A Lovely Lunch at Ariano

My uncle was driving down from New Jersey to Philly to visit me and my host and take us out for lunch.  State Street in Media is lined with cozy restaurants. So you have a healthy choice to pick and choose from. Wednesday nights are beautiful with all the restaurants dining under the stars. Too bad I did not have my camera with me. Maybe, I can make up for the loss next week and dine at Fellini Cafe Trattoria, which has earned high reviews on Tripadvisor.
 Teddy first took us to a bar and restaurant which fell short in the vegetarian menu. Obviously, that made me terribly unhappy though the boys might have been happy with their beer and some small bites. We decided to head to Ariano, famous for its thin crust light pizzas. Since I am a vegetarian, I am usually apprehensive about my options, but Ariano had plenty of options for my tired brain.

I am hopelessly in love with soups wherever I am. I had the soup of the day, White Wine Mushroom topped with sun dried tomatoes, which was fabulous. For lunch, I had a Melani, pizza served on a spicy tomato base with artichokes and fontini cheese ( I dont remember the name of the cheese quite right,). I am not a huge taker for a plate of melted cheese, but enjoy it in subtle or small bites.  The soup stuffed me up, so I decided to take a portion of the pizza home for dinner. 

For dessert I had a peach sorbetto, though the lemon basil was what my heart yearned for. More than the first bite, it was the second and consecutive bites that made the trick. This was the first time I was having a sorbetto. It has a fruit base and less creamy than the gelato. So it took me a second and third bite to really enjoy the flavour. 

My uncle had a vegetarian pizza topped with a specific variety of musrooms and cheese while ted had a non vegetarian version. The pizzas were light and well made. Both the men finished their plate while I was struggling to get through mine after a heavy duty bowl of mushroom soup.

The staff were attentive, so I was smack happy with their service and attention to detail. 

Tasty food at great prices are sexy. I would love to go back again. Infact I went back for Mexican fare on a noisy Monday night, but could not find anything vegetarian. The team was nice enough to offer me a vegetarian version from the menu, but I decided not to disturb the true essence of the dish and let it be. 

What a great place and fantastic ambience.  Ariano comes highly recommended.