By
STACEY
PATTON WALLACE
As I’ve previously mentioned, Mike and I moved to Auburn in November of 2015. Shortly thereafter, we moved our letter and joined Central Baptist Church of Opelika. We are only
Twenty-Five miles from my Mama in Dadeville; 4.1 miles from our church; 4.8 miles from Tiger Town; 3.4 miles from the Auburn Mall; and 3.6 miles from East Alabama Medical Center. Needless to say, we couldn’t be happier; again, if you can’t live in Heaven yet, Lee County, Alabama, is the best place to wait. Also, I feel a little sorry for the other 66 counties in our state; their residents are still blessed to live in Sweet Home Alabama, but Mike and I live with the best and don’t mess with the rest. Did I mention I loved teaching poetry? But I digress.
Recently, Auburn University’s students, faculty and staff were out on spring break, which we really relished when we were teachers at Long Cane Middle School in LaGrange, Georgia. However, now that we’re retired teachers, EVERY day is spring break. Since most of Auburn’s students were out of town, Mike and I decided to dine in downtown Auburn that week. Much to our delight, we didn’t have to pay to park since it was spring break; hey, two bucks are two bucks, and we are retired, after all. But I digress once again.
Mike and I decided to dine at Esposito’s Italian Bistro at 154 N. College St. Cristine, our waitress, was sweet, patient and helpful. For our appetizer, we chose an antipasta — cauliflower and spinach dip. It had roasted cauliflower, wilted spinach, sautéed garlic and onions, mascarpone and bread crumbs and was served with toasted bread. It was really warm and tasty. Also, I was completely shocked because Mike actually liked a vegetable dip; that was nothing short of a miracle for my meat and potatoes man.
For his entrée, Mike chose fettuccine Alfredo, which included grana padano, pecorino romano, cream, fresh cracked black pepper and white wine. In addition, Mike added shrimp to his entrée.
I selected the chicken parmesan, which consisted of Italian herb crusted chicken topped with fresh mozzarella, spaghetti and marinara. It was quite good as well.
Besides our delicious antipasta, Esposito’s also offers diners bruschetta, which is a fire-grilled house focaccia topped with seasonally available produce; and a cheese board, which is a curated selection of locally sourced cheeses, served with house bread and seasonal accompaniments. In addition, Esposito’s serves salads, sandwiches and pizza.
Besides our delicious entrees, the restaurant also offers other dishes, some of which include: spaghetti and meatballs, which is made with imported Italian tomatoes, fresh herbs and housemade meatballs with beef, pork and lamb; carbonara linguini, which consists of house cured pancetta, fresh cracked black pepper, pecorino romano and house cured egg yolk; chicken basil tagliatelle, which is charbroiled chicken, basil pesto, pecans, cherry tomatoes and orange zest; fire-grilled pork chop, which is a 10-ounce center cut pork loin with sautéed Brussels sprouts, over cheesy mushroom riscotto and topped with tomato bacon jam; Esposito’s 13 layer lasagna, which is made with house ricotta, grana padano, pecorino romano, mozzarella and provolone cheeses, served with choice of marinara or Bolognese sauce.
Esposito’s Italian Bistro is open seven days a week from 4 to 9 p.m.
Esposito’s Italian Bistro makes the grade with an A+ from this retired English teacher. Remember, “Pooh-sized” people NEVER lie about food. Enjoy!
Stacey Patton Wallace, who retired from teaching language arts for 30 years, is a professional diner. Her column, “Making the Grade,” will appear each week in The Observer. Stacey may be reached at retiredlangartsteacher2020@gmail.com