Taped music of Vivaldi, Beethoven and Mozart resonate through the softly lit, longish dining room. Indeed, with most entrees in the $10-$14 range, Panino is one of the best bargains I've encountered in a long time. Panino is the creation of three former Tiberio chefs who have brought to Manassas the high skills of downtown Washington cooking but without the stratospheric prices. Tucked in an otherwise ordinary looking shopping strip, this nearly year-old restaurant sparkles not only because of its stylish exterior, but especially because of the terrific Northern Italian cooking artfully presented in lovely, understated surroundings.
#BY CANDLELIGHT AND CONJURE CRACKER#
4-9 p.m.ĭiscovering Panino is like finding a diamong ring in a Cracker Jack box. Moreover, two of the three offer some outstanding values, which in these difficult economic times may be the best Valentine's Day treat of all. The three restaurants reviewed here do not have a fireplace or piano among them, yet I found each in different ways to be wonderfully romantic. While it wasn't elegant, it was warm and intimate and, yes, very romantic, the food as enchanting as the bouzouki music. Years ago in Chicago, for example, a young couple I knew held their wedding dinner in a small Greek restaurant at the back of a Greek grocery store. The adage that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" also applies to one's perception of "romantic" dining.
In my experience, however, I've come to appreciate that the options are much broader, if not limitless. Romantic Valentine's Day dining may conjure images of a candle-lit restaurant, a fireplace and a tuxedoed gentleman coaxing sweet sounds from a piano.
0 kommentar(er)
