Italian Fine Dining at Via Veneto Santa Monica

Italian Fine Dining at Via Veneto Santa Monica

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There are times that for no reason other than having the one you love waking-up besides you is reason enough to celebrate the day, the week, and life in general. On those days it takes a special type of restaurant to sustain -or create- a mood fitting of that occasion. 

Via Veneto on Main Street in Santa Monica, is perfectly suited for one of those days. 

The perfect kind.

The perfect kind of day that celebrates love, an anniversary, a special occasion, or a quite simply just the two of you...

On those perfect days, you drive to Santa Monica only to realize that although you're in the middle of it all, you have just stepped into a restaurant that is far removed from it all...and it's almost as if you have discovered a secret hideaway....

Expect to leave behind your day, your worries, and life...and invite Via Veneto do what they do best...delight their guests with an upscale Italian menu that uses organic, locally grown and sourced ingredients that create a luxury Italian dining experience.

While the menu offers a large selection of Roman-inspired dishes, Via Veneto prides itself for it's selection of sophisticated handmade pastas, while their in-house grill-master has perfected their veal scaloppine and juicy filetto di manzo. Via Veneto also offers an extensive dessert menu and enviable wine selection that pairs perfectly which each course.

All items on the menu can be ordered a la carte, but my recommendation is to let yourself experience Via Veneto by giving your well-versed waiter a few guidelines and ordering the tasting menu. Wine drinkers can also pair their wine with each course with either a selection from the in-house sommelier, or choose your own from a selection.

I also recommend that you start your dinner with the the cheese platter and olives, which is accompanied by a truffle-infused honey and country bread.

We gave our waiter carte blanche for our tasting menu, with our only request being that the octopus be included as one of the four items in our antipasto platter.

While everything presented in our antipasto platter was delicious, the octopus was like nothing I had ever had...

The octopus was cooked, then thinly sliced before drizzled with olive oil and garnished with grilled campari tomato. It was absolutely delightful.

For our first course we were served a selection of raviolis and my personal request, risotto with fresh-shaved black truffles.

While I expected the risotto to be delightful, the ravioli was most impressive due to it's thin pasta shell that simply melted in your mouth before your taste buds exploded when the ricotta met the sweet red sauce.

For our seafood main course, we were given a selection of branzino, which is a meaty Italian sea bass and langostinos, a smaller version of a lobster, but sweeter and with a nicer texture.

Both were cooked to perfection and served with a light butter sauce and garnished with chopped tomatoes.

The meat main course included house-made Italian sausage, veal scaloppine with porcini mushroom sauce, and grilled prairie land, bone-in veal chop, cooked with butter and sage.

Let me preface by saying that I usually find veal quite gamey...but not at Via Veneto. It was butter and absolutely melted in my mouth. My hubby devoured this dish. Devoured.

Both our seafood and meat platters were presented with vegetables, our favorite being the garlic spinach and oven-roasted potato side-dish.

For our final course our waiter recommended that we try an Italian dessert wine followed by a selection of their most popular sweets, including the tiramisu, chocolate profiteroles, berry panna cotta, and my personal favorite and the crowning jewel for the evening's dinner: the Nutella tart. 

The tasting menu at Via Veneto was an absolutely beautiful experience that I recommend you enjoy for your next special occasion...or quite simply, a day that you give-in to the love that you have around you.

Via Veneto
3009 Main St.
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 399-1843 (Advance dinner reservations required)

Ana Lydia

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Retro Elegant Dinner at Piero's Italian Cuisine, Las Vegas

Retro Elegant Dinner at Piero's Italian Cuisine, Las Vegas

The wonderful folks at Piero's Italian Cuisine, Las Vegas invited me and my hubby for dinner. What follows is my true and honest review.

Piero's Italian Cuisine Main Entrance

Las Vegas is no longer a scary place to dine and be entertained.  But did you know that Las Vegas has been the home of Piero's Italian Cuisine for 30 years?

You didn't?  Neither did we.

Welcome to the best kept secret in Las Vegas, and a foodie destination for any traveler or local that craves authentic and high-end Italian cuisine.

Piero's Italian Cuisine Bar Area

Dark and somewhat retro, the decor of Piero's Italian Cuisine displays an array of Aldo Luongo lithographs, original oils by José Bellver, and huge fresh floral displays on antique pine tables.

This is the same decor and space that was used during the filming of the movie "Casino."

Appetizer
Antipasti Caldi: Crab Cake in Light Tomato Sauce

Traditional Italian faire made with high quality ingredients, was highlighted by its world famous Osso Buco.

