Friday, September 28, 2007

Il Vecchio



Italian food and cycling? Pasta and Bianchi? They're natural partners!

I never had Italian food in a restaurant until I was in my twenties. Mom made her own spaghetti sauce, and while it was good, it wasn't the same as going into some hole-in-the-wall Italian place with all the usual cliches – checkered table cloths, a candle stub in an empty chianti bottle, and a hand painted map of Italy on the wall. The main focus was the food, and I loved it immediately.

Owasso has the usual assortment of pizza places. We have a couple of franchised Italian restaurants too. But there's only one of mom-and-pop variety, and that's Il Vecchio.

The menu offers various salads, spaghetti, lasagna, and several variations of panini. That may not seem to be extensive, but there are half a dozen types of lasagna, with comparable variety in the other menu categories. Trust me, you'll find something you like. We've eaten there several times. Given my weakness for Italian food, we'll eat there often. They make their own pasta and sauces. Everything is fresh.

For lunch this afternoon, Lyndsay had a grilled chicken panini and I had bruschetta with an artichoke and spinach dip. This is actually listed as an appetizer, but I made a meal of it. Lyndsay's panini was too much for her to finish, so she brought half of it home. Honestly, you could split a panini between two people with this appetizer and have a sumptuous lunch. I'll keep that in mind for the next time, although Lyndsay sampled the dip, made a face, and said, “Ugh! Spinach!” She still eats like a kid.

Since CycleDog is primarily about cycling, I have to point out that if you're contemplating a ride through Owasso with a stop at Il Vecchio for lunch, there are no convenient places to lock a bicycle outside as you can see from the photo above. But if you like Italian food, give it a try.


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4 Comments:

Blogger Yokota Fritz said...

Ed, you really really need to drop down to Krebs for the famously excellent Italian food there. Go down during the Italian Festival in McAlester that's every spring.

8:40 PM  
Blogger Paul Tay said...

Hey, "NO" River Tax needs 500 pairs of hands tomorrow, 0830, 29 September, 93rd Street Jenks Bridge.

8:44 PM  
Blogger brother yam said...

Hey, eating is part of biking, so this counts.

Italians make bikes and bikes are part of biking, so this counts again.

Some guys write about beer (which, oddly enough, is part of biking too), you can certainly write about food.

11:07 PM  
Blogger Ed W said...

I had a favorite Italian restaurant in Pittsburgh, and there's a long story about it that I'll have to post here. I could have tacked it onto this piece, but it really wouldn't have been appropriate.

So-called 'big' carbs like pasta, potatoes, and rice are fuel for cyclists. My problem is that I tend to overfill the tank.

6:48 AM  

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