Greyhound and Vin Santo Ristorante

Posted by Lauren and Nicole

N: This Friday morning, I woke up and did something ordinary… I had some eggs.

N: But I also did something out of the ordinary… I packed up my bags and boarded a Greyhound bus back to San Jose for the weekend.

N: During the 7 hour bus ride, I took a lot of notes to prepare for next weeks midterms, took an hour nap, watched part of Garden State, and checked out the views.

N: …and I got creeped on by the guy behind me. It wasn’t the safest bus ride, and I sure was happy to arrive safely in NorCal!

N: No, I’m not crying in the picture below, I was just shaking my head and saying “OH MY GOD I can’t believe I just sat on that bus for that long.”

N: We drove home, painted a chicken coop (more on that tomorrow!), and headed to dinner in Downtown Willow Glen.

L: Willow Glen has a few good options for dinner and we were pretty undecided (as usual). Our “plan” to hit up Aquí changed in 2.2 seconds when we drove by the intimate Italian restaurant, Vin Santo.

L: We mulled over the menu and listened to a talented musician play the guitar, simultaneously record beats on his electronic drum + keyboard, aaaand sing. Talent!

L: My mom and I shared entrees. The first was quite a surprise – it involved a table side finish by Chef Umberto! (guy in the background is clearly entertained)

L: The Trota Ripiena Cotto Sotto Sale was a special of the night – Idaho Trout stuffed with fresh figs, lemon, and fresh herbs. It was baked under rock salt and served with lemon sauce, potatoes, and vegetables. I envisioned pretzel salt when I read “rock salt,” but it was actually a puffy, blanket-like salt casing.

L: The chef removed the salt sheath and flipped the trout onto the plate with flourish. Voila! The trout itself was very flaky and incredibly moist, but the potatoes were bland (even extra lemon sauce could not revive them). Overall, I preferred the Agnolotti di Zucca – butternut squash, walnuts, parmesean cheese, brown butter sage sauce. I tried this very dish in high school during my only other visit to Vin Santo. Can’t go wrong with homemade ravioli!

N: My Spinaci Tiepidi salad was filled with spinach, parmesan crumbles, gorgonzola bits, candied walnuts, and sweet pears. The dressing was somewhat cheesy, but also had Italian flavors.

N: We ended the night with a stroll down Lincoln Avenue (the central street of downtown Willow Glen) and a three-way split of a medium pumpkin latte from Peets Coffee. it sure was a sweet way to end the night.

N: We’ll see what the rest of the weekend has in store…

- Lauren and Nicole

Q4U: Where is your favorite pumpkin coffee from? Starbucks, Peets, Coffee Bean, other?