Alberto's Ristorante in Hyannis

Alberto's is a somewhat snooty place, and it's also a $22/plate establishment. Something they call "affordable" at their website. Interesting. If you ask a local what they think about Alberto's, they'll say "Oh, that place is fancy." "But how is the food?", I'll ask. "Oh, it's very good." comes the non-descript answer, as eyes glaze over for a moment.

My traveling friend is a Sicilian and a serious cook to boot, so we decided to see just how "fancy" Alberto's actually was.

The ambiance was unremarkable. Nothing interesting to look at and there was this unexplainable gray feeling. The male hostess just stared, we weren't going to get any warmness from that dude, we saw that right away. Our waitress was fine in a generic trying-to-be-upper-crust way. We attempt to chit chat with her, but she didn't understand. It made me wonder about the management. Any place of business, including employees and food and atmosphere do reflect the person who owns it. Can't hide from them there facts, folks.

The food was average and conventional American-Italian fare. It was pretty good, but....well...for instance, they put sugar in the red sauce. (My friend was appalled.) And in the white clams over linguine, the clams were placed on top, not simmered in the clam sauce with the linguine, a glaring mistake my friend pointed out with irritation. The chef is a timesaver and it shows, he declared with authority.

We ate thoughtfully and left, deciding to not bother with desserts. Outside, I felt myself breathing in the fresh air with delight, relief to be out of the somewhat oppressive atmosphere that seem to have no known cause. I would recommend Alberto's owners have a Feng Shui expert come in and see what the problem is. (Do you think they will listen to me?)

There is a lovely alleyway leading to the front door of Alberto's, and walking down it is quite a pleasurable experience, even in the light misty rain. Already the food experience was dispersing from my mind, I started to forget what I had ordered or where I had been during the last hour. A rather odd place.