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Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at home

by Robin Garr » Wed Jan 20, 2021 10:07 am

Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at home

Cacio e pepe, a classic Roman pasta dish, is elevated with hand-made Tuscan pici pasta, pecorino, and smoked black pepper from Bourbon Barrel Foods. (Partial serving, plated at home.)
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I wonder if you miss sitting down to a good meal in a fine local restaurant as much as I do.

It’s not just about the food. Driving through Holiday Manor the other day, I spotted Grassa Gramma and remembered how much fun it is to dine there.

Executive Chef Ben Notess’s fine Italian fare is a big part of that draw, of course, but that’s not all. There’s the attentive service provided by general manager Tarek Hamada and his team. There’s the simple comfort stylish table settings. And of course there’s the spectacular, not quite over-the-top antique Italian decor that owner Kevin Grainger sourced from Italy and all around the Mediterranean.

I want all that again, and I want it at all my favorite local eateries. Sure, bringing dinner home in boxes and bags is better than nothing, but it’s not the same. So, I wondered, is there some way to make the takeout experience a little more like fine dining? Maybe! Why not bring Grassa Gramma dinner home and make our dining room feel like an Italian restaurant?

Here’s how that played out: I downloaded a Mario Lanza album of ‘60s-style Italian-American tunes. I draped a red-and-white checkered towel in a wicker bread basket and got out an old souvenir Chianti bottle with its wicker basket. I set the iPad on the table displaying a photo of the Cinque Terre. Dim the lights, plate Grassa Gramma's fine fare on our Hadley dishes, and hey! It didn’t clone Grassa Gramma, of course, but it felt like a fine-dining experience.

You can do this too. Or maybe you already do.

Grassa Gramma, which translates roughly as “Chubby Nana,” evokes a particular image for owner Graingier. “Grassa Gramma is a tribute to Italian heritage and a testament to the passion of its matriarch.” the restaurant website declares. “Grassa Gramma is a love letter that celebrates Nonna's status in her kitchen and honors her unwavering commitment to family, food and friends.”

If you’re willing to dine in now, I think you can feel comfortable at Grassa Gramma. Tables are comfortably separated in the looming space that was once a suburban cinema, and the management team appears committed to keeping things safe. Outside dining remains an option even in the dead of winter, with each outdppr table covered by a clear plastic dome to keep the elements out and the heat in.

Chef Notess’s menu offers samples of Italian regional cuisine from north to south, and Grangier pledges that it makes use of the best quality ingredients available: “If it's fish, it's wild. If it's game or meat, it's organic or prime.  Produce comes from actual farmers; not simply farms.  It is local, when possible, and always … seasonal.” ...

Read the complete article on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/grassa-gramma-takeout

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly's Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

Grassa Gramma
2210 Holiday Manor Shopping Center
333-9595
http://grassagramma.com
https://facebook.com/GrassaGramma
https://instagram.com/grassagramma
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Steve Eslinger

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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Steve Eslinger » Wed Jan 20, 2021 10:34 am

We picked up a couple of great meals from them last week. My wife had the cacio e pepe (which I pair with their sausage as my usual go-to) and I had a fantastic short rib and gnocchi special. Probably the best gnocchi I've ever had. Only slight hiccup related to the time it took to drive home as the cacio e pepe loses a little bit of the texture that I love as it cools. That's also one of the reasons it doesn't seem to reheat well. Still delicious though!
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Mark R. » Wed Jan 20, 2021 1:53 pm

Steve, like you I find that many dishes don't travel well when you get takeout. You have to pick and choose which meals both travel better. Unfortunately, we've found that in general that pasta dishes don't travel well compared to many other choices.
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Steve Eslinger » Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:04 pm

Yep, especially anything with a non-red sauce like alfredo, carbonara, and cacio e pepe. Pastas with red sauces seem to hold up better, IMO.
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Mark R. » Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:18 pm

Steve Eslinger wrote:Yep, especially anything with a non-red sauce like alfredo, carbonara, and cacio e pepe. Pastas with red sauces seem to hold up better, IMO.

