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Some meals are worth waiting all day for. If you’re looking for something different, delicious and filling, then head over to POM, located within Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, where Thursdays are Italian night.
From 5 p.m.-11 p.m. you’re welcome to overindulge in a fabulous family-style Italian feast, freshly prepared by executive chef Freddy Rieger. Trust me; this guy knows his Italian food.
“My family heritage is Italian and that comes easy to me, It reminds me of Saturday afternoons when I was growing up,” said Rieger, a New Jersey native who previously served as assistant executive chef at the Mirage in Las Vegas. With a slight New Jersey drawl, a warm personality and an infectious laugh, he is exactly the kind of guy you’d want preparing an Italian spread.
Of course POM’s full menu, which features an eclectic blend of Mediterranean, French and Latin American fusions, along with lip-smacking desserts including apple pie and tiramisu, are also available on Thursday evenings, but the tantalizing aromas are almost impossible to ignore and as they say ‘when in Rome.’
The food: The Thursday Abbondanza (or “abundance”) dinner, which cost $14.95 per person, begins with a mammoth-sized hand tossed garden salad and still-warm-from-the-oven homemade garlic bread, followed heaping bowls of pasta pomodoro, hand-rolled meatballs and Italian sausage simmered in POM’s signature marinara sauce-a secret family recipe perfected by Rieger’s mother. “She deserves all the credit,” he says with a laugh.
The parmigiana, a traditional Italian chicken dish bathed in a blend of beaten eggs, breaded and shallow fried, is another favorite among regular POM patrons. Topped with aromatic tomato sauce and bubbly mozzarella cheese, it’s easy to see why this was my favorite offering.
I was also pretty stoked when I learned the irresistible flavors are compliments of POM’s very own herb garden where thyme, basil, rosemary and flat leaf Italian parsley, among other flavorful herbs and spices, are plucked fresh daily.
But we’re not done yet. Make sure to save a little room for the best part.
Dessert is the perfect end to a mouth-watering trek through Italy. If saccharine, hand-filled cannolis, homemade biscotti and Italian butter cookies dipped in silky milk chocolate sound right up your alley, then dig in.
The Bottom Line: I’m told Abbondanza nights have rapidly grown in popularity since their early April début, which is something Rieger considers a compliment. “I wanted this to hit a nerve and I think it did,” he said. I figure Riger has hit the nail right on the head. This meal is truly fit for a king.
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