14850 Dining

Categories: Family Fancy Italian Italian-American Seafood

Hours: Sun-Thurs 5-8:30, Fri-Sat 5-9:30.

This bakery and Tuscan-themed Italian restaurant was opened in 1995 by Philip Romano, the restaurateur who's also responsible for the Macaroni Grill and Fuddrucker's chains. He built it for his ill sister, Rosalie, but she unfortunately passed away about a year after the restaurant opened. A meal here begins with freshly baked, hot Italian bread, with olive oil and a plate of oregano, grated cheese, hot pepper flakes, and minced garlic to mix into your oil as you see fit. Our group shared a pair of appetizers, a grilled spinach and garlic polenta topped with asparagus spears, and a four-cheese plate featuring Lively Run Cayuga Bleu and an excellent fresh mozzarella alongside marinated olives and sliced peppers. A soup of the day was a roasted squash, perfect for a fall evening. My entree was the wonderful Braciole, thinly-sliced beef stuffed with bread crumbs and prosciutto and served with homemade pasta and spinach in a hearty and flavourful puttanesca sauce. And a friend enjoyed her pappardelle, homemade broad noodles with a variety of sauteed mushrooms and lots of vegetables.