5. im feeling extremely fortunate

bites and sips right? you should absolutely know- 82% of the time my ideal day would consist of having a romantic walk down a grocery store aisle, followed by getting in my therapeutic zone & cooking for at least two hours while Bravo plays in the background. f shopping for shoes & purses. give me a fresh market or a local farmers market, instant satisfaction.

eating out, especially at new places can be annoying... i mean this because i hate to be let down. if i am trying out a new venue i do have some compassion, but if you have been open over a year and something goes array with service, yikes. if i don't love the food that's fine, nothing red pepper flakes can't fix.

Fortunado is located downtown roanoke. a rustic feel with modern menu items both f & b, you instantly want to stay.

typically i would sit at the bar or on a patio anywhere i dine out, however, because of the special occasion a table was in order. like most places now the kitchen is open, tall ceilings, a kickass bar and bottle display, candles, crafted wood tables, dim lighting, lowered shades, jazz/elevator musica.

the hipster esque bartenders with their aprons that look heavy af and you know that, "im a badass" look...why do they always shake martini shakers waaaaayyy too high/long? clearly this is a hot topic for me. if you're intimated by the apron go ahead and get a house red and ask to see the menu.

you could always stick to what you know and order a neopoltian cheese pizza, if you're five and don't know what the word branzino means, but their meat and cheese variety, homemade pastas, and local options stand up to big city competition.

al la carte cheese and meat (local) was number one, followed by my special request of a stacked plate of heirloom tomatoes with too much salt. next was the housemade carbonara... get in my stomach right now. the last course was branzino, i would assume you have googled it by now.

regardless of your culinary knowledge you know how you should be treated. the small things the host and server did spoke volumes. asking if the table was okay, waiting until i was seated to put my menu down, explaining different options and actually recommending something. not defaulting to, "i've actually never had that" bullshit! everything's good right?

i was educated on lemonchello... they understood that im a psycho and go from wine to an old fashion then back to something a 22 year old sorority girl would order that i can't pronounce. absolutely not one complaint, kudos to you guys. seriously, the service was spot on.

i still have dreams about the pasta. picking through the fish bones was fine.. the flavor is always worth it. but i don't even know what those beans were underneath? dry mud maybe, so dirt. but for that being the single complaint i have for a three hour long dinner hell yes.

next visit you'll find me at the bar, probably asking too many questions, spending $100.00 solely on meat, cheese, pizza and bourbon. aka your favorite customer. thanks for the fantastic service & side ramekin of sea salt. so good.