A five course Italian meal with a wine pairing? Sign me up!
On Saturday night, I joined a fun group of bloggers at Todd English’s Tuscany, an upscale restaurant located inside of Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
(Top row: Caitlin, Theodora, me, Beth, Bianca; Bottom row: Elizabeth, Anne, Maria, Tina)
Michelle, the social media manager for Mohegan Sun, invited a group of nine bloggers to Tuscany to try a handful of the restaurant’s offerings, beginning with an antipasto course that included calamari, flatbreads, and antipasta della casa.
Of the three antipasto dishes, the antipasta della casa was my favorite, and I filled my plate with fresh mozzarella, marinated artichoke hearts, beets and olives. The artichoke hearts stole the show and I was happy to see them pop up again in the salad course.
For my salad, I opted for the Tuscan salad which included mixed greens, olives, roasted peppers and marinated artichokes tossed in a lemon vinaigrette.
The salad felt like a continuation of the antipasta della casa, which was find by me.
Our third course was a pasta course and I ordered linguini and clams tossed in garlic, olive oil and white wine.
The pasta was cooked al dente, which is just the way I like it, and I was please to see a decent portion of clams resting atop the linguini. I would have no qualms about ordering this dish again should I return to Tuscany in the future. It was one of my favorites of the evening.
After our pasta course was cleared, it was time for a little protein! I ordered the crispy skin salmon, served atop parmesan polenta with bacon-dijon Brussels sprouts and clams.
The salmon was pretty good, but the shining star of this course was the parmesan polenta. I couldn’t get enough!
Throughout the evening, each course was paired with a different kind of wine. Though I typically gravitate toward white wine, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the two reds we tried with our food. Without a doubt, my favorite wine of the evening was the Apothic red. It was so smooth! 
The dessert course was paired with a dessert wine and included a fallen chocolate cake served with Tahitian vanilla ice cream and a raspberry puree.
I ate every last bite off my plate even though I was already quite full at this point. It was just too good!
I also sampled some of the treats from a platter of assorted cannolis, Italian cookies and biscotti.
I ate the creamy inside out of two cannolis and left the majority of the crispy exterior behind. The creamy center is where it’s at!
Our final night at Mohegan Sun was full of fantastic food, drinks and conversation. I laughed a lot (thank you, wine) and had such a fun time talking with everyone at dinner. Thank you to Michelle and Mohegan Sun for such a wonderful evening!
P.S. I will announce the winner of the Faded Days Sunglasses giveaway ASAP! For some reason the plugin that I installed that numbers comments isn’t working. Since I use a random number integer generator to select the winners and don’t want to risk miscounting the comments myself since there are a bunch, I’m going to pick a winner as soon as I can fix the plugin glitch!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Check you and the red lipstick! So pretty!
i’m officially obsessed with red lipstick now!
That’s looks so fun! And such great food 🙂
You can also go to random.org. I think it’s the same thing. Love the red lipstick! I’m scared to try it, but every time I see someone wearing it, they look great!
that’s the site i use! but i just need the dang comments to be numbered! trying to fix it ASAP!
That looks hysterical. Please tell me Theodora laughed a lot. Her laugh is really dang infectious.
Also? Healthy living bloggers with that much booze? Always a good time. (tend to be lightweights)
yes!!! she really does have the best laugh. and it’s even better after lots o’ wine!
I think it’s more a giggle?
And I do not consider myself a lightweight, thankyouverymuch.
Apothic red wine is also one of my all-time favorites!! They sell it at Trader Joe’s for a very reasonable price. Gotta love TJ’s! 😉
I am dedicated readers of your’s and Tina’s blogs, so it is so funny and cool to see you ladies at an event together. You are both so fantastic and inspirational!
I’m pretty sure chocolate cake is the perfect dessert. Looks like a delicious meal!
Apothic Red is hands down my favorite wine! AND its only about 10 bucks!
Wowsers! Amazing looking meal! Again loving the red lippy! So suits you!
I love Anne’s striped dress, and would love to know where she got it!
That food all looks sooo tasty!! I went to Mohegan Sun once, but it was for a work conference so I don’t remember having as much fun as you ladies had!
Yum! Everything looks so good, especially the dessert!
The flat-breads and salmon were my favorite! And no lie – you totally left empty cannoli carcass behind. 😉
I see youre still rocking the red lipstick! It goes well with the black!
