Classic Tuscan fare at Rosalie's Cucina in Skaneateles

Once in a while, the 14850 Dining Report hops in the car for dinner out of town, and this week we popped up to Skaneateles for a fine Italian meal at Rosalie's Cucina. Skaneateles is a small town between Auburn and Syracuse, with a few real food gems that we've talked about before, like Doug's Fish Fry and The Krebs, but this was our first visit to Rosalie's.

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.

The decor's traditional, with white plaster walls, dark green trim, and lots of wood. Less traditional is the writing on the wall; Rosalie's charged $100 for the privilege of signing or adding a message to the wall in black marker, raising funds for local causes. 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.

Another friend was delighted with the shrimp scampi, made with plump shrimp and plenty of garlic. The menu offers a wide variety of fresh seafood, several vegetarian dishes, and plenty of meats to choose from. (We hear good things about the steaks.)

For dessert we split the excellent tiramisu and the banana budino, a layered dessert with crisp pastry and hearty banana pudding, along with espresso and cappuccino. The coffees were served with cantuccini, perfect almond biscotti. (These could stand in place of dessert, but we recommend enjoying one of Rosalie's fine desserts anyway.)

An excellent wine list features some fine Italian wines, such as the Livernano Chianti Riserva we enjoyed, as well as a good selection of Finger Lakes wines, some gems from California, and French or Italian sparkling wines.

We were also very pleased with the service at Rosalie's. Our waiter team of Matt and Matt were friendly, helpful with our wine selections and other decision-making, and that most useful and hard-to-find attribute of good servers, around when needed and out-of-the-way when not needed.

Plan on spending $30-50 per person on dinner. Find Rosalie's on Genesee Street just west of the village in Skaneateles, online at rosaliescucina.com, or call 315-685-2200 and tell them you heard about them here.

• Rosalie's Cucina web site