i’m lucky to have a husband with the presence of mind to suggest 3 days in advance that we make a reservation at a restaurant in auburn with a outdoor seating. this way when we emerge from our day hike, hot, dusty and thirsty(see 5 masks for quarry trail on the american river), we can go straight to eat before our drive home.
so we did exactly that at tre pazzi trattoria, suggested by a dear friend of mine who lives in the area. they greeted us with masks, seated us quickly facing the street with 6 feet between us and the next table and were very careful about all the service. on top of that, the food was absolutely outstanding. i avoid italian restaurants as a rule because i favor vegan low carbohydrate eating which doesn’t tend to be their strong suit. they offered gluten free pasta options for all their dishes, but even that is just way too much flour for me. so i had low expectations for the white bean tuscan soup followed by spaghetti squash with marinara and spinach. it sounded like it would be just, eh.
boy was i wrong, it was fantastic. oh my god. every bite bursting with flavor. my husband pronounced himself absolutely stuffed with his more conventional meal: a polenta with mushrooms followed by a seafood pasta in wine and cream sauce. he loved every bite.
I take off a mask because the indoor environment (while the establishment was trying) was filled (every other table) with unmasked people and other people on the outdoors (while seated appropriately far away) didn’t seem to have any consciousness of safety. This probably has more to do with the culture of the Auburn area and Placer county than it does the restaurant which seemed to be working hard to be safe. Of course, NO indoor dining is safe is what I am learning.
[note: there’s a good chance you don’t care or haven’t noticed that i’ve moved from a “snout-based” to a “mask-based” rating system during the pandemic. i reserve the right to revert to snouts at any time. at first i was just using masks for reviewing public in person things but then i realized, we also need to review our online content from a point of view of not only physical but emotional safety. so the masks are an indication that i highly regard the physical and emotional experience of what ever i’m reviewing from the point of view of me during this pandemic.
5 masks = outstanding, the best possible
4 masks = good
3 masks = ok but falling short in some respects
2 masks = poor
1 mask = awful]