As an ex Mohegan employe I must say that Tuscany was my favorite restaurant in the casino. Not only the food, but also the view, that waterfall is amazing!
You ladies are all beautiful! It’s so cool to see all of the people behind the blogs together in real life! So fun 🙂 And the food looks delicious!!
Everything looks delicious. I love red wine, especially with Italian food.
You look awesome, Julie! ANd that food looks tasty 🙂
You are so rockin the red lipstick!! I packed Sarah’s Key for my Thanksgiving break when I head back home tomorrow! I can’t wait to read it:) thanks for the recommendation!! Glad to see you enjoyed your time in Boston… My sister lives in Newport, Rhode Island…another great place in New England to visit…you can take Ryan…and Sadie will love it too:)
Very cool! I’ve heard of Todd English before, so I would love to check out his restaurant!
All that food looks delicious! I am dying to go to a 5 course meal! What plug in to you use for numbers I am trying to find one?
Mmmm, all the food looks delicious! Beautiful pictures of you and fellow bloggers! 🙂
This looks like such an amazing time! So glad you girls enjoyed yourself!
Hey Julie, it was so great meeting you this weekend! Such a fun dinner – and I really liked that wine, too!
I love Apothic Red too! I’m usually a white wine drinker as well, but I loved Apothic White SO much and heard such rave reviews about its Red counterpart, that I had to try it! I definitely recommend that you get your hands on the White Blend as well 🙂
I’m from the Mystic/Mohegan Sun area and I’m so glad to hear you had a great time!!
That food all looks delicious, but I’d have to say the wine pairing would interest me the most! One of my mom’s hobbies is wine (collecting and drinking… haha) and so I’ve been trying to learn a little more about it!
Wow, Mohegan Sun does look gorgeous…so festive, I love it!
Five course meals at a top notch restaurant are never a bad thing. 😉 And I absolutely LOVE that wine. Thanks for reminding me about it.
I’m jealous of how well you pull off red lipstick! I love the look but petrified I’ll look like a clown haha And Apothic Red wine is AMAZING. One of my favs. All that food looks absolutely delicious 🙂
I LOVE Apothic Red. My old roommate introduced it to me awhile ago and I’m so happy it’s getting easier to find these days. I also recommend the Apothic White. I’m not sure if it’s new but it’s definitely new-to-me and OH so yummy!
Get out! What an awesome dinner with great ladies. I met Todd English this year at the Swan & Dolphin Wine Fest and Kyle totally thought I was a nerd for getting a pic with him, but I’m glad I did.
And now I want wine…..hurry up Turkey day!
Oh, geeeeez…..that dessert looks heavenly!! Especially paired with some nice red wine 😉 .
That ice cream consistency looks like perfection…actually everything does :)!
I LOVE the return of the red lips! Also? How do you pack for a trip like this?!? Workout. Biking. Spa. Fancy dinners!! You are my packing-idol!
Wow, talk about a dinner! Everything looks so good 🙂
That restaurant looks incredible! I love pasta with clams so I would be in heaven there! 🙂
That food looks amazing – I’m sure it transported you right back to italy!! Since I studied abroad in Italy I’m such an italian food snob – and I refuse to eat pasta unless it’s cooked al dente and with a really good sauce!
Ohhhh what a meal. WHAT A MEAL. I am dying to go back to Tuscany already although I’d like to do so in order to try a normal sized meal hahaha so that I can finish off every scrumptious last bite! My dad adored the cannoli I brought home for him and I think I may have to have one myself today or tomorrow…you were INDEED lovin the red wine! Hahaha 😉 proud of you for branching out, I”m the opposite, when I drink white I’m branching out. Ahh it was so great to dine with you! Let’s do it again soon!
Typically we spend thanksgiving day with my husband’s family that lives 3.5 hours away. Then we have Christmas eve with my parents, Christmas morning with his mom and Christmas night with his dad! Whew! It’s a lot of planning but totally worth it to not have things overlap.
What a fun trip! I loved following your photos on Instagram! 🙂
I just recently found Apothic Red as well and it is definitely my favorite wine!!
I’m a little confused about what Mohegan Sun is? Is it a casino with hotel and restaurants?
yep! it’s huge – lots of hotel rooms, shopping, a casino, restaurants and more… all under one roof.