What Makes a Great Food Experience

I’m in Connecticut enjoying a three day stint with the patriarch of Clan Podolny, my father, the original Intimidator (or O-I for purposes of this blog). Developing a relationship between us was not an easy or natural thing but with lots of effort now, later in our lives, we have a really good relationship. And with his being 83 and me pushing 60 it is not one that I take for granted. Unfortunately with his being in CT and me being in NM, it is not that easy to get together. But I do try to make it here at least once a quarter.
Since this is my blog, I get to set the rules and I say that being a true foodie is not just a matter of the pursuit of the food itself. It is a the pursuit of total experiences and a total experience consists of three elements – the food, the ambiance, and the people. A good meal with people you dislike or have not simpatico for is not enjoyable. Food that is ok with people you really enjoy and care for in a great setting can be a fabulous experience.
O-I and his good friend L, and I went out this afternoon to a place in Hartford by the name of Casa Mia in the Little Italy section of town (sorry they don’t have a website). This is a place they have gone to for years but I’ve never had the chance to visit. We got to the restaurant fairly late, after 12:30 and things were pretty quiet. Most of the places we go to that O-I visits on a regular basis know him and accommodate he and his seeing eye dog, Uzef (aka Wonder Dog, Super Dog, Smartest Dog in the World). I’m not much of a dog person (understatement) but Uzef is an impressively smart and expressive individual. Here there is a room that is like a sunroom in the front of the restaurant. It was empty except for us. On a rainy cold dark day it was nice having all this light. It was nice just having the place to ourselves. There was nothing else on the agenda.
Lunch was a relaxed and long affair. They have lovely bread and a very nice olive oil to accompany it (no sickeningly sweet, industrial faux balsamic vinegar was added) and they brought a thick slice of an aged provolone cheese on a wooden cutting board for us to munch on. O-I and L had a classic lunch for them, a good minestrone soup and linguine with clams (an excellent rendition with just olive oil, clam juice, garlic and lots of black pepper). I went for a lunch menu with a first course of a lightly breaded and pan fried ravioli filled with a fresh mozzarella with a touch of tomato sauce on each (think fried mozzarella sticks taken up 10 notches) and some salmon on a lemon risotto with some grilled squash (yes I know that salmon is not from the Mediterranean and is therefore, not authentic Italian but simple grilled fish is so I say it is authentic in spirit). We had a couple of drinks, talked ate, downed our double espressos afterward. We were there for almost two hours. We could have been in Italy.