The pasta and ravioli is made in-house, as is the freshly baked bread that is brought to your table.  All other dishes, it goes without saying, are Piero's Italian Cuisine 'originals,' made with the same recipe as when they first opened.

Main Course
Entree: World famous Osso Buco served with Fresh Pasta

Main Course
Entree: Lobster Ravioli in Cream Saue

From the salad, to the coffee, the attention to detail in every aspect of our dinner, made our experience that of a special night out, and memorable in every which way.

Dessert
Creme Brûlée

Dessert
Pear Tart accompanied by Lavazza Latte

The service, one of the highlights of dining at Piero's, is a white glove experience that everyone receives:  from notable celebrities to business travelers alike.

Dessert Platter

Piero's Italian Cuisine
355 Convention Center Drive
Las Vegas, NV, 89109
(702) 369-2305

Reservations: 
Recommended


Hours: Dinner
5:30 p.m. -10:00 p.m. daily
Bar
5:00 p.m. - close daily

Price:Dinner for two without wine $150 including appetizer, coffee and desserts.

_____

Dining at Piero's was one of the highlights of our recent Las Vegas trip and a definite repeat in our future travels.  

If you are in Las Vegas on a future trip and crave authentic Italian cuisine served in an elegant setting, look no further than Piero's.

Together with my hubby, we received complimentary dinner.  No other compensation was provided.  All photos and opinion my own.

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Recipe: Orecchiette with Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Recipe: Orecchiette with Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Some people see pasta as an easy way to cook dinner.  I see pasta as a way to experiment with simple ingredients.

This pasta recipe was literally born out of necessity and with very few ingredients that I am sure you can also find in your pantry.

Ingredients to prepare dinner for four people:

• 2 chopped sun-dried tomato with mozzarella cheese chicken sausages 

• 1/4 chopped white onion
• 2 chopped fresh garlic

• 10 chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 16-oz heavy cream
• 1 bag of cooked and drained orecchiette pasta

Preparation:

Brown the chicken sausage with two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
Add the garlic and onion and cook until the onion is transparent.

Add the heavy cream and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
Lower the heat and cook until thickened.
(Sauce is usually flavorful and doesn't need salt - but add if the sauce is mild and needs extra "umph")

Remove the sauce from the heat, and add the pasta.
Mix slowly to combine the sauce and pasta.

Serve immediately and add parmesan cheese to taste.

A few variations of this recipe includes: adding more sun-dried tomatoes to make the sauce pinker, or adding peas while the sauce is cooking.

Please let me know if you try this recipe and if you made any changes to personalize it for you and your family.

Until next time - Happy cooking!

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Recipe: Flavorful Turkey Spaghetti

Recipe: Flavorful Turkey Spaghetti

While my husband is Italian-Hungarian, but very Italian-American when it comes to his eating habits; I am Mexican-American and less enamored with pasta, albeit a bit more adventuresome with my menu choices

To change things up a bit and still please my carb-loving husband, I've created my own creative turkey pasta dish that also indulges my sense of adventure.

It's a light and easy to prepare dish, with a "kick" to it.

I don't chop the ingredients super fine as they tend to shrink when cooking.
Plus, I like to see the "color" of the veggies pop in my dish.

Ingredients*:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 14.5 ounce can of diced and no salt added tomatoes (you may also use "fire roasted" tomatoes for an earthier flavor)
• 1 tsp dry Thyme
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 1 small chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1 small chopped orange bell pepper
• 1 small chopped red bell pepper
• 1 chopped jalapeno pepper
• 2 large chopped cloves of garlic
• Pinch of sugar

*I prefer to use all organic ingredients

Preparation:

Heat oil in pan, and slightly cook both onion and garlic until onion is almost transparent, then add the turkey, peppers, and spices.

Notice that the turkey is cooked but definitely not brown, which makes it too dry.

Slowly cook all ingredients over a medium-low heat* until the turkey is cooked, but not brown; then add stewed tomatoes.

*I only use All-Clad pots and pans, which needs a lower heat than other conventional cookware.

This particular time I used the diced/no salt added tomatoes
instead of the fire roasted can.

Add the pinch of sugar (to take-away the acidic flavor of the tomatoes) and lower the heat.  Cook for approximately 30 minutes.  

The sauce will be done when the diced tomatoes are "broken" down, yet perfectly melded with the other ingredients.  Peppers will be soft, but not overcooked.

Notice how the tomatoes are starting to break down?

Add the sauce over cooked spaghetti pasta, and mix slowly in a large pasta dish.

Garnish with freshly shaved romano cheese.

Tomato Turkey Sauce over Spaghetti Pasta
Notice the different colors popping up - Delish!

Buon appetito!

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