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The Dining Divas

By Lisa Kampeter

It was an odd Diva night.  The crazy spring weather must have affected more than just the atmosphere.  From the Planning Diva walking into the wrong restaurant and accidentally crashing a private Blues team party to the Mature Divas using their eagle eyes on the older male diners, this was definitely an interesting night.

And an educational night.  The Newest Diva shared her own rules of a manhunt (as in her rules of dating).  It’s the 80 – 40 – 105 rule.  Her next boyfriend’s got to be at least 80 years old with $40 million in the bank and a 105 degree temperature.  Of course, she was kidding.  And it was entertaining watching a couple other divas check out every single man over the age of 50 make their entrance into the dining area.  I don’t believe they were following the same rules.

The Dining Divas met up at Basso at the Cheshire Inn.  With Cheshire’s renovations, Basso isn’t easy to find.  There’s “The Market” and “The Restaurant,” all with signs on the building, but no “Basso”.  Had she known that “basso” meant “beneath” or “below” in Italian, heading upstairs may have triggered a quick turnaround from the Party-Crashing Diva.

Once you find the small sign for Basso, you’ll find a cool, trendy restaurant and sports bar.  We were seated at what’s described as a communal table near the open kitchen and with a perfect view of the winding staircase that led to the main entrance (perfect for the eagle eyes).

There are plenty of conversation pieces at Basso.  Like the $8,000 concrete head from Germany above the fireplace.  We couldn’t decide if it was Caesar or Athena or Fred Flintstone.  The Italian Diva found the gas lanterns interesting while the Questioning Diva thought the test-tube-like lightning belonged in Frankenstein’s laboratory.

And then there’s our waitress, another conversation piece.  She was very knowledgeable of the menu which was filled with Italian specialties and Italian words, but she wasn’t very knowledgeable of manners.  Immediately upon arrival, she gave the Last Arriving Diva the impression that she wasn’t thrilled to be tending to our communal table.  The Ornery Diva thought maybe she had an affinity to waiting on hockey players instead of divas.  And then at the end of the night, our waitress was rude to another diva.  Perhaps she was jealous of our illuminating Easter pens the Creative Diva brought us all.  Had she been nicer, we probably would have shared.

The menu may be difficult to decipher because of the Italian, but most of us really enjoyed the food.  The Mafalda, a beef and pork with red sauce pasta, didn’t last long at our table.  According to our “pleasant” waitress, this is Basso’s version of Pasta Bolognese.  It was everyone’s favorite pasta.  The Whole Wheat Fettuccine with tomatoes, shrimp, pine nuts, and saffron has quite the kick to it.  If the waitress tells you it has chili flakes in it, listen up.  Somehow, we all missed that comment.  It was still quite good although a few in the group said they’d never order it again.  Too spicy.

We enjoyed a few specialty pizzas, the Emo Cover Band, the Vampire Slayer, and the Margherita.  The Emo Cover was Basso’s delicious version of a deluxe pizza.  No surprise that the Vampire Slayer was prepared with garlic chips.   The shrimp sausage made it a unique treat.  And we devoured the Margherita pizza.  The sauce and crust were really good.  But these pizzas were a little pricey as they weren’t very generous with the toppings.

The burger was just an average burger, but the onion straws were a great addition.  Along with a side of seasoned fries, these were far from typical with the perfect crunch and perfect amount of grease.  The big surprise of the night were the Brussel Sprouts.  Even the non – sprout –loving Divas were fans of them.  Made with mustard and candied walnuts, these were nothing like what those of us feared.

The Italian Diva can rarely resist anything “red velvet”.  Basso served Red Velvet Brownies with cinnamon crème cheese frosting.  They were good but nothing compared to the Zepolli, the Italian donut holes tossed in sugar and served with a lime sauce.  These were the perfect end to the meal.

Basso is worth another visit.  The food and atmosphere were interesting and enjoyable.  And throw in a nice spring night, a couple professional hockey player sightings, and this time, a friendly waitress, and it sounds like a recipe for a good night.

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