IL Toscano Ristorante

 

 

Who would have guess that fantastic Italian food could be in a tiny looking restaurant near the Douglaston train station? I promise this is true. IL Toscano Ristorante is outstanding in its service, food and accommodations for the dinners.   This is not your typical American Italian restaurant.  The food is based on Northern Italian recipes.  Their menu has so much to offer even the pickiest eater can find something they enjoy.  The last evening I was there, it was to celebrate my birthday.  We started our dinner, like we do every time there, we our favorite appetizers.  The homemade fresh mozzarella (Mozzarella Fresca) and tomato is like nothing you have ever tasted before. The mozzarella is the perfect smooth yet chewy consistency.  This alone will have you coming back again and again.  Additionally, we order the mussels (Prince Edward Island Mussels).  The broth for these mussels is something out of this world.  It is a white wine broth with small, crunchy pieces of bacon in it.  The best part of IL Toscano is that you can order any entrée pasta as an appetizer, which you almost always need to.  The pasta is homemade on the premises, and needs a small parade following it while it comes out of the kitchen.  I have never gone to IL Toscano and disliked anything I have ordered.   You cannot go wrong between appetizers, salads, pasta and large entrees.  One word of advice is to safe room for dessert.  IL Toscano’s famous for their scrumptious, decadent Napoleon.  Truly if you decide to dine here you will not be disappointed from the drinks, food or service.  IL Toscano will soon become your family favorite.

 

Vocabulary

Fantastic- excellent, great

Outstanding- better than most

Pickiest- hard to please, dislikes many things

Consistency- the way something feels

Premises- in the building

Scrumptious- very well liked, tastes very good

Decadent- tastes so good it is bad (sinful)

 

Vocabulary Activity

Grammar Lesson- Adding –s to the end of a verb

Adding s to a base word – for most verbs you just add –s at the end of the verb

Examples: run/runs, shoot/shoots, skip/skips

Exception: Adding -es – you need to add an –es if the base word ends in o, ss, sh, (t)ch, zz, and x

Examples- bless/blesses, watch/watches, do/does, go/goes

 

Activity

Circle the correct choice in the line.

Sam gos / goes to the mall.

Marcia bakes / bakes cookies.

We look / lookes for birds at the beach.

He shootes / shoots the basketball.

 

Websites J

http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar/verb_forms_and_tenses04.html

http://iltoscanony.com/menus/entrees.html

Shanghai Cafe in China Town New York

Shanghai Café

      If you want to experience some of the greatest Chinese food in New York, head to Shanghai Cafe.  The restaurant is located on Mott Street, in China Town.  It is one place you will come back to again and again.  My first experience with the restaurant was with my family.  My sister being a city girl always hears about the best places to eat.  She informed us all we must go for something called "Soup Dumplings."  I had never heard of "Soup Dumplings" and knew I had to try them at least once.  They are now one of my most favorite foods, and the best place to get them is at Shanghai.  "Soup Dumplings," or Steamed Tiny Buns as they are labeled on the menu, are pork dumplings infused with the most delicious broth you have ever tasted.  You can also order them with half crab and pork, but my loyalty is to the original.  If that is not up your alley, almost everything on the menu is amazing.  The fried rice is cooked to perfection. The lo mein has larger then normal noodles that only seem to enhance the flavor.  My favorite part of Shanghai Cafe is watching other restaurant diners order their meals.  I am also so interested by the wide variety of unbelievable food they have. One warning would be not to expect the wait staff to be overly kind.  They serve the food quickly and expect a quick turnover to seat the next group of people, but that never stops me.

Vocabulary

locate- to find something

labeled- name put on something, a brand

perfection- something that is wonderful the way it is

enhance- to make something better

variety- many choices, many things

unbelievable- very good, outstanding

turnover- time to have one person finish and a new person come in.

Close Exercise

Directions: fill in the correct vocabulary word to complete the sentence.

1.     I need to _________________ this restaurant.

2.     I _________________ my notebooks with my name.

3.     Ice cream after dinner is _________________ .

4.     I will _________________ the color on my picture to make it look nicer.

5.     I like to have a _________________ of choices for lunch.

6.     McDonalds has a fast _________________ because it is fast food.

Adding –ing to a base word/-ing Suffix

When adding –ing to the end of a base word there are some rules:

§  for most words- you just add –ing after the base word (example- cool/cooling, worry/worrying)

§  If the word ends in e- drop the e and add –ing (example- ride/riding, bite/biting)

§  If the word ends in a vowel consonant- double the consonant and add –ing (example- hop/hopping, pat/patting)

§  Exceptions to the rules-

o  Double e’s

o  change –ie to y before adding –ing

Practice

Directions – add –ing correctly to the following words

1.     fill + ing = _____________________

2.     style + ing = _____________________

3.     jump + ing = _____________________

4.     skip + ing = _____________________

5.     see + ing= _____________________

6.     skip + ing = _____________________

http://shanghaicafenyc.com/

http://literacy.kent.edu/Midwest/Materials/ndakota/spelling/lesson4.html

Empellon

                I am not quite sure when I became a foodie.  It may have happened the first time I ate a food that completely blew my mind. Perhaps it was the first time I cooked a dinner for my grandfather, all on my own.  The only thing that I am certain about that food is a great passion of mine.  I have watched numerous cooking shows. I have taken several cooking classes.  In addition, I have eaten at a multitude of restaurants.  I plan most trips around places to eat.  My most recent food experience was at Empellon Taqueria, in New York City’s West Village.  It is a Mexican restaurant created by Alex Stupak, who interestingly began his career as a pastry chef.  If you enjoy Mexican, then you will love Empellon.  One of my favorite parts of the dining experience was the small dishes to share as a table.  Each course was decadent yet left you excited for the next.  My one word of advice is beware of over ordering.  The waitress advised my table to order one plate of each category, which left us terribly full.  The next time I dine at Empellon, I will order only a few dishes at a time.  There is always time for more.

http://empellon.com/taqueria/

Vocabulary

Foodie - a person who loves food

Numerous – many, a lot of

Multitude – a big amount

Pastry – sweet food made for dessert

Decadent – filling, rich, delicious

Advice – an idea of the right thing to do

Fill in the blank

1.       The best _________________ I received was to order the salsa.

2.       The dessert was so _________________, I was unable to finish it.

3.       I love to stop at the _________________ shop for desserts.

4.       There were a _________________ of shoes for sale in the store.

5.       The _________________ books were filed all around the library.

6.       The _________________ created a blog about her    culinary adventures.

Grammatical Structure – Verbs in the past tense

Verbs in the past tense are used to describe events that happened in the past. Some words in the past tense use –ed at the end, like happened.  Other words must change to show past, present or future tense (example – went, go, will go).

Circle the correct verb tense below:

·         Sara ( go , went) to the movies.

·         Amanda (like , liked) the ice cream she ate.

·         The students ( have , had ) many talents.

http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar/simple_past_tense02.html