Maybe it was because it was a Sunday evening or maybe it was because on our way to this cheery cafe it was 47 degrees and hailing outside but business was slow at the Chianti Cafe. Chianti Cafe is located in a shopping Plaza off of Town Center Drive just past the Summerlin Parkway. Not much to look at from the outside, the inside was suprisingly warm and cozy. There were 5 of us and since most of the tables on the restaurant side were smaller they seated us in the lounge. Not a problem since there was never more than one other table in the lounge and when we left there was nobody in the restaurant. The cafe is cutting back to summer hours and will be closed on Sundays for the summer.
The benefit to sitting in the lounge was that it was happy hour and glasses of wine and beer were only $3 until 7 p.m. There were several selections for the happy hour wine and several beer selections. My husband and I had the Barefoot Pinot Grigio and my mom had a Chardonay. (Of course she usually buys a whole bottle for $3 so maybe it wasn't such a bargain for her). They also have a fully stocked bar and the bar looks new and like a comfortable place to sit.
The menu is what you would expect from an Italian restuarant. Among the appetizers were salads, soups, bruschetta, antipasti and fried calamari. The prices were reasonable and we had a coupon for a free appetizer or salad. We had the Caesar salad which was crisp and cold. The pepper flavor, however, was almost overwhelming. I thought there may have been red peper flakes but Lynn thought it was just too much black pepper. I'd go with another choice next time.
The entrees included pizzas, pastas, chicken and veal dishes as well as a steak entree and fish special. The prices were all reasonable and almost all were between $12.95 and $15.95. I made everyone order something different and I made sure to sample from everyone's plate. A great idea since my entree was fairly disappointing. My sister Lynn had the spinach manicotti, which was topped with a bechamel sauce. It was baked in the oven and quite tasty. My husband had the Canelloni Chianti, a veal canelloni, topped with a bolognese sauce and also baked in the oven. I think his dish was the best I sampled. My mother had the fettucini alfredo, which was also good, but a bit heavy on the garlic. My brother-in-law Fred had the Gnocchi Sunrise. I'm not a gnocchi lover but sacrificed and tasted it so I could report. It was suprisingly good. It tasted fresh and the tomoato and cream sauce was delicious. I, unfortunately, ordered the chicken milanese. It was deep fried, really heavy and could have used a sauce. It was served with roasted potatoes which seemed to have been in the oven for days. The roasted summer squash and carrots served with it, however, were cooked perfectly.
We were all too full for desert. With the coupon the meal came to just over $100, a great deal for 5 of us. All in all I would go back. Except for my meal the food was decent and the service was good (although as Lynn pointed out it should have been since there were really no other customers). There is a piano in the lounge and they have entertainment on the weekends, including some Saturday evening dinner shows. None of the entertainment applealed to me but it probably draws in a decent Summerlin/Sun City crowd.
I'll keep Chianti Cafe on my list but it's no Carmines!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Zefferino's at the Canal Shops at the Venetian
Ok. I know I said I wasn't into fancy-shmancy fu-fu places so you're probably wondering why I'm writing about a place at the Venetian. Well, it wasn't that fancy, we went for lunch and it was a special occasion. It was my neice Holly's 16th birthday and that's where she wanted to go. If you know my fondness for traveling to the strip you know how much I love her. But, once I finally got there, it was good.
I say once I finally got there because I wandered around the Palazzo, where I parked, and the Canal Shoppes for about 25 minutes. Fortunately I only said half of the thoughts in my head out loud and there were no kids around. After stopping several people for directions, including some guys who apparently were trying to sell time shares and not Venetian concierges, I arrived. The outside of the restaurant is deceptively small. The first floor where you enter is the bar area and the actual restaurant is upstairs on the second floor. I somehow got in back of a big group of convention-goers walking up the stairs and couldn't figure out why they were all milling around a seating area and why there was nobody sitting at any of the tables in the restaurant. I finally meandered through several rooms and came upon occupied tables, including my family.
It became apparent to me later that they seat parties in the far away room first because it has the best views. Our table was overlooking the canal shoppes and the canal. The windows were decorated with flower boxes and the tables all had flowers on them. We were able to get the people watching experience without all of the noise since we were one floor above the mall. Overall the atmosphere was quite pleasant.
