reviews

di Vino's Ristorante Italiano
30th Street, Vernon, BC

The best Italian restaurant won't let its diners forget this fact with its sandwichboard and photocopies of the readers choice award offered by the newspaper every year. We went there on a Friday night and it was quite busy...Our dinner started with slices of foccacia bread with oil and balsamic vinegar. The bread was warm and lightly salted and toasted. I had the chicken involtini. This came with foccacia fritters on a tomato sauce and pickled purple cabbage. The chicken was stuffed with ricotta cheese, spinach, pine nuts and covered with a very light cream sauce. With the exception of a few raisins, I found the sauce to be tasteless. The food arrived warm and in an amount of time that wasn't too long or too short...just the right amount of time that made me think it was made fresh. My main meal came to $15.95. I then did something I rarely do...I ordered desert...tiramisu...Since my tiramisu experience in Jan 2000 at Zanelli's in Rotorura, New Zealand, I have been on a quest to find tiramisu at least as good as that...For $5.95, the restaurant serves a very generous slice of their homemade tiramisu...The cook did not skimp on the chocolate shavings which made me very happy. The tiramisu was very light in both taste and consistency...While not horrible, it really lacked oomph...Generally, I found the whole meal needed to be in the words of Emeril "kicked up a notch". The owner, who served us, was fast, efficient and friendly. When we asked her about other Italian restaurants in town, she quite adamantly explained that they did not serve real Italian food. How could they when they don't even speak Italian? While I would go the restaurant one more time to try the pasta, it is all the self proclamations that make me hesitate. Really if you are that good, you don't need all the posters to say so...the food you serve will do the talking for you.

posted by reviewer @ 11:52 AM