Recently, my wife and I decided to spend more time together...just the two of us. See, we have children, and children can sometimes take up a lot of your time. Now, I'm not saying that my wife and I don't love our children, and love spending time with them, it is just that my wife, now being a stay at home mom, desires some adult interaction, and I love to be with my wife without us hearing her name called out every other minute.  So we decided to take one night a month and dedicate a few hours to her and I getting out and having conversation and relaxing. The rules are minimal talking about the children and not so much talk about work. We figure we had better build our relationship strong now so we have one when the kids move out.

 We don't like to go anywhere too far from our home in Rochester, NH, so our most recent date took us to a local restaurant called Fat Tony's Italian Grill. Wow! What a place! We enjoyed our visit very much. The atmosphere in there is incredible. It felt like we had gone back in time. You know, to the good old days in New York "hangin out" with the Rat Pack, Frank(Sinatra), Dean(Martin), and Sammy(Davis, Jr.). OK, I personally wasn't around when these icons roamed the streets, but what it must of been like to be around in that time period. There is a section of the restaurant dedicated to these men, and I have to say it brings out the NY tuff guy in you. The restaurant also has a few  features like some raised tables and different decor in each part you stand. The lighting was perfect and the service was fantastic!

As for the food, I don't think I can do it justice by writing about it. The waitress started us off with some home made Italian bread and some seasoned olive oil, what a treat. My wife, being adopted by an Italian family, said it reminded her of being at her Nana's house as a young girl. Soon after we were brought our appetizers, some Bruschetta (Garlic bread topped with chopped basil, fresh tomatoes and extra-virgin olive oil then baked with fresh mozzarella) and some  Crispy Ravioli (Cheese ravioli deep-fried and served with house marinara). Even though we had just had some bread and olive oil we absolutely loved the Bruschetta. The tomatoes and mozzarella are what made the plate, it tasted fantastic! I personally was a fan of the ravioli dish. The marinara has it's own unique great taste, not the taste I can get in my kitchen. About half way through the appiteizers is when our food was ready. We took advantage of the great menu option to " Build your own Pasta Dish". We were able to choose the pasta, the sauce, the vegetable, and the type of meat we wanted. I went with linguini, Alfredo, spinach and chicken. My wife went with linguini, marinara, roasted red peppers and onions, with sausage. Although we were getting very full we were able to take a few bites, of our own and of each others. The Alfredo sauce was probably the right up there with the best I had ever tasted. My wife agreed, it had a great cheese taste and the texture was fantastic. The pasta was cooked perfect as was the rest of the food. Obviously we could not finish our generous serving, so we did ask to have it wrapped to go. However, we could not leave without dessert. We ordered some fresh homemade Tiramisu to share with some cappuccinos. One of the greatest desserts we had ever had! The flavor was amazing!

 We left very satisfied with both the meal and our little dinner date, having had a lot of conversation and plenty to eat with some left overs. The service was great and the romantic atmosphere made it a night to remember. We will be returning to Fat Tony's we feel very soon, maybe for some breakfast or some lunch next time. My recommendation to anyone living in town or visiting, you must make it into Fat Tony's Italian Grill!

                          Fat Tony's is located at: 61 North Main St. Rochester, NH 03867 Ph: (603)335-7020

 I recently moved to Rochester NH., on Washington St. One of the big reasons my family and I moved to Rochester, is the economic growth going on here. Shortly after we moved in, a new strip mall was put in about a mile down the road from my house. There are plans to fix and widen my street to make it much more user friendly. At fist I thought this would create a traffic problem in front of my house, but want to say, that it was thought through and the road plan works so the traffic is coming off the highway and right into the mall parking lot. I am very exited about the changes, and think that Rochester can benefit from them. These changes will grab all the shoppers in the towns north( Alton, Wolfboro, Middleton, Milton, Wakefield, and Farmington) that don't want to travel to Portsmouth or Tamworth. It also makes it convenient for people that live in Rochester who sometimes don't want to travel so they can get home quickly after a long day of shopping. I personally am looking forward to more growth in Rochester and can't wait to see what restaurants and stores go up next. Although, there are some residents that feel much differently.

 Like in all topics of conversation there is more than one opinion on this. There are residents on Washington St. and surrounding roads that are not happy. I recently took a walk around my neighborhood and heard a lot of different opinions than mine.  It seems that the people on the street and beyond have been fighting these changes for along time. Hearing these people talk has brought a meaning to the term "You Can't fight City Hall". See, when you widen a street you need land to do it. To get this land, the town figured they would take someone else's. I am one of the fortunate ones that will not have to worry about any of my frontage being taken because I have none to give. However, many of the residents on Washington St. next spring who are used to looking out their front window and seeing Maple trees, nice trimmed bushes, flower gardens that have been prepared just right, or maybe a beautiful lawn that has taken years to perfect, will see a sidewalk, plenty of off street parking, and a bike lane. I can see their frustration. As for the people that live off of Washington St., up on the hill that over looks the whole town, they just like the view anymore. When purchasing their homes several years ago, one of the biggest attraction to their homes was the fabulous views they had off their back decks. The sun rises they would watch in the mornings while drinking their morning coffees. The sun sets they would watch with their spouses. I guess it was incredible to see the sunlight bounce off the trees and small streams that were once there. Now they have the view of the tops of buildings and a huge parking lot. They definitely don't have to worry about sunlight because the lamps that light up the parking lot are plenty bright enough. 

 I can see both sides, and wish there was a way for both sides to win. I feel excited in a way for the city's growth, and in the same respect feel for the residents that have lived hear for so long and could do without the change.