We all opted for the 3 course $19.95 lunch. You could choose an appetizer and an entree and the desert course consisted of assorted pastries. The appetizer selections included fried calamari with spicy tomato sauce, chicken tenders with spicy tomato sauce, pizza, Ceasar salad, and a tomato mozzarella salad. The entrees included chicken parmasean, beef medallions with mushrooms, chicken picatta, cheese ravioli with truffle oil and handmade fettucini. There was also a special pasta you could choose for an additional $4, which was penne pasta with tomatoes, shrimp and spinach, and a special dish for an additional $5 which was grilled swordfish with asparagus. We had to ask the waiter to tell us the specials. The regular menu consisted of most of the items on the special menu as well as some additional pastas and meats.
For the appetizer course my sister and I had the Ceasar salad which was very good. It was cold and crisp and not over or under dressed. Holly had the fried calamari which came with fried zuchini. The calamari was lightly fried and (I'll take Holly's word for it), really good. Fred's chicken tenders (which I never thought I'd be talking about when I wasn't with my 6 year old) were also good. For the entree Holly and Fred had the chicken parmasean, which Holly said was amazing. Lynn and I had the homemade fettucini, which was in a light tomato sauce with grape tomatoes, julienned basil and fresh mozzarella. It was very good. The only critique I had was that I would have liked the mozzarella to be a bit warmer and melted.
It was good that we were all full from the lunch. The "assorted pastries" consisted of 3 1/2 inch little cakes. One of them was a nice chocolate, one of them was a key lime (we think) and stawberry and the other was date and cranberries, which remained on all of our plates.
All in all the food was very good and the price was reasonable, especially given the location. As for the service, it was not so great. When I looked up the restaurant on the internet I learned it is a chain so maybe the services in other locations is better. My friend Beth always says that whenever you go anywhere on the strip they swarm around you when you get there but then disappear. At one point we had 3 or 4 people around us but when we were finished it took us about 30 minutes to get the check, have the waiter pick up the check and return with the credit card receipt. He did come by at one point to apologize it was taking so long to get the credit card receipt but it was because someone else had to take it downstairs since they had no credit card machine upstairs. Great system considering all of the tables are upstairs. I'm sure everybody pays with cash right? As Lynn pointed out, why don't they tell you to bring your check downstairs and pay on the way out?
After lunch we went to the wax museum. The admission is $25 but only $10 with a Nevada ID. We also took a look around Emeril Lagasse's Stadim at the Palazzo. The next time I venture down to the strip I'll definitely let you know how it is. It looks fantastic so I'm sure it will be bitterly disappointing. Also coming up some old favorites, and a guest review from Beth Stephens.
Thanks for lunch Fred and Happy Sweet 16 Holly!
I say once I finally got there because I wandered around the Palazzo, where I parked, and the Canal Shoppes for about 25 minutes. Fortunately I only said half of the thoughts in my head out loud and there were no kids around. After stopping several people for directions, including some guys who apparently were trying to sell time shares and not Venetian concierges, I arrived. The outside of the restaurant is deceptively small. The first floor where you enter is the bar area and the actual restaurant is upstairs on the second floor. I somehow got in back of a big group of convention-goers walking up the stairs and couldn't figure out why they were all milling around a seating area and why there was nobody sitting at any of the tables in the restaurant. I finally meandered through several rooms and came upon occupied tables, including my family.
It became apparent to me later that they seat parties in the far away room first because it has the best views. Our table was overlooking the canal shoppes and the canal. The windows were decorated with flower boxes and the tables all had flowers on them. We were able to get the people watching experience without all of the noise since we were one floor above the mall. Overall the atmosphere was quite pleasant.
We all opted for the 3 course $19.95 lunch. You could choose an appetizer and an entree and the desert course consisted of assorted pastries. The appetizer selections included fried calamari with spicy tomato sauce, chicken tenders with spicy tomato sauce, pizza, Ceasar salad, and a tomato mozzarella salad. The entrees included chicken parmasean, beef medallions with mushrooms, chicken picatta, cheese ravioli with truffle oil and handmade fettucini. There was also a special pasta you could choose for an additional $4, which was penne pasta with tomatoes, shrimp and spinach, and a special dish for an additional $5 which was grilled swordfish with asparagus. We had to ask the waiter to tell us the specials. The regular menu consisted of most of the items on the special menu as well as some additional pastas and meats.
