Cucina Paradiso

LUNCH DOWN IN PETALUMA at a place called Cucina Paradiso. We ate there a couple of years ago and I've wanted to revisit; when friends suggested meeting for lunch and a visit to the Novato Art Center, Cucina came to mind.

The others had orecchiete from the daily special menu, but I couldn't resist veal tortellini with sage leaves. A bottle of nice Grillo — the cheapest bottle on the list, and particularly recommended by the host; a very nice golden tasty wine indeed.

Dessert: panna cotta, raspberry and cream, pink and white (the photo, taken with my telephone, is distorted). Excellent. And a nice short conversation with the host, who's Sicilian, about Il Gattapardo. Life is good.

And then tonight dinner at the neighbor's: onions, peppers, cherry tomatoes, and sliced steamed potatoes, with bits of chorizo, and cod poached on top... delicious.