The view would look much nicer with a glass of wine in the shot.

But at that point, the $18 glasses of Brunello di Montalcino were either in my belly or spilled on my shirt.

I went to this Sherman Oaks resaurant of Chef Giacomino Drago’s with a “Coven of Witches.”

I can’t disclose who they are, I won’t even give them aliases. They are a high profile group of women who have ties to the CIA and at least one powerful Columbian drug cartel. I don’t want to put my life in jeopardy.

While much of the above is not true, I do remember the time I was having dinner at Mirabelle’s with the lovely benefactor of these dinners. She received a phone call from Beyonce and IGNORED it. How awesome is that??

As the restaurant was quite sparsely populated, we were about to apologize for our future noise level, when the waiter basically said in his Italian accent “Please. Go right ahead. It’s very slow tonight”

I ordered the Burrata and Caprese salad to start. Burrata is all the rage right now. It’s like a whipped mozarella. Very tasty, although the texture kind of creeps me out. Like eating 2 year old tapioca pudding.

While several of the witches ordered the Ossobucco (veal shank) I chose the Lamb chops with a balsamic mint sauce. Very good choice, if I do say so myself. Although, I tried the Ossobucco and it was fantastic as well.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to the leaders of this coven for paying for the entire dinner, especially after I had embibed about $80 in wine myself. Mom, cover your ears. It was, of course, non-alcoholic. 😉

And finally desert and limoncello (not pictured). One of our coven was obsessed with her 12 foot long blue pearl necklace (probably a cursed amulet from the middle ages) and insisted it make a cameo in at least one of my shots.

After dinner, everyone picked up their brooms from the Valet and flew off into the night sky for further Friday night adventures.

14928 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
(818) 784-4400
www.giacominodrago.com/panzanella.htm