Holy takeout…another pandemic bummer.

One of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles for 40 years is Peppone, a classic, intimate Italian restaurant in Brentwood.

They catered my daughter’s first birthday party and almost every Friday night we would dine there and sneak peeks at Barbra Streisand, Tom Selleck, Ahmet Ertegun (Founder and President of Atlantic Records) and OJ Simpson before his killing spree.

We celebrated Huey Lewis’ Rolling Stone cover at Peppone with a drive by with Frank Sinatra.

The other night my husband suggested he order my favorite dish from Peppone.

I was excited to indulge as well as have a night free from cooking.

We ordered the Lobster with the Paprika Butter sauce that Chef Sal created decades ago and was never on the menu.

It is pricey at $70, but worth every bite.

We always love the tableside Caesar Salad presentation, but passed because we could not  invite the salad tossers home and frankly, my homemade Caesar dressing and croutons are better!

David ordered his favorite four mushroom fettuccine.

I awaited his return with the divine goodies.

I set the table and sprang for ambiance, opening a lovely bottle of red wine from Puglia and lit a candle for added romance.

He arrived and I hungrily tore open the takeout containers.

It was almost as defeating as Hillary losing.

I was dismayed to see the lobster thrown together with the veggies and potatoes swimming in a lukewarm bath of vegetable liquid.

The lobster portion was greatly reduced.

The food was tasteless.

I attempted to provide culinary CPR, but it was dead on arrival.

The homemade pasta was tasty, but there was so much garlic that our mouths burned and David carried the essence for days.

We called Peppone and inquired about the epic pandemic limited Lobster portion and the manager could not have been more rude and less accommodating.

Another dream shattered in Coronaville.

I shall attempt to mask my disappointment, but I am finding it difficult to digest ?