http://www.arnoristorante.com/
Located in the garment district, across the street from my sister’s job, this restaurant serves very, very good Italian food (get it, Arno River in Florence, Italy?).
It is our “Cheers” where every one knows our name. My sister is a regular and knows the owner like a dear friend. We have been going to this place for years and my family loves it because they make us feel so comfortable. My parents love this place and give birthday presents to the owner they are so close. My mother even made him her famous cheesecake (which we think he later sold).
Cut to to day, we celebrated my fathers 76th birthday. We had a blast. The owners know us, the one owner sits and eats and drinks with us, we wander the kitchen, the basement, feed the cat, etc.
My niece is almost 17, my nephew is 15 1/2, I know teenagers are supposed to be a pain in the tushy but these 2 kids are great, they are a ton of fun and I am very lucky my family gets along so well, especially as it wasn’t always this way. We had a hysterical evening, again, when you have as comfortable a place as this to hang out. it makes it a natural. I am not allowed to disclose anything, I just will say we found out someone in the family had an ailment that no one knew about for 45 years and it was great fodder for jokes the whole evening (cause it is based in paranoia!).
Again, since this is a day of mushy blogs, I am grateful for my family, I am thrilled these are the people I get to surround my son with (I am referring to my spouse’s family as well, especially cause they are reading this!)
My 6 1/2 year old teenager discovered osso buco and could not get enough of it. I cannot afford this kid’s taste!