Nancy and I were in Lusby and decided we should celebrate. I don’t remember exactly why, probably a special success, something on the order of remembering what I was looking for or why I went upstairs. Whatever the triumph, we went out for a celebratory lunch at La Vela.
I’ve posted on both dinner and lunch at La Vela, and you should read those posts. I won’t go into a lot of details about the decor, et cetera, or our previous menu choices, but I will treat you to another shot of the view
and several shots of the food on this trip. First, Nancy’s tomato basil soup, the Soup of the Day.
Ah! Tomato soup on a cold day! I went with cream of crab soup again in continuance of my survey of the dish, but I’ll skip the photo, as the appearance of a cream soup rarely does justice to its flavor. It was delicious, rich and creamy with a deep crab flavor. There was plenty of lump crab on the bottom, and the lumps had an intense flavor, as if it had been added at the very end, after the broth’s crab flavor already had been built rather than early on as the primary source of flavor. This was a stand-out dish.
We also split an eggplant rollatini, a special.
This was even better than it looked. Mmmmm. Thin slices of eggplant wrapped around ricotta flecked with spinach, a beautiful tomato sauce, some parmesan and mozzarella, judiciously applied garlic, some lemon zest?, and a generous helping of basil — this was a winner.
Nancy, ordered salmon, which came with roasted potato fingers and sauteed green beans.
Nancy took a bite and murmured, “This is really good.” There was more murmuring as she tried the green beans, and then a decided, “This is really good!” after another bite of salmon.
I ordered the scampi-style shrimp.
When it arrived, the server asked if I would like some Parmesan cheese or pepper? Yes, please. Both. Red or black pepper. Red. She said, “Perfect!” with a smile. I liked that. Not just the smile, but the initiative in including the crushed red pepper option. That’s going the extra mile, and characteristic of La Vela. Also characteristic were the freshness of the shrimp, the al dente pasta, and the quality of the garlicky sauce. What a good dish!
And what a delightful meal! When you combine a pleasant space with a water view, extra-mile service, and delicious food, the experience is even better than the sum of the parts. It was a fine celebration of whatever we were celebrating. If you really think about it, your life is full of overlooked little victories. Take one and celebrate it at La Vela with someone you love.
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