Anniversary Dinner

Monday night, my boyfriend and I celebrated the anniversary of our first date. Usually, I'm left with the restaurant decisions (having lived in NYC for longer and being, as he puts it "obsessed with food."), but he did his research and came up with a great pick without me. He took me to La Lanterna, a dark and charming cafe in Greenwich Village. The atmosphere was perfect - fireplace, candles, garden in the back. We'd hoped to sit in their room downstairs, but it was closed to food service for the night. However, there was a nice little jazz concert taking place. We settled into a cozy corner and perused the menu by candlelight. La Lanterna's menu is geared toward a European palate - meats, cheeses and breadstuffs dominate the list. But paired with a good bottle of wine, I'm one happy lady. We settled on a bruschetta with truffle pate and chopped onion; a panini with smoked prosciutto, melted marscapone, and a splash of cognac, and a plate of three cheeses - chevre rodin (a tangy, spreadable goat's milk cheese), piave(a firm cow's milk cheese, similar to parmigiano but without the granules), and taleggio (a semi-soft cow's milk cheese, described as "pungent, meaty, and nutty with nuances of fruit."). And of course, wine. Justin made me choose that. I went (red) with the Nero d' Avola from Sicily. The bruschetta arrived first. I think part of me thought that it would contain tomatoes, but it didn't. The pate was creamy and offset nicely by the chopped onions. Could have used tomatoes, but it was delicious. Our panini and cheeses arrived together. The smoked prosciutto was very salty, again, might have been well paired with tomatoes (even Justin agreed, and he's a recent tomato convert). Still quite tasty and delicious with the wine. My favorite cheese was the chevre rodin. I was surprised, as I'm not usually a huge fan of goat cheese. But it was light and tangy, slightly herby. The taleggio was certainly the most distinct. Justin's favorite, it seemed. I found its pungent quality a little overpowering and while I enjoyed it, I preferred it in small amounts. Then of course, what good is a meal with out dessert? This place had a dauntingly long dessert menu, a good thing in my opinion, but it took a while to make a decision. It came down to the pumpkin pie or the tiramisu. So we flipped a coin and landed on tiramisu. Perfect choice. Especially when paired with espressos. I can be wary of tiramisu. Sometimes it's delicious, sometimes it's lady fingers and whipped cream dribbled with chocolate. This was of the former variety. I think Justin even wowed it. Light and creamy, not cloyingly sweet, it was a beautiful end to a perfect evening.
Of course, I could sit at a McDonald's with Justin and be happy, but I thought it was a lovely and reasonable place for a romantic evening with someone special.
*Due to the dark, romantic properties of the restaurant, taking a picture with my dinky digital camera was difficult at best. So I leave you with my artsy shot, an empty fork, signifying the end of a well-fed night.


La Lanterna is located at 129 MacDougal Street
212-529-5945