Volare Shines

Last night i set out from Shelbyville to go pick up my daughter while Jennifer got her hair done and have dinner with Bill and Sarah. After stopping by their house to see their lovely dining pavilion, we were on the way to 211 clover lane. or so we thought, a last minute phone call to check on availability told us no room at the inn- we wanted something close, so it was Veranese or Volare. We had not been to Volare since Veranese, so it was decided.

Mahjid was at the door, welcoming us like long lost friends, not that far from the truth, and showed us to a corner table ( at my request since my daughter had not had a nap). Luckily as dinner progressed she showed her dining experience and was a very good diner as a 3 yr old at a white table cloth restaurant.

I started off with an italian margarita ( just add amaretto a la buca di beppo) and Bill had a martini in a very cold glass that fooled both of us into thinking there was liquid already in there. Sarah ordered a wedge salad with blue cheeses and Sierra and I split the carpaccio. Sierra did not care for the capers, but she liked the thinly sliced raw beef and she ate all of the parmesan cheese before I had little more than a bite. Arugula and spinach accompanied the dish and I was so happy Sierra liked the beef, I was floating as I finished off the plate. Add carpaccio to her list of interesting foods, along with clams, mussels, and calamari.

For dinner, Bill had the linguine with fruite del mar, the sauce looked even and the sea fruit was generous. I had the spaghettini bolognese. It was good, but not quite as good as Chef Michael's from Bourbons. Sierra had a spaghetti with al dente sauce, and one big ole meatball as she called it. Sarah's dinner was the pride of the table. Her Lasagna had a very high grade mozzarella cheese that made this dish shine. I believe Bravo just got overthrown for best lasagna in town. After she had done all she could, I was giddy in moving her plate over to my place setting to imbibe in the heavenly creation. Dessert and coffee were skipped, so i gathered my reading material from the NY Times and headed back to Shelbyville with a wooly mammoth named Sarah. The bill was $127 and the service was excellent. We had 4 people attending our table like we were royalty. The upper dining room was full (around 9 tables) and the main area was Half full when we left, business is good.

This place still delivers the goods, best overall italian in town- porcini is right there, and it has a romance factor that is second only to Le Relais. Volare **** excellent