We walked in and this giant bear of a man greeted us all super-friendly-like and got us a table. He explained the smaller Restaurant Week special menu was on top and the regular menu was on the bottom. He left us to peruse and we checked out the main dining room. It’s very spacious and dimly lit, in a classy way. Very swanky paint on the walls and dim lighting fixtures. The kitchen and woodfired oven are open to the dining room, so you can watch everyone in action.
The waitress came over and offered us a tour. We have ZERO idea what she was referring to. Would we see the kitchen? Would we see the storage rooms? Would we see the back office? Was she referring to the menu? No idea. We told her we were ready to order. EyeHeartPizza went with the House Salad with tomatoes, onion, eggs, cucumbers, olives, feta, and red wine vinaigrette. I was feeling the soup, so I got the Pasta y Fagioli (Tuscan bean soup).
It didn’t take long for the appetizers to come out. They both looked delicious. The salad is just a salad, but the soup was pretty darn good. I’ve had better Fagioli, but this was up there on the tastiness list.
I had ordered Rigatoni with Sausage, Roasted Pepper and Red Chili Flakes. EyeHeartPizza got the Penne Pasta with Spit-Roasted Chicken (I prefer mine without spit, thank you), artichoke hearts, basil, garlic, and lemon. Those dishes came out and we were looking forward to eating them.
Both of these meals were amazing. The rigatoni was really flavorful and the sausage was spicy and tender. Fantastic kick without being overwhelming. I stole a bite of EyeHeartPizza’s penne pasta and it was awesome. I truly think the penne pasta was better than the rigatoni. Not by much, since they were both awesome, but it was definitely a little bit better.
I had ordered Rigatoni with Sausage, Roasted Pepper and Red Chili Flakes. EyeHeartPizza got the Penne Pasta with Spit-Roasted Chicken (I prefer mine without spit, thank you), artichoke hearts, basil, garlic, and lemon. Those dishes came out and we were looking forward to eating them.
Both of these meals were amazing. The rigatoni was really flavorful and the sausage was spicy and tender. Fantastic kick without being overwhelming. I stole a bite of EyeHeartPizza’s penne pasta and it was awesome. I truly think the penne pasta was better than the rigatoni. Not by much, since they were both awesome, but it was definitely a little bit better.The giant host came over to check on us and see how our meals were and EyeHeartPizza gave him a hilarious high five. He looked confused, but went along with it. During our meal, we noticed this couple sitting in a quiet corner of the restaurant. The girl stood up and did some poses (yeah, seriously) like she was in a photo shoot or something, yet there were no cameras. She was dressed pretty swanky (despite a few tattoos) and wasn’t painful on the eyes. The guy kept having people come over to his table giving him serious coddling, so I’m thinking he might be a local celebrity or maybe he used to work there or might even be the owner’s son or something. The girl kept standing up and posing from time to time, so maybe the guy was just creepy or something. Whatever, it gave me something to laugh at during dinner.
And speaking of laughing, EyeHeartPizza had just learned how to eat. I’m not sure what was going on, but numerous bites of food ended up on her lap or on her sweater. The first one I was willing to let slide, even though I called her out on it – she tried to play it off like I didn’t see a huge noodle roll down her front (twss). I pointed it out for sure though. Then when the subsequent pieces of food flew out of control, I warned her I would bring it up when I wrote this place up. I suggested maybe she use the proper end of the fork (with the various pointy ends) to scoop food with, but she wasn’t amused. Just when I thought she was finished dropping things, I felt water on my hand. I’m not sure how she managed it, but she somehow dumped water from her glass down her sleeve and then onto the table, splashing me and flooding her dessert plate.
We had ordered dessert – all part of the restaurant week menu. EyeHeartPizza got the Tiramisu and I went with the Lemon Cheesecake Crème Brulee. I’m not usually a dessert guy, as you know, but since it was included I opted in. My dessert was amazing. One of the better ones I’ve had – still not swayed to be a dessert guy yet, but it was perfectly done and crunchy on top, as well as covered with berries. The Tiramisu was good. I’ve had better, but I’ve had way worse. It’s also better not sitting in a lake of water that someone has spilled.
This place is upscale, but maybe good for a date night. There’s a really large wine list and it’s quiet and intimate. And the best part is the Italian food here is really good. It’s not on the way to anywhere, but it is doable if you’ve got something going on in Eden Prairie for any reason.
This place is upscale, but maybe good for a date night. There’s a really large wine list and it’s quiet and intimate. And the best part is the Italian food here is really good. It’s not on the way to anywhere, but it is doable if you’ve got something going on in Eden Prairie for any reason.Top 5 things about Campiello
- Penne Pasta
- Rigatoni with Sausage
- Lemon Cheesecake Crème Brulee
- Watching Spilly McGee pretend nothing happened
- Super good idea for Restaurant Week discounts!
Bottom 5 things
- Places like this make me wish I could have brought Gerd here for our weekly date night. We complained about the Italian food in the Twin Cities, so we definitely missed out on this place
- Still not sure what a “tour” entailed. (Maybe it’s code for something untoward…)
- No wines are listed by the glass
- EyeHeartPizza’s food was better than mine. Just rude
- I found out about Restaurant Week about a week too late to capitalize fully on the idea
2 comments:
Note to EyeHeart: I also repeatedly spill onm yself while eating, so do not let this doofus make you feel bad.
Sincerely,
RubyVita
Spilly McGee, meet Reverend Spilljoy.
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