Tag: Chicken All’ Arrabiata

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Chicken All’ Arrabiata

With a name like Caffe Espresso Trattoria, my mind conjured up a picture of a small storefront Café with a limited seating and menu. I was pleasantly surprised to find a larger  establishment neatly tucked away behind a Rite Aid Pharmacy. This is definitely one of those locations you need to know where it is because you are not likely to stumble upon it in your travels. With that being said, the restaurant was very busy for a Tuesday night. After being seated we were served  bread and olive oil. The atmosphere was pleasant, conversations were slightly difficult due to the bustling restaurant that seemed to carry noise. I chose as my main course  Chicken All’ Arrabiata which was served with a soup or salad. The Chicken Vegetable soup tasted freshly made but was rather plain. Fortunately the spice and complex flavors would follow in the next course.

The Chicken All’ Arrabiata  (from the Italian for angry) was a masterfully  prepared dish that was described as  Sautéed Chicken Breast with peperoncini peppers, onions, and mushrooms in a spicy wine garlic sauce. The dish was served over a homemade cavatelli pasta. The cavatelli pasta was perfectly prepared and absorbed the complex tastes of the white wine, peperoncini, garlic sauce. The chicken as perfectly sautéed thin chicken breast medallions that were easy to cut with a fork and the zesty spice from the sauce paired perfectly with this dish. The peperoncini peppers were a slight variation from the typical preparation that usually uses more red pepper, but this is definitely a dish that would have me seeking out this hidden jewel again. After finishing this dish I felt very content and full.

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Chicken All’ Arrabiata

Chicken All' Arrabiata

Chicken All' ArrabiataTucked into the backside of a strip mall on Chandler St, Caffe Espresso Trattoria is very easy to miss. To find it, you’ll need to pull into the plaza with the Rite Aid pull around the side. The place is actually decent sized, seating a decent amount of people for being in a strip mall. The atmosphere is minimal, not too bright, and not too dark, and the place is very simply decorated, though it did seem a tad noisy.

We started with the Italian staple, bread, and oil. The bread was very good, light and fluffy with a nice crust and very fresh. The oil was plain and unflavored, but once I added some red pepper flakes and grated cheese (both right on the table) it was quite nice.

For an appetizer, I had Bruschetta Mushroom, a special and not normally on the menu, though I think it should be. It was nicely sized, plenty for one and just enough for two to share. The mushrooms were cooked nicely, they were tender but still had some texture to them, and they held up to the oil, tomato, and cheese perfectly. Overall, it was nice and light, not too filling, and very enjoyable. My meal also came with soup and I chose the minestrone. I found the soup to be a little different than I’m used to, a little less tomato based, more carrots and chickpeas, but it was very good. The vegetables were cooked great, tender but again with enough texture and just the right amount of seasoning. Again, this was quite light and not too filling, overall an excellent soup.

For my main course I had the Chicken All’ Arrabiata (Sauteed chicken breast with peperoncini peppers, onions and mushrooms in a spicy white wine garlic sauce), served over the house made cavetelli pasta. The pasta is homemade on the premises and was very fresh. It was cooked perfectly, just a little al dente and it held the sauce of the dish very well. The chicken was pounded thin and lightly breaded and tender enough to cut with a fork. The sauce was similar to a Marsala, light and had a great kick to it from the peperoncini peppers, without being too hot. Overall, an excellent dish if you like just a little heat and a lighter sauce.