Destino

Destino is Italian for destiny, fate. It is also a wonderful Italian restaurant. Drew snagged a Groupon for this place and we were looking for an occasion to try it. Usually when we eat in the city it's in conjunction with a show or event. Tonight we took the train into the city just to have dinner, then turned around and took another train home. Call us crazy, but dinner was worth it. It's a small restaurant but seems much larger because of the huge picture windows. There's an. . .interesting . . .mural painted on the ceiling. When you are seated at your table the waiter will hand you the wine list and cocktail menu. You don't see a dinner menu until after you've ordered drinks and have been served bread. You will also be offered a choice of regular or sparkling water. Our meal began with a glass of prosecco, a basket of bread and a plate of bruchetta. First time I've ever seen Drew eat anything with raw tomatoes. There is herb-flavored olive oil available if you want to dip your bread. The meatball appetizer turned out to be a single meatball the size of a man's fist, served with marinara sauce and freshly shaved parmesan. The baked clams consisted of six clams, each in its shell, dressed with bread crumbs and a light lemon sauce. No chopped clam and breadcrumb mixture here! I ordered veal franchese. This turned out to be three very tender veal medallions in delicate breading, served with an excellent lemon sauce. The dish was plated with sauteed broccoli on a roasted potato wedge. Veal marsala, similarly plated, was dressed with mushrooms and marsala wine. Portions here are relatively small, so we were able to finish our dinner and order dessert. Drew ordered cannoli- two small pastries with a creamy filling. My Italian cheesecake came with a berry sauce. Italian cheesecake isn't as dense, creamy or sweet as New York cheesecake, and probably would have benefited from a sweeter accompaniment. Coffee was a little on the strong side -- I actually added sugar to it, something I never do. Overall an excellent meal, worth the trip into the city.