One of our favorite restaurants has been rebooted and is now under new ownership and management, so for our anniversary dinner this year I took Andy out to Rosanna’s, former site of his favorite Bongiorno’s. That was once Andy’s local hang-out, and he had spent the previous decade or so slowly pulling the recipe for Rosanna’s tomato sauce out of her own lips until he got a pretty good approximation of it for our own home. We returned there for a sweet and quiet anniversary dinner, to see what remained and what had changed.
Beginning with the Eastside mocktail, and some calamari, the evening found us on the second floor (somewhat noisy with the hardwood floors echoing throughout and an exceptionally loud party of four women who raised the ire of the other tables more than ours) which was not our usual space on the first level. It eventually quieted down when that table departed, and by the time the food arrived our spirits had lifted.
Andy opted for the traditional spaghetti and meatballs, which was, to Rosanna’s ongoing amusement, the choice of a ten-year-old as she once affectionately described it. He found the new version to his satisfaction, and the ravioli I tried were delicious as well. The original owners still felt present, but distant – the echoes were faint, and we talked of them to keep their memory around a bit longer.
Dessert was lovely, and the whole evening was decent enough to merit another visit. Sometimes Albany was magical in a quiet way.
