Date Nights, Traditions, & Italian Restaurants - Fausto
Date nights are very important to us. Someone might asked, "But isn't every night a date night for you guys now that you're married? You guys get to eat dinner together most nights of the week."
For us at least, we spend a lot of our time with friends in addition to all the work events sprinkled throughout the week. So scheduled date nights are vital, especially setting a time for just the two of you to talk and be in a different setting other than home, and trying out new foods together.
To make scheduled date nights a little more fun, we started a new tradition...
Two months ago while having a date night at Cafe Altro Paradiso, we had the idea to try as many Italian places in Manhattan and Brooklyn as possible. Much like how kids love candy, Italian foods are our crack and we can't resist yet another reason to bask in Italian flavors.
So we started a monthly date night every 11th of the month, literally creating a calendar invite for each other. Why the 11th you might ask? It's our dating anniversary date! (Oct. 11th - now you guys know).
There's no strict rule on how we select the restaurant to try - we're very chill people, so whatever seemed good to us that we both have never been before.
So for our first official Italian date-night, we went to Fausto in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
When we eat Italian food we have a hard time ordering more than a few dishes. Typically for 2, we'll order an antipasti, a primi, and a secondi and we'll be stuffed. Top that off with a half-bottle or bottle of wine, and we're able to keep these dates to ~$100/night.
For Fausto, we tried the Sardines with sofrito, pine nut, and breadcrumb, Orecchiette and fennel braised pork, wilted greens, parmesan, Whole Roasted Porgy with red onion, kalamata olives, and scallion.
Overall we thought the sardine were well done - the pine nuts really gave the dish a different personality and balanced really well with the saltiness of the sardines.
The Orecchiette was probably the highlight of the evening. At this point we hadn't tried pasta from southern Italy, and were pleased with the way the pasta cups the sauce and holds flavor. Kudos to Fausto - while we're not sure if the pasta was fresh made or not, it was certainly delicious and springy.
The Porgy was well cooked - perfectly moist with a great crispy roasted exterior. We're not huge fans of kalamata olives (or olives in general) unfortunately, and had a hard time with this dish with the amount of olives on the plate.
Overall, we enjoyed the experience. Great staff, attentive even when it's busy, beautiful decor reminiscent of the Arnold House in the Catskills, but we wouldn't make this a destination. With so many amazing restaurants just down the street, come to Fausto when you're looking for something local with a great attitude and great pasta.