I certainly agree and along the same lines the baked dishes hold much better than the other ones do. Many times the pasta itself is what causes a problem because it becomes the wrong texture while the sauce itself holds up quite well. This isn't as true is the white sauces compared to the red sauces.
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Andrew Mellman » Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:56 pm

Mark R. wrote:
Steve Eslinger wrote:Yep, especially anything with a non-red sauce like alfredo, carbonara, and cacio e pepe. Pastas with red sauces seem to hold up better, IMO.

I certainly agree and along the same lines the baked dishes hold much better than the other ones do. Many times the pasta itself is what causes a problem because it becomes the wrong texture while the sauce itself holds up quite well. This isn't as true is the white sauces compared to the red sauces.

I wonder if Italian restaurants will learn from their Chinese counterparts . . . even the tiny neighborhood Chinese carry-outs package many of the sauces separately from the dish (such as sweet and sour), and will do others separately if/when asked! I know I've gotten seafood pan fried noodles from a Chinese carryout, and the noodles were hot in one package while the seafood and sauce were in another!
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by SilvioM » Wed Jan 20, 2021 6:13 pm

I appreciate these suggestions and any others that people have regarding what to order from here. I've not been, would like to try it, but I'm not close so anything would need to be reheated in this weather.
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Nathaniel C » Sat Jan 23, 2021 12:54 pm

I got their carbonara the other day, after doing the "3 pizzas for $30" deal a couple of weeks back. Both were excellent. Don't forget to add the bread to your cart when doing takeout, it's wonderful!
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Richard S. » Mon Jan 25, 2021 3:09 pm

When I saw the picture I initially thought it was "long macaroni" or "#7 macaroni." That's the foundation of the macaroni & cheese served at Rocky & Carlo's restaurant in Chalmette, La., one of the top renditions of mac & cheese to be found anywhere. It's made even better by the addition of "red gravy," as they call it. The only place I've ever seen long macaroni for sale is at the Winn Dixie in Chalmette. It's basically a macaroni noodle about 8 inches long. I bought several packs to bring home when I was down there a few weeks ago. Has anyone ever seen it here? (Lotsa Pasta doesn't carry it, as far as I can tell.)

https://www.rockyandcarlosrestaurant.com/
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Robin Garr » Mon Jan 25, 2021 3:22 pm

Rich, you've got me on this one. We actually thought it was bucatini until it became clear that it was fresh pasta and then I looked on the website and saw it was handmade pici. Would bucatini serve as a sub for long macaroni, do you think?
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Richard S. » Mon Jan 25, 2021 5:08 pm

Looks like it could be the same stuff. Is it available anywhere in town?

Here's what the pack of long macaroni looks like:

https://bit.ly/3phNw7f
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Richard S. » Mon Jan 25, 2021 5:13 pm

On a side note, it's only been about 15 years since the aforementioned Rocky & Carlo's bowed to political correctness and changed the name of their famous "wop salad" to "Italian salad."
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by Robin Garr » Mon Jan 25, 2021 6:51 pm

Richard S. wrote:Looks like it could be the same stuff. Is it available anywhere in town?

Here's what the pack of long macaroni looks like:

https://bit.ly/3phNw7f

Rich, bucatini is very similar, but it has a long, tiny hole running through it, which lets water in and cooks it faster than you'd expect of pasta that thick.

Lotsa Pasta definitely has it, but it should be available at other places - big pasta makers like Barilla and De Cecchi make it.
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by James Natsis » Mon Jan 25, 2021 7:03 pm

Richard S. wrote:On a side note, it's only been about 15 years since the aforementioned Rocky & Carlo's bowed to political correctness and changed the name of their famous "wop salad" to "Italian salad."


They should have rebaptised it as the Doo Wop Salad! That would have worked...ha, ha,..
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Re: Grassa Gramma takeout makes a fine Italian dinner at hom

by TP Lowe » Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:40 am

Robin Garr wrote:
Richard S. wrote:Looks like it could be the same stuff. Is it available anywhere in town?

Here's what the pack of long macaroni looks like:

https://bit.ly/3phNw7f

Rich, bucatini is very similar, but it has a long, tiny hole running through it, which lets water in and cooks it faster than you'd expect of pasta that thick.

Lotsa Pasta definitely has it, but it should be available at other places - big pasta makers like Barilla and De Cecchi make it.

There has been some crazy bucatini shortage globally over the past several months. I haven't been to Lotsa Pasta lately, but the big box stores, including Whole Foods, haven't had it forever.
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