For the appetizer course my sister and I had the Ceasar salad which was very good. It was cold and crisp and not over or under dressed. Holly had the fried calamari which came with fried zuchini. The calamari was lightly fried and (I'll take Holly's word for it), really good. Fred's chicken tenders (which I never thought I'd be talking about when I wasn't with my 6 year old) were also good. For the entree Holly and Fred had the chicken parmasean, which Holly said was amazing. Lynn and I had the homemade fettucini, which was in a light tomato sauce with grape tomatoes, julienned basil and fresh mozzarella. It was very good. The only critique I had was that I would have liked the mozzarella to be a bit warmer and melted.
It was good that we were all full from the lunch. The "assorted pastries" consisted of 3 1/2 inch little cakes. One of them was a nice chocolate, one of them was a key lime (we think) and stawberry and the other was date and cranberries, which remained on all of our plates.
All in all the food was very good and the price was reasonable, especially given the location. As for the service, it was not so great. When I looked up the restaurant on the internet I learned it is a chain so maybe the services in other locations is better. My friend Beth always says that whenever you go anywhere on the strip they swarm around you when you get there but then disappear. At one point we had 3 or 4 people around us but when we were finished it took us about 30 minutes to get the check, have the waiter pick up the check and return with the credit card receipt. He did come by at one point to apologize it was taking so long to get the credit card receipt but it was because someone else had to take it downstairs since they had no credit card machine upstairs. Great system considering all of the tables are upstairs. I'm sure everybody pays with cash right? As Lynn pointed out, why don't they tell you to bring your check downstairs and pay on the way out?
After lunch we went to the wax museum. The admission is $25 but only $10 with a Nevada ID. We also took a look around Emeril Lagasse's Stadim at the Palazzo. The next time I venture down to the strip I'll definitely let you know how it is. It looks fantastic so I'm sure it will be bitterly disappointing. Also coming up some old favorites, and a guest review from Beth Stephens.
Thanks for lunch Fred and Happy Sweet 16 Holly!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Carmine's The Beginning
About 6 years ago my husband Steve and I just moved into our first house. Since we moved about 20 minutes away we needed to find new places to eat in our 3 mile radius. (I'm convinced we all have a 3 mile radius in which we invariably do all of our shopping, errands and eating and we stray from the radius only unoccassionally.) We stumbled upon Carmine's Little Italy. It was the first day they were open and they hadn't had the official opening yet. We had a few beers and I had the chicken cordon bleu sandwich. I didn't have any more beers there for a while because the next week I found out I was prengant with my daughter Amanda. But we did eat there a lot. Last Friday when Steve, Amanda and I went there for dinner and they told us they were closing on Sunday I could barely hold back the tears.
Carmine's was more than a place we went to eat. After the first time we went we told my mom and dad about it. They agreed to go and my dad actually liked it. A small miracle considering how fastiduous he was about where he would eat and how clean the place had to be. It joined the list of the 5 or 6 other restaurants in town he would go. It's where we took our friends and family who came to visit from out of town. Of all the people we took there not one of them ever had a single complaint. When my dad's partner Chuck and his wife Alice came out for a visit my parents took them there the first night they were in town and they insisted on going there every night until they left. When my home town bff Sheila came to town it was a favorite because she's a vegetarian and she could choose from virtually the entire menu and wasn't delegated to the veggie burger or fried mozzarella appetizer like everywhere else we went. When my cousin Phil came to town it was a regular spot, for food and video poker. When my dad's friend Dave came to town he had to have the spaghetti and meatballs at least once, but usually twice. When my sister Lynn, her husband Fred, and their kids, Holly, Sammy and Joey came we never missed a visit there.
Carmine's was the place we went to every Mother's Day and every Father's Day with our parents. We knew the food would be good, the prices wouldn't be jacked up and we wouldn't have to wait in line. Every Sunday when I was pregnant with my daughter my dad would pick up pizzas from Carmine's and I would go to my parents house for dinner. When my ob/gyn told me I'd have to have a C-section the second thing I asked (of course the first was can I still have an epidural) was can I have lunch before I go to the hospital? When he said yes we raced to Carmine's so I could have the Eggplant Rolatini. After I had Amanda my parents would babysit every Sunday night and Steve and I would often go to Carmine's, sit at the bar, order food and play some video poker. I particularly remember one night when Steve drove by and noted they had a special scallop dinner. When my dad stopped in to pick up the pizza for him and my mom and Amanda, he was delighted when I called him over to show him the royal I just won.
