500!!!

I was back in Syracuse and ready to make my 500th Triple D visit.  I had been planning this for a few weeks.  I always like to have my milestone visits at a place that Guy seemed to really enjoy!  My 100th was at Benny's Seafood in Miami, 200th at Grinder's in Kansas City, 300 at Norton's Pastrami in Santa Barbara, CA and 400th at Slainte in Baltimore.  I had chosen Syracuse because my niece lives there and wanted to not only visit her and her boyfriend but also try the 5 or 6 Triple D places in the city.

I contacted the restaurant I wanted to go to because I knew there might be a group coming along and I wanted to make sure that we would be able to be seated. I chose "Pastabilities" in the Armory Square area of downtown Syracuse and after a few emails with the manager we set the day and time and it was on!  One of the managers at work suggested that I should contact the Syracuse media to tell them about the visit and after doing that I was contacted by the daily paper called The Post Standard and the weekly paper called the Syracuse New Times.  Both papers did a small feature about me prior to my arrival and I must admit both did excellent jobs!

Just prior to leaving for the restaurant I got a call from Scott, a photo journalist for Syracuse.com, the electronic division of The Post Standard, he said he would meet my at Pastabiities and wanted to do a video journal of my 500th visit.  I arrived a little before the reservation time and met with my niece Rebekah, her boyfriend Moon, and my friend Rich and Melinda who had driven 2 hours from Scranton, PA.  We went in and were seated at a round table in the back dining area.  Pastabilities is a very popular place, it was already busy!  Our server came over and told us about the menu.  I knew there were several items I wanted to know more about from their Triple D episode.  She told us that everything is made in house, they even have their own bakery right across the street called Pasta's that makes all of their baked goods and breads. 

Pastabilities in Syracuse NY, Triple D #500!

Pasta's Bakery - Pastabilites bakery for breads and baked goods right across the street

On their Triple D episode two of the featured items were their Tomato Oil bread dip and their spicy Wicked Chicken Riggies.  I asked how spicy the sauce for the rigies was and she said it was pretty spicy and would bring us out a small sample.  After taking our drink orders they brought out the Tomato Oil and bread along with a sample of the Wicked Chicken Riggies sauce. 

The bread they have is awesome, crispy crust on the outside and soft on the inside.  The Tomato Oil is like a light sauce that has a kick.  The Riggies sauce is a cream tomato sauc and is powerfully spicy, a bit too spicy for me but if you like spice it's for you!

Tomato Oil and Bread

On Guy's visit they also made a Duck Bacon pizza and we decided to order it as an appetizer.  The pizza came and there was just enough for the table a perfect szed appetizer.  The pizza had a barbecue sauce base with mozzarella and a delicious duck bacon topping.  This was a great appetizer!

Duck Bacon Pizza Appetizer

The atmosphere is great and the place was packed, they even had a jazz trio playing which really added to the festive atmosphere.  Pastabilities makes everything from scratch and in-house.  Melinda and I decided to try the Cheese Ravioli with sausage, Rich tried the Meatball Lasagna and Rebekah and Moon shared a Pasta with Pesto dish.  While we waited for the meal, Scott took some video and photos of us and interviewed me about my travels.  After only a short wait the meals arrived and all of them looked awesome.  Rich's lasagna had a scoop of ricotta on top that made it look like a cake with whipped cream on top.  The Ravioli was excellent, really good ricotta filling and a spicy tomato oil and marinara sauce.  The sausage was great and also had a bit of a spice kick.  Melinda rally enjoyed her ravioli and Rebekah and Moon really liked their pasta and mixed some of the spicy riggie sauce on theirs, I guess they like things spicy! 

My Cheese Ravioli and Sausage meal

Rich's Meatball Lasagna with a scoop of ricotta

Moon and Rebekah's Pesto Pasta

The table fell a bit quiet as we were really enjoying our meals.  Melinda commented that she wished it wasn't a 2 hour drive from Scranton or they would be back often!  I was so happy that everyone was enjoying themselves.  As we were finishing I asked our server if Karyn, the owner was in to get her to sign my book and she said that she wasn't but her daughter was in as the manager for the night and would be happy to do it.  Our server then returned and said that Karyn had just arrived and would be coming to join us, just before that Karyn's daughter came over to introduce herself and then Karyn came over and I recognized her immediately!  Karyn sat with us and talked to all of us and told us about the restaurant and about Guy's visit.  It had been in August 2012 during the New York State Fair, so it was a very busy time.  She told me that they had been busy before the show came but there were some slower times but since their episode debuted they never have slow times! 

Karyn, Pastabilites owner and me

Karyn and me

 

Karyn, Rich and me

Karyn signed my book and was just such a gracious host to us.  As she left for a few minutes as Scott wanted to interview her about the restaurant and her Triple D episode Rich and Melinda ordered an after dinner drink and Rebekah, Moon and I decided to share the Raspberry Tiramisu.  It was traditional Tiramisu with a wo layers of raspberry sauce and fresh raspberry topping, it was wonderful! 

Raspberry Tiramisu

Karyn gave me a give box of two jars of the Tomato Oil, a tee shirt and some Post cards of the different items that Pastabilites features, it was a great surprise, I am so honored that she did that!

It was a wonderful evening and I couldn't have asked for a better time to celebrate my 500th visit to a place featured on "Diners Drive ins and Dives"  As we left Karyn came over to thank us for coming and I just had to thank her for being a gracious and perfect host!  I will always remember my 500th and be grateful for Karyn and her staff!

Our group (Left to Right) Melinda, Rebekah, Moon, Rich and me