G’Vanni’s
http://www.gvannis.com/
2 Prince Street, North End, Boston

What I ate:
Shared appetizers: Stuffed Mushrooms, Shrimp in a butter sauce
Entrée: Grilled Scallops
Drink: Merlot
Shared Desserts: Crème Brulee Cheesecake and “Bocce Ball” gelato dessert

My husband and I accompanied my parents to the North End to celebrate my dad’s birthday. My parents had been hanging onto a gift certificate to G’Vanni’s that included two free appetizers and two free desserts, so we knew we were in for a big meal! We wound up getting seated pretty late so we were all pretty hungry when the delicious, fluffy white bread was put in front of us. I had one small piece and saved room for the rest of my meal.

We split two appetizers, which were stuffed button mushrooms (each person had one or two) and shrimp in a buttery sauce (each person had one or two). Both were good enough to whet our appetite. I ordered the grilled scallops for my main entrée because scallops are one of the foods I haven’t figured out how to cook well at home, so I’m more than happy to order it when I go out. The scallops came with spinach, which I was happy about since I’m not a huge pasta eater and would rather fill up on veggies, my merlot wine, and dessert! The scallops were grilled perfectly and nearly melted in my mouth. I didn’t love the spinach, which I always find is over cooked and prefer raw. There were also a few potato wedges, kalamata olives, and broccoli florets to round out the plate. I snagged a bite of my husbands delicious salmon, my dad’s heavenly (though out of season) pumpkin sage ravioli, and a bite of my mom’s homemade pasta in a spicy sauce.

We were all pretty stuffed but decided to split the two deserts we got as part of our deal, so we split a crème brulee cheesecake and gelato dessert which had chocolate and vanilla gelato encased in a chocolate shell. To be perfectly honest, my husband and I had already planned on splitting a big black and white cookie from the famous Mike’s Pastry later on, so I wasn’t really interested in these desserts. I’m also not a huge cheesecake fan, though I do love crème brulee, and chocolate gelato doesn’t appeal to me. So I had a bite of each to end the meal with something sweet. A few hours later, after going to one of the North End festivals, we got our massive black and white cookie to share. Unfortunately it wasn’t as I remembered it from when I used to get them as a kid, but fortunately this helped me eat only a few bites before passing on the rest. It was definitely a night of indulgences and we had a great time!