Filippo's

Elaine is my ‘foodie’ friend. I can’t tell you how much time we discuss in deciding which restaurant to dine and then discussing every morsel that we enjoy. We love talking about our menus for dinner parties and sharing recipes. Elaine is a great and innovative cook. In short we both love good food.

I hadn’t seen Elaine for a long time. She had been away and then I went to Israel. We had missed our dining experiences and had so much to talk about. We decided to meet on St. Clair Ave and let fate decide which restaurant we would enjoy. When we drove past Filippo’s a light went on. Elaine has dined here before and I had heard about the fine food.

We both like small family run restaurants. When we were greeted by the smiling face of Filippo we knew this was going to be a positive experience. He greeted everyone and continued to check if we were satisfied. It was never noisy and it was fun to watch the glorious plates of delicious looking food being presented to the tables.

We were very naughty and completely demolished the delicious broschetta. It arrived immediately and we enjoyed the fresh tomatoes on this crusty tasty bread.

We shared Filippo’s Insalata di Casa ($8.95) Romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts, black olives, and sun-dried tomatoes are delightfully mixed with a three cheese dressing. I wonder how many calories we consumed. Didn’t matter. When something tastes this good you just go with the flow.

For a small restaurant I was impressed that 5 salads are offered. A Zuppa del Giorno is freshly prepared daily.($6.95) The Minestrone is always on the menu($6.95) Vegetarians will be happy to note it is a vegetable base with fresh garden vegetables. Carpaccio di Manza offers thin sliced cured beef, parmaggiano cheese and served with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.($12.95)

Pasta and pizza are the main listings on the menu. Pesce and Carne selections are listed daily on a blackboard.

We opted to share a pizza. It was decision time to choose one of the fifteen choices. Fresca Pizza was the right choice for us. The crust was thin and crusty. Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, pesto, roasted red peppers, shrimp and eggplant were so tasty. They were even kind enough to divide the pizza and give us our own plates. There are so many different ingredients listed on the pizza choices. All the family can dine here and be satisfied with different choices.

The Risotto del Giorno changes daily. I’m told it is prepared without cream and is delicious. My favorite pasta choice was a consideration and will be my choice on my next visit. Pasta Gamberoni is a linguini dish with black tiger shrimp prepared in a mildly spiced tomato and white wine sauce.($24.95) Gnocchi Ripieni offers fresh spinach and ricotta cheese-filled gnocchi in a light tomato cream sauce.($17.95) Cappellini Pomodor is angel hair pasta prepared with plum tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and garlic and fresh basil. ($14.95)

This is a small restaurant. The menu offers many choices. We were delighted with our choices. It is such a friendly place. Thank you Stephanie for the pleasant efficient service.

It was all a winning combination and it was so good to see my good friend again.