The Local Restaurant To Bookmark For Your Next Night Out In The OS

When we visited Italy a few years ago, some of the best food and wine we were treated to came courtesy of this unassuming, family-run vineyard not far from Mt. Vesuvius. Well, yesterday after quite the day (is Mercury in retrograde or something?), I really needed some of that old world Italian magic back in my life. Luckily, and because I needed to walk somewhere scenic to clear my mind, I ended up at Tate's Italian Kitchen for an impromptu dinner for one. 

The soundtrack was Dean Martin (appropriately his lesser known "Return To Me", as opposed to his signatures "That's Amore" and "Everybody Loves Somebody"), so I decided to take the plunge and order a glass of red wine (after asking if they had any organic red wine, the waiter assured me all their vino is from Italy, which is pretty much the same as organic in my book) and some pasta. Because wine not? And Dean-o. And the Monday-est frigging Monday in a long while. 

So, while waiting for my butternut squash lasagna, I couldn't help but overhear the couple at the next table. They were talking about her efforts to try to sell a table on Facebook Marketplace, why marble cutting boards are no good (who knew?) and how he had previously dismissed Tate's because he'd thought it was a diner (not that there's anything wrong with diners people, but we are talking hidden-ish Italian gems in the OS here).

I can totally see how that guy would have made that mistake though because Tate's used to be a diner in a previous life and it's most definitely not fancy looking. Just as our day at that winery near Naples had taught us, sometimes superlative things come in simple, understated wrapping. 

*Tates is open Thursday thru Monday, 5 to 9pm. This Sunday, May 13th (Mom's Day), they'll be open 2 to 8pm.