Father’s Day was a dreary, drizzly day in most of this area – not so good for those looking forward to barbecues and outdoor fun. Luckily, my family had planned to eat dinner out, and we headed to the crowded Ristorante Molise in downtown Amesbury to celebrate. (The restaurant also has a branch in Wakefield). Ristorante Molise offers a somewhat upscale Italian dining experience and an extensive menu that includes dishes with pasta, chicken, veal, seafood, and other items.

Dinner at Ristorante Molise includes the choice of starting with a soup or salad, and the weather was perfect for a bowl of soup, so I opted for the Chicken Escarole. It arrived warm, in a small white bowl, and it incorporated many nice textures. The soup was full of dark meat chicken, small pasta noodles, onions, and escarole in a light chicken broth. If you’re not familiar with escarole, it is a dark leafy green from the endive family. The flavor of the Chicken Escarole soup was mild and pleasing, and surprisingly filling for a small bowl. The light soup countered well with the rich meal that I followed it with – Gnocchi Sorrentino. The Gnocchi Sorrentino, gnocchi in a tomato cream sauce with eggplant, mushrooms, prosciutto, and mozzarella was decadent and enough for a few meals – I highly recommend it!