Delicious repast at Rivista

A couple of months ago*, I was invited to a "diva luncheon" with several lovely ladies at Rivista, the new bakery/cafe on Magazine Street opened by a couple of chefs, or a chef couple, Lisa and Chris Barbato. Although I didn't indulge in any pastry that day (Lisa's gluten-free Chunky Monkey Muffins are the bomb!), I did enjoy a couple of items from their ever-changing lunch menu.

I kept it real simple with the soup and salad of the day seeing as I had a lot of eating to do later on in the week and I was trying to play it safe. There were other scrumptious items on the menu like a roasted pork loin panino with Breaux Bridge Fig Preserves and goat cheese or house made stracci pasta with local legumes, a poached farm egg and shaved Parmesan. I took a breath and stuck with my order while sipping on a creamy Illy latte.

The salad was fresh with mixed greens, juicy peach slices, ripe avocado, red onion, crumbled feta, cucumbers, pecans and crispy bacon all tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette. Several of the ladies with me enjoyed the same salad and we all had no difficulty cleaning our plates.

The soup was Chicken Tortilla with lots of pulled chicken, chopped tomatoes, more avocado and a bunch of crunchy tortilla strips in a rich chicken stock. I slurped it all down and contemplated ordering another dish, but I didn't want to be a pig (Me? Never!). Next time for sure...

*You're thinking to yourself...a few months ago? Yes, Kim is playing major catch up, so look out for many more blogs coming your way.