The Healthy Italian

The Healthy Italian

All-You-Can-Eat Pasta Extravaganza

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Place: Uva's Restaurant, Bradley Beach, NJ

Time: 6pm-10pm

Date: September 4th, 2009

     Some of our readers may have seen the advertisement for the All-You-Can-Eat Pasta Extravaganza by Joe Pipitone, The Healthy Italian. If you attended the event, you certainly were in for a treat that night as we saw plate after plate of gluten free pasta being devoured by hungry customers.
    The atmosphere was very nice, being a more traditional Italian-style restaurant. Uva's does offer gluten free pasta substitutions on a regular basis, but the pasta dishes this night were supplied by the The Healthy Italian. We were informed that twice as many guests showed up than were expected, which was shown by the obviously packed house.
    This was probably the reason that some of the pasta dishes were reported to have come out overcooked by several guests, but the dishes we received did not have this problem. Please don't let this deter you from sampling the pasta (visit Joe's website for where to buy). The taste of the pasta itself was definitely impressive. The sauces also used fresh herbs and very healthy ingredients. Overall, this event was very enjoyable with good food, good people, and a great time had by all. We hope that this happens more often in the Garden State!

What We Ordered

Bruschetta - The bruscetta was presented on a toasted piece of gluten free bread. It was made with fresh ingredients. Two kinds were offered, the more traditional tomato-based style and another eggplant based bruscetta. Both had great flavors, and we would definitely have it again!

Penne Pasta w/ Sauce - This dish was topped with the Healthy Italian's own tomato sauce. Nothing needed to be added to this dish, since the spices were great. If you haven't tried it yet, we would definitely recommend it!

Spiral Pasta with Pesto - This pasta featured a pesto sauce that was made with some tasty vegan-friendly ingredients. Because it did not have the cheese, the chefs were insistent on having fresh basil to prepare the dish. Some lucky customers even got to sample pesto dishes made from basil that was grown in the Healthy Italian's own garden. Our vote: Delicious!

Meat Balls - These came in two selections, Turkey or Tofu- Vegan friendly. We sampled the turkey, and found the first order to be one of the better gluten free meat ball varieties we have sampled yet. The second order of turkey meat balls, however, were on the dry side. This may have been due to the hectic atmosphere, as there were many more guests than initially expected at the event.

Carrot Cake - This cake was not as sweet as we expected it to be. It did not break apart easily, which is always a positive when talking about gluten free foods. Overall, we'd say that this is worth trying and making a decision for yourself.

Coconut Ice Cream - This ice cream is another good choice for those who suffer from lactose intolerance. It featured coconut milk, which really made the ice cream flavor unique. Yum!

What the Customers Thought

These are actual accounts of people attending the event, selected at random. Click Here for event pictures.

"The fact is we're here because of the menu"

"I think the main thing to say is this is a great idea, and I wish they would keep it up"

"I don't eat gluten free usually, I was a little apprehensive about it. It's hard to compare wheat and corn, but I liked this"

"Yes - This particular group of pasta in all honesty, I think overcooked . . .I would have preferred it al dente. Beyond that, I also sampled the vegetable lasagna, which I thought was excellent. I really did"

"I loved it! The bruschetta was fresh, it was great, I loved it"

Our Summary: This event was jam packed and clearly had many more customers show up than anticipated. That did create a small amount of chaos that, considering the situation, the crews of both the Healthy Italian and Uva's did a spectacular job of having things run smoothly. The food was very good in our opinions, although we did hear a few people say they wished it was more al dente. This may have been due to the kitchen being much busier than anticipated. The vegetable lasagna seemed to be a favorite of all who had ordered it. All in all, we would definetly reccomend the Healthy Italian's next event to all of our readers. The Healthy Italian products are also available frozen in select stores (Dean's Market), and we hope to be reviewing them soon!

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