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Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, August 26, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 26, 2017 9FOOD AND DRINK & MORE Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 26, 2017 9FOOD AND DRINK & MORE TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dillsthechefknows@yahoo.com AVANTI ITALIAN BISTRO AND BAR I was going through my last couple of hundred reviews and I was shocked/ saddened to see so many restaurants that have gone out of business the past five years. The list is too long for the space that I get here each week. One restaurant that has passed is Avanti Café on North Lake, for years owner Bobbi Ghorfanian prided himself on delicious food in a café style setting. But don’t fret pizza and pasta lovers. This was a planned exit for an entrance of the Avanti Italian Bistro and Bar on Sierra Madre in Pasadena. You might remember it as the Spring Garden, got to say 40 years living in Pasadena I never stopped in. Anyway you know I have made it a point to let my readers know that I am in a constant search for the family owned restaurant. You may accurately say, it is the Holy Grail for this Restaurant Critic. It is the American dream for many and a business which has put many a child through diapers and college. It may stem out of some kind of shameless guilt which I carry. For I have written about the Big Chains when need be. I vowed that I would return to my true love, the Local Corner Restaurant. I think I found the Grail. Tap your heels together three times and just repeat the words, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.” They are responsible for some of the area’s best gourmet pizzas. visit I was to enjoy the glazed Apple Pizza ($13) and a traditional Hawaiian Pizza for ($12) . One of the tests I put to each restaurant that I review is their soup. Avanti makes an unbelievable Chicken Barley Soup ($7), all I can add is, Wow. Need another reason to stop the next time. Giuseppe Pizza ($14) is loaded with Spinach, Ricotta, Chicken Breast, Mushrooms and Red Peppers, all very fresh and perfectly baked in these flavorful ovens. The setting at Avanti Bar and Grill is somewhat sheik a fireplace, high wooden beams and a service bar with a small patio for those warm fall nights; the Bistro is unpretentious and very welcoming. There is a small parking lot in the back, seating is fairly limited here but Serving: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, And Catering On my last The Avanti maintains a nice selection of beer/ wine and full bar. And has a happy hour that well.. is just OK . Well worth the drive from wherever you are reading this. My daughter Lauren has to have the Garlic Knots with each visit. She knows her stuff, and you will love them too!!! So all and all the restaurant mortality rate is so high, that even with all my experience in the hospitality business I would be crazy to open a restaurant. Owner Bobbi did the right thing to concentrate on one place he might have wished I wrote about the additions to the pizza, but that is what I was in the mood for. Avanti Italian Bistro and Bar 187 N. Sierra Madre Pasadena Join my new food blog www.peterdills.tumblr. com tune into my radio show on AM 830 KLAA on Sundays at 5 Pm and KRLA AM 870 on Saturdays We’d like to hear from you! What’s on YOUR Mind? Contact us at: editor@mtnviewsnews.com or www.facebook.com/mountainviewsnews AND Twitter: @mtnviewsnews Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com | ||||||||||||||||||||