Pescara pairing (2 of 2)…read more
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One day, I was walking down the street in the center of Pescara and I noticed a storefront that looked like it couldn't possibly be any further south than Italy's Sud-Tyrol. Yet, here it was, in East Central Italy. With its apparent decor, I wondered if there was a Bavarian beer hall inside ... or if they repaired cuckoo clocks.
It was actually a restaurant named Il Ristoro Genuino featuring standard Italian food and I couldn't detect much of a regional bent. It's open for lunch and later into the evening, but they seem to do an especially good lunch business. I didn't notice table service as most people were opting for self-service, for which there is no such category that I could find. Based on its exterior, one would think they'd go in here and have an Italian facsimile of Dr. Ruth who would give you a goofy smile as she handed you the plates of food you point to. There's nobody like that here. They are just normal ladies from the area who try to be helpful.
The service area is a tight U-shaped buffet line along which you push your tray. There are many things to try. I'm talking about pasta, "secondi," salads, desserts, and more. Drinks are available for purchase as you approach the pay station at the end of the queue.
I like those "prix fixe" lunches they bill as "pranzo italiano" in this area because it has a formula limiting to you a specified number of plates from specific categories where you end up with pasta, beef/chicken/fish, a side dish, and bottled water and you know the price in advance. At Il Ristoro Genuino, the food is weighed. The pricing was standard but it turned out to be a little more than I thought it would, and it was mostly an issue of my lack of self control! There's a lot to choose from and, instead of putting down the fork, it's more of a situation where you need to push your tray along faster. Your tray might stop more than you had intended.
I'm not going to deduct any stars because Il Ristoro Genuino weighs the food they serve at lunch. That's their business model and other self-service lunch places do the same. All the food on my tray was very good and the service was very pleasant.
I only went once and that does not mean I wouldn't go back. I would. However, it would behoove the customer to study what they are offering that day so they can pare down what they choose to put on the their tray.
Even though there was no Italian facsimile of Dr. Ruth, in my own head, this became "the Dr. Ruth restaurant." And if I walked by or thought about this place, I would laugh. I never remembered the name of Il Ristoro Genuino so I had to sleuth it out in order to write this review. Therefore, for being "the Dr. Ruth restaurant" and being just plain good, I'm going to go with four stars for those four words.
