February 23, 2012: Let the birthday continue--Cucina Pietra, Atlanta

My hubby is continuing my birthday and Valentine's combo celebration by taking me to Atlanta. This may seem like an extravagant birthday/Valentine gift, but here are some things to consider: 1. I am 55. Therefore, I could be dead soon. 2. I did a great birthday for him for the big FIVE-OH!

And I managed to get him to Genoa, Italy, Marseilles, France, Barcelona, Spain, Majorca, Sardinia, Sicily and Rome, Italy a couple of weeks BEFORE the Costa Concordia sank....close call...

My baby scored immediate points by booking us into the Artmore Hotel. This place is really beautiful and apparently was once someone's very face home in which they displayed their artwork. It is mildly reminiscent of a high profile Knoxville attorney I have met a couple of times who also built his home specifically for the purpose of highlighting his art acquistions. Here are some photos of our room:

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This is the wall behind the front desk. They turn on different color lights and it makes a gorgeous pattern. Paul planned a wonderful dinner for us at a restaurant called La Pietra Cucina. They make their own pasta there and it is really delicious. Oddly, however, they have a signature dish called black spaghetti which they do not make there. They buy it from California. We started our meal with a house cured beef "belly" carpaccio topped with watercress. This beef was very, very thinly sliced...I have no idea how they got it so narrow. But it was a good appetizer for Paul and I. Nothing too big to spoil dinner, just a nice promise for the future meal.

One thing Paul and I really enjoy doing is splitting a meal. Not only is it economical, with the man zized portions generally served in the Southeast, it keeps us from eating too much...sometiimes. It also leaves us plenty of room for dessert.

Tonight we had the house made pasta carbonara. The pasta was perfectly al dente and the carbonara sauce was really delicious. By splitting it, we got about 5-6 bites each. And we loved this serving dish also. This unfortunately left plenty of room for dessert. And boy did we have a great one.

This was an incredible semifreddo. Semifreddo (Italian: "half cold") is a class of semi-frozen desserts, typically ice-cream cakes, semi-frozen custards, and certain fruit tarts. It has the texture of frozen mousse because it is usually produced by uniting two equal parts of ice cream and whipped cream. Anything with ice cream is my hubby's favorite dessert! What was my hubby's opinion of this Italian meal?

House-cured Beef Belly Carpaccio: Really thin and light. House-made Pasta Carbonara: Great taste and texture Semifreddo: Creamy and delicious. Should you be in the Atlanta area, La Pietra Cucina, the 'stone kitchen' is located at One Peachtree Pointe, 1545 Peachtree Street • Atlanta, GA 30309. Our meal with two glasses of house white wine was $70.00. Think about trying it and if you do, ENJOY!