There were so many photos that I loved. I do not know why I only took pics of these three.
My parents invited us to an "adults only" BWAY dinner at Buca Di Beppo. We had a blast on the hour long drive down, where we got turned around several times before we finally found the right road.
All of us kids(adult kids) are full time parents who rarely get babysitters and are usually found with our children nearby so it was a great treat to head off for the evening "childless"!
When you enter this fabulous restaurant you cant help but notice a series of black velvet paintings of a nearly life sized partially nude women in the stairway surrounded by every sort of imaginable photograph and art. The art continues throughout the entire building. The manager shared that there are over 1,500 pieces of art in this building.
Of course there are the classics, like children eating pasta and Italian looking families, priests, the Pope and nuns. But there are also many unusual photos such as nuns driving bumper cars, naked children and people of all ages (classically and beautifully done of course...well some were quite comical too), a priest sleeping during confession, children picking their noses, two elderly women talking across the small ally from their porches, people shouting at one another in the street, beautiful movie stars doing regular people stuff, friends, family , lovers, children being mischievous and so much more.
There are very few formal portraits. Most photos seem to be intended to entertain and bring a smile to the customers face. They tend to be candid style shots of people doing just about anything you can imagine, mostly living life. Many are terribly irreverent but obviously intended purely for your entertainment and to paint a picture of the imperfections that all humans posses but often try to hide. There is even a room with mostly Pope paraphernalia, complete with a statue of his rotating head in the middle of the table.
Our view from our kitchen seating.
We were told that "Buca Di Beppo" means "Joe's Basement". Normally customers enter on the main floor and are escorted to the basement for their dining experience. However, we had reservations for the table in the kitchen where we were able to watch the chefs prepare the food and were treated very well by the staff. It was really neat!
Our appetizer was bruschetta on toast served with yummy olive oil.
All meals are served family style, including desert. I was having so much fun that I totally forgot to take photos of the main course. But I did get a photo of the desert. It was amazing! and huge! Did I mention that the meal was a fabulous experience and the staff and food was awesome!?! Really, it was.
Our desert of giant pieces of apple pie with caramel topping and almond flavored crust, very moist layered chocolate cake, cheesecake with strawberry topping and hazelnuts and tirimisu.
The celebration cake is prepared to represent the restaurants colors. We did not try this.
While walking to the car our parents were setting a good example by showing love and holding hands while walking down the street. All the kids followed along and were holding hands too.
On the ride home they were holding hands and looking at one another and talking the entire way home...how sweet to be surrounded by all these happy couples!
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