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By Lisa Kampeter

Typically, the Dining Divas forego franchise restaurants in favor of locally-owned, independent places.  But a new restaurant had opened up at an old familiar address, and we had to check it out.

Hoping the restaurant was as good as its North County counterpart, the Dining Divas chose Massa’s on New Town Blvd  for this month’s outing.  This location has struck out several times with other eating establishments.  In recent years, Big Muddy was located there, but much to my chagrin, it didn’t last.  Then it reopened but only for a short time.

Big Muddy’s food and atmosphere was what attracted me the most to it.  It favored a more mature crowd that preferred music ranging from Michael Buble to Bon Jovi rather than Kanye West to Theory of a Dead Man.   Tattoos, piercings, and grunge were non-existent, thankfully.  And thankfully, the change-over to Massa’s didn’t change any of that.  And what’s even better, it’s non-smoking.  In St. Charles County!

We were happy to have the Frankenfoot Diva join us.  Her surgery was a success, and she was back to work after a couple weeks of bed rest.  She shared with us her frightening and painful story of how she jammed the pin sticking out of her toe and had to have it realigned.  She also shared with us her frightening photos of her foot post-surgery.  Definitely not dinner appropriate.

Our Book-Loving Diva showed pictures of the themed book-club parties of which she’s been a part.  These girls are creative!  One month, they even had the author of the book they had read participate in their discussion.

We found ourselves trying to create another group outing for the Widowed Divas in the group.  We thought maybe they could go by the name “Widow’s Peek”, a safe yet unassuming term for these ladies on the “lookout”.  We all agree that any man lucky enough to catch these ladies peeking at them should be impressed.

We envied over the Birthday Diva’s Alaskan photo album and her adventures.  Only wishing we had been in Alaska, the flaming fireplace in the restaurant couldn’t compete with the cold drafts we felt all night at dinner.

If you love the rich anchovy taste of a Caesar salad, order Massa’s.  As well, the Chef Salad with provel-style cheese, hard salami, and the house dressing brought back good memories.

Hesitant to try something different from when she visited other Massa’s locations, the Teaching Diva enjoyed the Baked Mostaccioli.  The Indecisive Divas debated over the Cannelloni and the Chicken Bianco and decided to share them both.    The cannelloni with meat, cheese, spinach, and mushrooms gave them their pasta fix.  The lightly breaded chicken with a mushroom and wine sauce satisfied their desire for protein.  And the leftovers the next day were even better.

It’s always a treat to get together with the Dining Divas.  It’s especially cool when we’re treated with cupcakes and ice cream cake.  That’s what happens when a Dining Divas outing falls on a Diva birthday.  Desserts a la Divas.

If it was up to me, Massa’s is welcome to make New Town Blvd their new permanent address.  That is assuming the atmosphere doesn’t change.  Our night there, a one-man band entertained us with classic rock music.  Fortunately, we were sitting across the room from him so the music wasn’t overwhelming.

The décor gets five stars with classic pictures and rich motifs.  We loved our food and ate too much.  And there may have been a tattoo or two (even at our table), but it was all very comfortable and appropriate.  Now, we were gone before 9 o’clock so they may flip over the chairs and dance on the tables after that, but that’s okay by me.  This mature Diva will be happily in bed.

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