THIS is what they’re missing!

What a difference a day makes! Last night My Most Favorite Lunch Companion and I had our annual dinner date (the UTJ dinner doesn’t count). We went to Darna, a Persian/Moroccan restaurant in Manhattan at the corner of Columbus Avenue and 89th Street on the Upper West Side. THIS is fine dining, folks!

I’m in love. With the FOOD, Rapp, with the FOOD! The appetizers were light and perfectly seasoned, the soup thick and hearty. The beef tajine melts in your mouth – and fortunately there was enough left over for me to take home for Shabbat dinner. MMFLC’s only quibble was with the chicken penne dish. It was described on the menu as being in a “roasted pepper sauce,” and the waiter claimed that there were jalapeno peppers in it, but it tasted like pesto to us. My only quibble was that the lighting was so dim that you couldn’t see what you were eating. OK, it’s romantic, I’ll admit that – although it would be even more so if they used something other than Shabbat candles on the tables! Otherwise, the ambiance is great, the food was great, the company was great… what more could you ask for? (Sorry, folks, we had neither the time nor the appetite for dessert; I’ll have to report on that another time.)

(DW)