MitchMan - 1-22-2011 at 12:09 PM
Just wanted to give a shout out to Palermo’s Italian Restaurant in La Paz on the Malecon. Had Sunday brunch there Jan 16th, 2011. It was fantastic!
The restaurant is beautiful on the inside, sophisticated decoration, very modern yet comfortable, up scale, stylish , new, and inviting. Even the rest
rooms were beautifully decorated in the same style as the main restaurant. The modern vessel marble and marble counter tops, all looked new. No
paper towels, but white hand towels, stacked and rolled. Classy.
There was a baby grand piano and a talented lady playing great classic show tunes and popular songs. No sheet music, she played elegantly from
memory.
We were promptly and cordially seated upon arrival to a nicely set table and a complimentary glass of champagne to start us off. My wife and I
reviewed the all-you-can-eat buffet of delicious foods. There was a station off to the right that had four different flavors of yogurts, toppings
that included dried cranberries, dates, prunes and raisins, granola cereal, scones, whole milk and soy milk. For beverages there were coffee, milk,
orange juice, and a delicious ‘green juice’ made of liquefied pineapple, nopales, orange juice, celery leaves, and parseley.
There was a beautifully presented assortment of food in attractive elegant heated serving pans: ravioli, link sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, eggs
benedict, delicious asparagus soup, diced potatoes, poached salmon, paella and more.
There were dessert and hors d’oeuvre type foods of different flavored jello squares with fruit, peaches, tiramisu, chocolate pudding, various
pastries and cakes, pears, grapefruit, melons, brownie-type cakes, Asian wrap hand rolls, blueberry and strawberry muffins, various delicious canapés,
assortment of cheeses, cold shrimp c-cktail, ceviche with scallops, beef wrap with tamarind sauce, cherry tomatoes with feta cheese, and in-house
prepared smoked salmon (the best I have ever tasted anywhere).
And finally there was a manned serving station with a whole roasted turkey, a hot round of baked ham, and two steaming cooked prime ribs (one rare to
medium rare and another medium well). While I love ham and especially love rare Prime Rib, the turkey was cooked to absolute perfection. The sliced
white meat was very tender, very juicy and unbelievably flavorful. I cook a free range turkey in my convection oven for my family every Thanksgiving.
I have it down to perfection. But, I must admit, Palermo’s turkey was better than any I have ever prepared. The white meat turkey was amazing!
Hats off to the chef/owner Alessandro Mancuso for this one and his smoked salmon.
The waiters came around always at perfect intervals, checking and politely replacing silverware, removing finished plates, and checking with you if
there was anything that you needed. The charge for two people was $$460 pesos. Worth it (I take pride in being very frugal and, more often than not,
the cheapest person in the room).
The thing that is impressive about Palermo’s is the emphasis on quality concerning everything: the food and its presentation, the décor, the music,
the service, the attention to detail, even the bathrooms are beautiful and anticeptically clean. This emphasis on quality is what impressed me on my
recent tour of Italy. Palermo’s Restaurant in La Paz, without qualification, lives up to that tradition.
My apologies to Alessandro for the many food items that I left out. Just be advised that there were a great many things to eat and all perfectly
prepared and smartly presented. The food items that were supposed to be hot, were, in fact, hot and in plentiful supply. The restaurant was
beautiful and spotlessly clean.
BTW, There is an up scale and well appointed sparkling c-cktail bar off to the left back corner of the restaurant. Very inviting. Great atmosphere
to stop by for a quiet c-cktail.
BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 1-22-2011 at 12:33 PM
Hola,
wow ! what a great recommendation and writeup !
as i am only partially familiar with la paz, where on the malecon is this fabulous restaurant located ?
would they happen to have a website ?
i thank you in advance,
BIEN SALUD, DA RAT
CP - 1-22-2011 at 01:05 PM
About a year ago, as consolation for hubby getting a root canal the next morning, we had dinner at Palermo. The service and food and atmosphere were
fabulous. As we were the only diners early in the evening, the staff was unhurried and took my husband on a tour of the wine cellar and the kitchen.
We enjoyed a leisurely three hour meal and sampled all parts of the menu.
The best Ensalada Caprisa I have ever had. A simple dish, indeed, yet ingredients and presentation differ so greatly...
By the time we left, the large dining room was packed. As hubby is high maintenance for waitstaff, I think our experience would have been less
enjoyable if we had arrived later in the evening.
If you dig upscale dining and can afford the prices, we recommend Palermo on your restaurant touring.
Bajahowodd - 1-22-2011 at 01:09 PM
Here you go, Rat-
http://palermoslapaz.com/index.html
MitchMan - 1-22-2011 at 01:13 PM
Hey, Rat,
Website: www.PalermosLaPaz.com
It's past 16 de Septiembre, actually even past 5 de Mayo by about two blocks, between Hidalgo and Morelos.
When I was in Italy, my favorite meal was a pizza made in a wood fired pizza oven. It was topped with artichoke hearts, Italian sausage, and Parma
Ham. You could smell the wood scent as you were eating the pizza. Fantastic.
Pizzas are a favorite in Italy. No matter what restaurant you would go to, whether upper end expensive or just the normal street curb restaurant,
about 1/4 to 1/3 the patrons were eating a pizza as a main course. The thing about authentic Italian made pizza is that they are big, the crust is
light, soft, smokey, and delicately chewy. They put only a modest amount of pizza sauce, if any, a modest amount of cheese, not oily, and the amount
of toppings is not excessive like the pizzas you get in the USA. You could eat a pizza every day (at least I could) and not feel like you were
overloading on cholesterol.
Everytime I eat a pizza in the USA, I feel like I need an angioplasty.
Any way, I have been suffering from a major Italian pizza jones ever since I returned from Italy. I am going to try the pizza at Palermo's to see if
it is as good as I remember the pizzas in Italy were. I will report back in March.
In the mean time, anybody know of a place in La Paz that they know could possibly produce an authentic Italian style pizza similar to what I just
described? I have agood feeling about Palermo's on this one.
Loretana - 1-22-2011 at 05:58 PM
Mitch,
I hear that Attilio and Viviana make a very respectable pizza out at their little parador "Villaggio Turistico" in El Centenario. I haven't been
myself, but I definately will try it next month. I understand their fresh antipasto salad is divine with a nice Montepulciano.
I'm making baked canneloni al forno for dinner tonight, thanks for the inspiration. I couldn't read your two posts without swooning for something
Italian tonight. Maybe we'll watch the movie "Nine" later. 
MitchMan - 1-23-2011 at 07:38 AM
Thanks, Loretana. I will take a drive by and drop into Villaggio Turistico in March.
rhintransit - 1-23-2011 at 08:01 AM
yum...I'm putting the brunch on my schedule for my next trip to La Paz. is it every Sunday? walking by all the waiters in the evening, the place has
a bit intimidating for country folks from the sticks of Loreto but it sounds like brunch would be just the ticket.
MitchMan - 1-23-2011 at 01:56 PM
rhintransit, you've got Mediterraneo. Pretty nice restaurant in Loreto with a fantastic location and best view of the beach, Sea of Cortez and the
beautiful Isla Carmen. My final meal for the trip every time I leave Loreto, I always go to the restaurant that used to be called El Nido to have
their giant Porterhouse steak medium rare and baked open faced clams covered with hot melted parmesan cheese.
Back in 1987 when the old Hotel Mision was there, I had several religious experiences sitting at the bar, looking at the same view of the Sea of
Cortez at night with a full moon glow on the water while sipping on my third Margarita.