Blackbird - Collingswood, NJ

Well, unfortunately it is a work weekend for me, so that means no late nights, and also means limiting the wine sipping to a bottle or so tonight!  ;-)
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That said, we took a drive over to Collingswood tonight, thinking that we wouldn’t be able to get into Blackbird, and assuming that we would be dining at West Side Gravy instead.  We pulled up however around 7:15PM, and were pleasantly surprised to see a few open tables.  I am not complaining in the least, and this worked out good for us. 
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We were greeted by the hostess and immediately seated at the first two top you see when you enter the restaurant.  There is a wooden partition behind the seat on the right that actually blocks off this table from the host stand so you do not feel that you are out in the open.
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Adam came over and greeted us, letting us know that he was going to be our server tonight.  We have actually had Adam as a server a few times, and his service is always good.  Meanwhile, I grabbed our Riedel glasses from the carrying case, and popped and poured a 2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Koplen Vineyard.  Feel free to read the review for this gorgeous wine below.
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Adam came back and read off the specials.  There were quite a few fresh pasta specials tonight, and they all sounded magnificent.  But before we got there, we ordered the chilled antipasto appetizer.  This came out a few minutes later, and was a nice plate with fresh, locally grown, think sliced tomato, with a few large pieces of prosciutto laid out next to it.  Next to that was some thinly sliced cheese, along with some fresh roasted red peppers that had a few balls of fresh mozzarella cheese.  Next to that was some marinated artichoke, and in the center were some nice olives.  The flavors here were great, and there really isn’t much else to say about this dish.  It was delicious.
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Next, Adam came to our table and said that the Chef would like to send out some salads, and we said, “Sure, why not!”  A few minutes later, a gorgeous romaine salad came out, and this was dressed with a lemon parmesan dressing that had some serious zing to it.  We are usually not big citrus fans, but this was a pleasure.  There was the perfect amount of dressing on the crisp lettuce, and this was topped by a gorgeous, baked cheese “cracker.”  The so called “cracker” is just shaved cheese (I am assuming parm) that is baked, and served on top of the salad.  Very nice with some fresh ground pepper, and a heck of a great salad.

For entrees tonight, Zelda ordered the homemade in house linguine served with wild mushrooms, porcini sauce, and finished with truffle oil.  This was then lightly sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  What is there to say other than who doesn’t love fresh pasta?  I absolutely love it, and even love to make it.  Unfortunately, we don’t make fresh pasta at home nearly enough, but this rocked!  The portion was huge, and this made for a great lunch for me on Saturday.  I don’t think Zelda ate even half of this dish.
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I am the first person to admit that I am not a huge fan of mushrooms, but these were gorgeous, thinly sliced, and browned very nicely!  The truffle oil finished this dish off nicely, and again, who doesn’t like a little truffle flavor?  This was a winner, and every bit as good as Chef Capasso’s signature gnocchi, with the red sauce that we absolutely love.  I really wanted to order that as an app, but it would have been way too much pasta.

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For my entrée tonight, I ordered the homemade 3 cheese ravioli with the parmesan cream sauce.  I did however do a little modification to this, and ordered it with the fresh lump crab meat that was featured on one of the other pasta specials.  This came out as 4 large ravioli smothered in a gorgeous cream sauce and topped with jumbo lump crab meat.  In all honesty, I didn’t think this looked like a large portion, but I then figured it would leave room for dessert!  =)
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First bite revealed some great flavors.  Again, fresh pasta is always a winner in my book, and this was no exception.  The 3 cheese filling had great texture, and the parmesan cream sauce paired perfectly.  The jumbo lump crab was sweet and succulent, and the entire dish was very rich.  By the time I finished the second ravioli, the richness of this dish was setting in, and I was getting very full.  After my 3^rd ravioli, I was ready to wave the white flag, but then Zelda wanted a bite, so this one had to go as well.  She took another bite or two, and at this point, we were both stuffed.  Regardless, I muscled through, and couldn’t have been any happier.

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Adam came back a few minutes later and offered us dessert, but we were both too stuffed, so we shot the bull for a few minutes.  One of their other servers, Amy also came over and said hello and chatted with us for a few minutes.  After that, we got our check, and headed out.  Surprisingly, there was no sign of Chef Capasso tonight, and I am guessing that he either took a well deserved night off, or perhaps he was working up the street at West Side Gravy tonight.  Regardless, you would never know he wasn’t there, and everything was wonderful like always!  The restaurant probably had 10-12 tables or so while we were there, and it things were moving along nicely and at a good pace! 

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In short, another great meal, and great service from the Blackbird gang, and hopefully we’ll get back there sometime around the first of the year!  Cheers!  -F. Scott