Hartford

A Garlic Aioli Revelation

by Jamil Ragland | Feb 20, 2024 5:07 pm

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Sorella
Hartford
Feb. 19, 2024

Despite its central location in Downtown Hartford, I’d never been to Sorella before. I chose a great evening to visit, as the noontime rush of customers leaving the XL Center had ebbed and the restaurant was mostly empty except for a party to my right and a man sitting at the bar to my left. 

As usual, I started with a drink. I looked over the menu until I saw something that jumped out at me. I usually drink Old Fashions because they give the most bang for the buck, but then I saw it: a Toasted Modern Fashion. It consisted of Elijah Craig bourbon, Amaretto Disaronno, brown sugar, and toasted almond bitters. 

It had the look of an Old Fashion, but when I took a sip I reeled back. It was very sweet, on account of the combination of Amaretto and brown sugar. The sweetness masked the bitterness that hit the back of my tongue as I swallowed the drink. I was a little disappointed, because it didn’t have the same alcoholic kick as the Old Fashion.

My fried calamari came out about halfway through my drink. I ordered them to be well done, and they had the exact crunch I was looking for. The calamari within the fried ring was chewy but not rubbery. The star of the dish, though, was the garlic aioli that came with the calamari. I’d never had aioli with calamari before, and it was a revelation. I love garlic, and I love fried food. Until yesterday, I’d only experienced that combination with garlic french fries. But the calamari was far more substantial than a plate of fries, and now I’ll always ask for garlic aioli in the future.

When I say the Modern Fashion snuck up on me … before I knew it I was singing along to 70s era muzak and squinting at the menu. I was looking for a second drink to order, but I stopped myself. I wasn’t drunk, but I was at the last bus stop before reaching that destination. I’ll never judge a drink before I finish dinner again.

Speaking of dinner, my entree mercifully arrived. I ordered one of my all-time Italian favorites, chicken parmigiano. When the waiter placed the plate, I saw the chicken seated atop a pile of spaghetti noodles covered in marinara. And that was it. No sides at all, or bread. I have to say I was surprised that a $24 entree came with nothing else.

The chicken parmigiano was well cooked, but bland. I didn’t taste much in the way of seasoning on it or in the marinara sauce. Then I looked up, and saw that the waiter had left me salt, pepper flakes and parmesan cheese. I also still had some of the garlic aioli left, so I went to work.

This might be obvious to some of you, but I realized last night that eating is a participatory act. Yes, the restaurant prepares the food according to their own recipes and traditions, but the dish isn’t actually done until it’s eaten. I was given the tools to make the chicken parmigiano taste the way I wanted it to. My enjoyment of the food was up to me, too.

I showered the chicken with pepper flakes and mixed the leftover aioli with the leftover marinara from the calamari. I cut the chicken into smaller pieces, and dipped the peppery concoction into the aioli. Again, my mind was blown. I’d discovered something better than chicken parmigiano — garlic chicken parmigiano.

Eating is still a learning process for me, because for so long I did it out of biological necessity. It wasn’t until fairly recently that I discovered that food is supposed to taste good and be enjoyed for such, and now I’ve learned that I can actually help to make it taste better. Who knows what I’ll learn next time.

NEXT

Sorella is open 7 days a week.

Jamil heads to a surprise event. I’ll let you know what it is!

Tags: restaurant , Hartford