It was a dark and stormy night. The sky was the color of an angry sea, and the sky threatened to open up in a downpour. The firmament lit up with streaks of electricity, and the air growled, nearly as loud as my tummy. My husband, kiddo and I were on the road to Austin for a special blogger’s dinner over at Midway Food Park’s Gregorio’s Food Trailer, and from the moment I received the invitation to dine on some New York Style Italian-American cuisine, I was fired up. No storm, no matter how scary the sky looked, would get in my way. No sir. No ma’am.
We arrived at Midway Food Park around 6:30 p.m., and though the sky looked beyond intimidating, we weren’t phased. We walked through the park entry, and I heard a fairly loud squeal of joy from the little one as he spotted the very cool playground they had available to enjoy. With a hug and a kiss and a wave good-bye, he was on his way to hop, skip, slide and jump his way to some new friends.
Once we were sure little man was settled on the slides, we made our way over to the host of the evening, Gregorio’s Food Trailer, Austin’s go-to for Italian-American classics. Hooray! I couldn’t wait.
There were cute red and white checkered tablecloths set up, along with trays of delicious looking antipasto from their catering menu, comprised of cured meats, olives and cheeses with some fresh grapes. Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc were available, along with some flavored waters. Sweet!
After we loaded up our plates with delicious snacks, I was able to say a quick hi to one of the owners, Sasha Piltser. She’s the sweetest, you guys. She’s full of energy, and the kindest disposition ever. She explained that even though they were technically open for the past three months, they were ready to celebrate their presence with a true Grand Opening celebration! I felt honored to be part of something so obviously near and dear to her heart.
I took my seat at a picnic table across from my handsome husband, and got to snacking.
I love creamy Brie and prosciutto and olives so much. It was the perfect start to my evening at Midway. What was also wonderful was the company we kept at our little table. We sat with Amy from What Jew Wanna Eat, along with her friend Nicole, and the wonderful Miss Kristin from The Fresh Find and her friend/roommate. We laughed a LOT and I have to say, it was awesome getting to meet some of the people I interact with all the time through the blogosphere. I also was able to meet Linda from Curious Notions, and that was also quite cool. Yay for Austin Food Blogger Alliance!
Anyway, soon after we finished our cold appetizers, Sasha emerged from the trailer and brought a plate full of beautiful, vibrant colors to the table, and I couldn’t wait to go check it out.
Their Caprese Salad, a best seller at the trailer, was gorgeous. Stacks of tomato, mozzarella, basil, oh my! The best part was that the basil was grown right in their “garden” of pots in front of the trailer. It was fragrant, and added a nice fresh punch to the traditional, delicious yet simple salad. I wished it had a touch of salt sprinkled over the top to bring out the sweetness of the tomato and the cheese, but I have to say, it was pretty good.
But then the flies… THE FLIES!!! It was like we were living out the Exodus Chapter 8, verse 24: And the LORD did just as he had said. A thick swarm of flies filled Pharaoh’s palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was thrown into chaos by the flies.
They were everywhere. The air was super humid, and I’m willing to bet the flies felt that the great outdoors was their own, personal, happy little sauna, filled with delicious yum-yums for their sole feasting pleasure. The SUPER adorable couple behind Gregorios, aforementioned Sasha and her boyfriend Alex DiGregorio, even created a shoo-fly-shoo dance!
As suddenly as they came, the flies vanished. Thank you Lord. But what we didn’t know at the time was that it was the looming storm that was shooing them away, not the dance. One drop, two drops, three drops, four. The rain started slow, and for that we were glad.
One of the girls at the table with us posed the question, “Would you rather it be 95 degrees, or this?” Everyone agreed that the rain was MORE than welcome, and we were comfortably cooling down under the large umbrellas, awaiting the next course.
Just when the rain started to come down a bit harder, we were presented with some of their pan-fried raviolis, described as being their most popular item on the menu, as well as being molten hot. We each received a cup of their red sauce to dip the raviolis into. I could smell that sauce from a mile, and it made my mouth involuntarily water. It was the smell of my youth.
I can remember being a little girl in my babysitter’s, restaurant, People’s Pizza, while she and her brother would prep for the day. The smells were intoxicating, invigorating and mesmerizing. They are the same smells that would waft through the air out of Passariello‘s on my walk down Main St. in my hometown. They are smells that I’ve tried to replicate in my own kitchen, and are smells that take me back each and every time to being that little girl with an over-sized apron sitting on a stool watching magic happen.
I plucked a few of the ravioli’s from the bowl and set them on my plate, completely ignoring the warning that the cheesy-middle was akin to lava, and went to town. In hindsight, it was probably wise to heed the warning, but I didn’t care. The sauce was amazing. Stunning. Biting. Delicious. It was sharp, acidic, sweet and savory. Loved it so much. The raviolis were good too, but I wished that they had been deep fried, rather than pan-fried, in order to give them a nice crispy crunch before experiencing the cheesy center. Didn’t stop me from eating my fill though.
Our table cleared that bowl super quickly, and we were ready to see what this duo from Gregorio’s had to offer for the main course. But by now, the rain was pounding. Pouring. Slamming down. The umbrellas overhead kept us dry, and all of us decided to stay. How cool is that? We were essentially a bunch of strangers getting together to eat at an Italian-American comfort food trailer in the middle of a huge storm, but no one wanted to leave. It was a lot of fun, to be honest, and I’m glad that everyone stuck it out.
There was a particularly long wait, however, for our meals, but the ever-sweet Sasha had all of the meals packed in to-go containers, just in case we couldn’t stand the rain any longer. But no one left. It was wonderful.
Our little man made his way over, soaking wet, from the playground just in the nick of time. We opened our to-go containers, and that familiar childhood smell rushed out of the box and into my face like a jackhammer. An amazingly fantastic jackhammer. Not painful or loud at all, but intense and crazy… So maybe less like a jackhammer, and more like tomato-scented ocean waves after a storm.
ANYWAY… I digress…
The point here is, the food smelled incredible, and I was happy to see the beautiful Chicken Parmesan and linguini with sauce in the to-go container. I cut the chicken up for the little man, and he was in heaven. He loved it, and just devoured it. Michael and I both liked it too. It was cooked well, breaded nicely, and it wasn’t soggy at all, which is usually my main complaint when it comes to this traditional Italian-American dish, so that was nice. I especially liked the use of fresh, deliciously melty mozzarella. Can’t really beat that.
The night was coming to an end, but before we could say au revoir, the ladies from The Celia Jacobs Cheesecake Experience trailer just down the way came over with pretty pink boxes filled with cheesecake bites for dessert. Win. I love cheesecake something fierce, so I could NOT wait to dig in.
This cheesecake was the best dang cheesecake I’ve ever had. They have 36 some-odd flavors, which is why they only do little tiny bites, so that you can mix and match, and enjoy several varieties. That evening, we were lucky enough to sample an original New York cheesecake, a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake and an apple pie cheesecake.
The graham cracker crust was something special. It was almost like a reverse Crème Brule, in that there was some caramelized sugar on the very bottom, lending some amazing crunch and texture to each bite. My mouth is watering as I write this. The cheesecake itself was moist, creamy, sinful and indulgent. The flavors were rich, inviting, velvety and left me wanting more. Lots and lots more. Like, I need some right now in my face, more. Now. Thanks.
Basically, the night was delicious, fun, and though it rained, the joy poured more. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been able to spend time with other bloggers, my family, and the wonderful couple behind Gregorio’s Food Trailer.
