, who welcomed us as if we were family.  We felt right at home.

Speaking of feeling at home, Kathy insisted that the ladies room was, “bloggable.”  Of course, I had to check it out and she was spot on. It felt like a friend’s bathroom…complete with all the guest accoutrements. Okay...enough about home decor!

To begin our Culinary Adventure, Karen brought some bellisimo wine.  We ordered a hand-crafted sausage Pizzette followed by Tomatoes with Burrata.  The farm fresh, heirloom tomatoes were so succulent it was one of our favorite dishes.

Next we ordered an assortment of pasta that we shared family style.  We were fortunate to get the last order of the chef’s special.  It was a generous portion of lobster served with spaghetti marinara.  I guess I’m a lobster traditionalist because I longed for some drawn butter.  Our favorite pasta was the wild Mushroom Ravioli (probably because it was made with brown butter!)

Massimo generously sent us a complimentary dessert platter… now I was truly in paradiso!  The Salted Caramel Mousse was fantastico.  In fact, just writing about it makes me crave it again.  The Almond Cake with rosemary cream was also delizioso.

It was no coincidence that our full circle night was filled with many O’s; Massimo, bellisimo, paradiso, fantastico and delizioso!  It was the perfect recipe for an attitude adjustment.  Completely revived, I was prepared to head home and face another dusty day.  Salute!

Due to a conflicting event, our upcoming HH night has been changed to Wednesday, Sept. 11.  Our hostess, Dee is planning an easy, local evening.  Details to follow!

Your Hungry Girlfriend,

Tiffany

The purpose of the Hungry Housewife Club is to get “Out of the Box” once a month and go on a fun, guilt-free Culinary Adventure with your girlfriends.

Definition of “Out of the Box”:  A dining establishment outside of the home where frivolous food experimentation has no boundaries!