How do you say Arugula in Italian??

Last weekend, our good friends, the Chrommie's were in town and relying on us to take them to a good lunch place to eat at. Ya know cause I have a food blog.

Uh PRESSURE.
We WERE looking for places to eat outside, however we decided to seek homage in a restaurant in Greenwich Village because it was RAINING since apparently I MOVED TO SEATTLE. Ugh.

'ino

21 Bedford Street

Our meal started off with good ol' bellini's and beers. Off to a good start until we got the mamouth menu. Everything just looked good, overwhelming and well, in need of an Italian translator.

Mainly focusing on the bruschetta and panini section we narrowed it down. Because who can go wrong with a pressed sandwiches. Not me!

First off, we went for the platter of four for bruschetta.

Ricotta Fresca with Oven-Roasted Tomato

White Bean, Tomato, and Basil

Goat Cheese with Fennel Fronds (I think??)

And something else.

All good, a little taste of something good to come.

No real comments, I just remember Mrs. Chrommie was in a happy place because she had goat cheese. I could have used a bigger (or more?) roasted tomato on mine covering the whole bread.

Ordering our entrees became a bit harder since the choices were abundant and we kind of needed a translator. Soppressata? Rucola? Bresaola? After many consultations with our waiter and we figured out they were generally Italian beefs, eggplant or something cured. Oh and Rucola is a fancy way of saying Arugala in Italian.

See, I go above and beyond just the pretty pictures.

After trying to do a "sharing system" (where let's be honest someone always gets screwed) we found the Panini sampler platter. Our choice of four different smaller paninis per person. Now we're in business.

Mr. Chrommie and I ordered the same four:

Bresaola, Asparagus and Pecorino Peppato

Prscuitto, Mozzarella, and Tomato

Chicken, Oven-roasted Tomato, Asiago and Rucola

And something pork-like with a spicy sauce.

I don't remember what Mrs. Chrommie and Mr. Broad ordered because remembering my four was pretty hard. And I only have pictures of mine because uh, they all kinda looked alike.

While all tasty- some comments from the table:

"I think the bread is cutting up the roof of my mouth"

"Ooh the olive one isn't even that olive-y"

"The pork one with spicy sauce is my favorite"

"Hey, I wanted a bite of that one!"

"Umm, do they all kind of taste alike?"

And another view.

Review:

Yeah while I don't have too many adjectives on this post (SORRY! It was hard enough to remember what I ATE!) come on- it was toasted bread, a cheese, a meat and maybe something extra. Like "butternut squash mustard." Hard to screw up, no? The sandwiches were creative and I think I only had one I didn't love- my chicken/tomato one was a bit dry. So dry that it required a stop at a bar afterwards because I was still oh so parched. Right. While Mr. Broad reflected back, commenting that some were on the bland side I think he just wished he ordered the spicy pork special panini.

Rating: 7.5

While we were wavering on the rating, Mr. Chrommie upped it because while he didn't order, it they DID have nutella on the menu. And that clearly required an extra .5. I had to agree.