Modesto Trattoria 05/01/09

I was in a mood for something new last night, so I decided to head over to the Battery Park/Grove Arcade area. I go there on Saturdays sometimes, but forget there are restaurants over there. It was a Friday night, so every place was packed, but I saw room at the bar in Modesto, so I walked in and sat down. I like the atmosphere: dark, cozy with dim lighting in colored globes. There is a Plexiglas wall behind the bar that back lights the bottles nicely. I would go so far as to call the mood romantic.

I looked at the menu and quickly realized I had picked a place in a higher range than I really wanted on this particular evening. Had I a date or something, I'm sure this would be a nice place, but everything was more than I wanted to spend for a meal while solo. I settled on a brick oven pizza from their daily specials. It was a Salmon, walnut, and jalapeno pizza with mozzarella cheese. They didn't have any sweet tea, so I ordered an Italian mineral water.

The pizza was OK, but considering the price ($15 for a 12 inch pizza), it lacked for meat. It had perhaps 3 ounces of salmon on it, if that. Also, it turns out that mozzarella is too weak of a cheese for this particular pizza. Something with more bite, like a feta or goat cheese would have offset the walnuts and salmon better. The jalapenos had been seeded, so they hardly added anything to the flavor.

Another thing that bothered me was the clientele. It seems that most everyone in the place is the type of self-important asshole who just wants to hear themselves talk about how great they are. I guess these people actually do leave Biltmore Forest sometimes and I now know of another place to avoid if I don't want to deal with them. Overall, I'm not terribly impressed.

*** three asterisks

Modesto Trattoria
1 Page Ave Suite 138B Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 225-4133