Sotto Sotto

One breezy summer night in Atlanta ..with Albeto on their heels , 3 girlfriends wrapped up their work ..put their busy days behind them and headed to celebrate a birthday and to continue their love affair with all things Italian ..soccer team not withstanding . A short car ride and parallel parking :( later ..they found themselves in a quiet corner of midtown - at Sotto Sotto .

Literally in Italian - it means Hush Hush ..or so we were told by the host ..and looking around at the quiet tables with candles and the muted sounds of laughter barely heard over the twinkling wine glasses - we believed him.

The food was probably the best Italian I've eaten in Atlanta .
I'm one of those folks who is guilty of ordering the same thing in a restaurant over and over again - Being the foodie that I am ..I truly believe that there no such thing as too much of a good thing ..and I keep going back to the same places and ordering the same food . ..whether its
pav bhaji or pannini. And trust me - If they served Gnocchi in Sotto ..I'd have ordered it ...But change was imminent and was worth it - The Rissotto made me cry with joy.

As a woman - I'm just genetically prone to eating something exotic and wondering with lightening speed whats inside it . ..how was it cooked ..how long did it take .. We spoke about it that night ..and all three of us felt that we didnt know too many men who would do the same .
Faiza said that she had a friend who said when he ate something good - he just ate it P:)

I think personally for me - this comes from an inborn need to understand everything that i like ..to rationalize it - compartmentalize it and let the left side of the brain reconcile with what the right has already fallen for. Food is like a Love affair waiting to happen . If you found something that made you happy - find out how it got there , how long did it take to bake ,what spiced it up , how long would it last and when you figure it out .. you can recreate it again ..maybe after a few mistrials and burnt casseroles along the way ..but you'll find it .

But then again - sometimes it has to find you ...and on that breezy indigo evening , It did .

Theres a wall in the corner of the restaurant - thats texturized . Plaster and paint mostly . We stared at it long enough and saw the continents in it . Somehow the countries looked much closer to each other than they do now - Geographically ofcourse . Maybe it was from before the melting of the caps - the great divide ..or maybe it was just something else that the artist was trying to depict . Art , like literature is one half of what the creator creates - and one very strong half of what the interpreter ..interprets . ..and that day , in a small candle filled room in Midtown Atlanta - We saw the world.

PS : Fresh Peach Tart for Desert will not disappoint you .