I’ve been counting calories for a couple of weeks.  Not because I want to be Skinny Mini, but because I want to run faster, and I figure that being a little lighter will help. I do allow myself one cheat day though, and on Friday night I went all out at North Fattoria Italiana in Arcadia.

I was catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen in months, and I figured we would be there for I while, so I ordered some simple bread to start.  Our server brought over Italian bread drizzled in olive oil.

Oh my goodness!

Now it could just be that at that point I was sick and tired of eating like a rabbit, but truth be told I had to force myself to not eat all the pieces and order more.  It’s amazing what a little olive oil could do!  I really need to cook with it more often!

For dinner I ordered the Spicy Shrimp with mafaldine pasta, which I was a little underwhelmed by.  Don’t get me wrong, I certainly wouldn’t say the dish was bad (I did finish it after all) but with the word spicy in the name I was expecting something to pop in my mouth.  The description certainly sounded incredible; white wine, shaved fennel, tomato, garlic, chili and basil.  Maybe my expectations were unfairly high.  No worries, the best was yet to come.

I mentioned earlier that I allow myself a cheat day, but even then I try to stay away from dessert for fear that I will completely fall off the wagon.  I felt guilty even looking at the menu, but half the guilt went out the window when my friend suggested we share dessert.  It didn’t take us long to figure out what we wanted.

“One Nutella Trifle please.”

Now I wouldn’t call myself a Nutella fanatic by any means…at least not before I had this dessert…but I think I may have found my soul mate!  The trifle comes in a small mason jar with a hard chocolate shell and sprinkled nuts at the top.  You have to crack through the shell to get to the Nutella mousse adding to the excitement.

First bite down and I was already regretting having to share.  Chocolate, nuts, Nutella mousse, sliced bananas and a buttery graham cracker crust.  This was too much for me to handle!  I immediately went from classy to crude forgetting my manners.  I secretly wanted my friend to continue talking so I could continue devouring this tiny piece of Heaven.  (Or was it hell?  It certainly felt naughty!)  She must have gotten the hint.  She graciously put down her sword/spoon and let me finish the rest.

It’s been over a week and I’ve been fantasizing about Nutella trifle every night.  There’s no question about whether or not I’ll go back for more.  The question is when?  I know for sure I’ll be ordering my own dessert next time I go too.

Get your own!