Posted by Wifey.
One of my friends recommended an Italian restaurant conveniently located by the Venice Beach Canals. So this week for my Date Night, we headed over to C&O Trattoria... and it was totally worth it. First, it should be noted that there's a bunch of restaurants with the same or similar name. Just ignore the first few C&O's that you pass, and trust your GPS, cuz this is the one next to the Venice Beach Pier. Didn't know there was a Venice Beach Pier? Yeah, neither did we... in fact, we didn't know this entire neighborhood existed!
The restaurant was unassuming and simple, and that's a big part of their charm. We sat on green plastic patio chairs, and listened to our water rattle of the specials. He then scribbled his name on the paper table cloth and explained that there were dispensers of their house chianti scattered throughout the dining room, and it was the honor system - if we had a glass, just draw a hair on our little smiley face, and they'd bill us accordingly. Well... that did it, we just had to have a glass, cuz we couldn't let our smiley sit there bald!! I'm not exactly a wine affecionado, but it was pretty good for something that came out of a giant glass jug, poured via spiggot! And then... the garlic knots came. I could have easily filled up on the bread alone. Buttery, covered in garlic & herbs, and free. We always had a full plate on our table, which is a rather nice change from other restaurants that give you two pieces of bread, and that's it. Actually, now that I think about it, the service was really good overall. :-) For dinner I ordered the rosemary chicken ravioli, and Hubby ordered the "gargantuan" order of their seafood pasta special. And they weren't kidding either - the portion was HUGE. I kept laughing, cuz Hubby looked like a little kid eating out of a "big kid" bowl. Of course, since my hubby is a bottomless pit when it comes to food, he finished off the entire thing and still had room for dessert!
After all those carbs, we definitely needed to work off a few calories. We walked down the block and explored the Venice Beach Canals for the first time. The canals were low right now, so I'd imagine the water looks a bit gross in the daylight, but with the moonlight, it was enchanting. One thing that was a bit odd is that the public walkway is right smack dab against the homes in the canals. As you're strolling along, you can also check out the decor of various homes, admire their architecture, patio furniture, hardwood floors, artwork, kitchen counters, etc. Many of the homes had their lights on, drapes wide open, and no one was there at all - almost like they were inviting you to admire. So, we did!
After watching some ducks & getting scared by a particularly creepy bird, we decided to check out the pier. I now know why we never heard about this pier - there's literally nothing on it. Nothing. There's a life guard station and stations for the fisherman, but other than that, it's just a plain old concrete pier. Oh well! On the way back, Hubby and I realized that scuba diving is now very much in our blood (as if there were any doubt!) - while watching the waves, all either of us could about was "holy cow, that would be a horrible entry if we were diving!". Guess that means it's been too long since we've gone underwater!
Anyway, to summarize... some delicious Italian food and a long moonlight walk makes for a fantastic Date Night!
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