Carmine's was the place I went with my girlfriends after work to bitch about work. And the place I went with Steve to bitch about work. And the place I went with Ma to bitch about...well everything else. It was the place that was our safety net. At least every couple of weeks we'd spend 20 minutes debating where we were going to go and we'd inevitably say "Let's just go to Carmine's".
In 6 years I had one meal there I found only mediocre. It was pasta bolognese and it was a little dry. When they saw I hadn't eaten most of it they brought me more sauce and comped the meal. They had a great menu with a lot of things I loved but I almost always got the pizza, usually in some wild flavor like cheese and a Greek salad.
Last Friday I called my Las Vegas bff, Nicole, and told her the sad news. She knew why I was so devestated and shared my pain. She called her mom and told her we were all going to gather for a last supper on Saturday. I didn't have to call my mom because she came to play poker while we were there having dinner. We all met for our final very sad supper at Carmine's. I thought, half tongue in cheek, maybe if I had blogged about it they wouldn't have gone out of business.
I know there will never be another Carmine's but I vow to find a place we call all once again gather. Or at least get a decent meal. My regular blogs won't be this long or this sentimental. I'm not a food critic and I don't go for those fancy-shmancy fu-fu places. I'm more of a diners, drive-ins and dives type of girl. But I'm going to try some new places and revisit the old and let you know what I think. In the meantime we've got to figure out where the hell we're going to go for Father's Day.
Farewell Carmine's and thanks for the memories.
Carmine's was more than a place we went to eat. After the first time we went we told my mom and dad about it. They agreed to go and my dad actually liked it. A small miracle considering how fastiduous he was about where he would eat and how clean the place had to be. It joined the list of the 5 or 6 other restaurants in town he would go. It's where we took our friends and family who came to visit from out of town. Of all the people we took there not one of them ever had a single complaint. When my dad's partner Chuck and his wife Alice came out for a visit my parents took them there the first night they were in town and they insisted on going there every night until they left. When my home town bff Sheila came to town it was a favorite because she's a vegetarian and she could choose from virtually the entire menu and wasn't delegated to the veggie burger or fried mozzarella appetizer like everywhere else we went. When my cousin Phil came to town it was a regular spot, for food and video poker. When my dad's friend Dave came to town he had to have the spaghetti and meatballs at least once, but usually twice. When my sister Lynn, her husband Fred, and their kids, Holly, Sammy and Joey came we never missed a visit there.
Carmine's was the place we went to every Mother's Day and every Father's Day with our parents. We knew the food would be good, the prices wouldn't be jacked up and we wouldn't have to wait in line. Every Sunday when I was pregnant with my daughter my dad would pick up pizzas from Carmine's and I would go to my parents house for dinner. When my ob/gyn told me I'd have to have a C-section the second thing I asked (of course the first was can I still have an epidural) was can I have lunch before I go to the hospital? When he said yes we raced to Carmine's so I could have the Eggplant Rolatini. After I had Amanda my parents would babysit every Sunday night and Steve and I would often go to Carmine's, sit at the bar, order food and play some video poker. I particularly remember one night when Steve drove by and noted they had a special scallop dinner. When my dad stopped in to pick up the pizza for him and my mom and Amanda, he was delighted when I called him over to show him the royal I just won.
Carmine's was the place I went with my girlfriends after work to bitch about work. And the place I went with Steve to bitch about work. And the place I went with Ma to bitch about...well everything else. It was the place that was our safety net. At least every couple of weeks we'd spend 20 minutes debating where we were going to go and we'd inevitably say "Let's just go to Carmine's".
In 6 years I had one meal there I found only mediocre. It was pasta bolognese and it was a little dry. When they saw I hadn't eaten most of it they brought me more sauce and comped the meal. They had a great menu with a lot of things I loved but I almost always got the pizza, usually in some wild flavor like cheese and a Greek salad.
Last Friday I called my Las Vegas bff, Nicole, and told her the sad news. She knew why I was so devestated and shared my pain. She called her mom and told her we were all going to gather for a last supper on Saturday. I didn't have to call my mom because she came to play poker while we were there having dinner. We all met for our final very sad supper at Carmine's. I thought, half tongue in cheek, maybe if I had blogged about it they wouldn't have gone out of business.
I know there will never be another Carmine's but I vow to find a place we call all once again gather. Or at least get a decent meal. My regular blogs won't be this long or this sentimental. I'm not a food critic and I don't go for those fancy-shmancy fu-fu places. I'm more of a diners, drive-ins and dives type of girl. But I'm going to try some new places and revisit the old and let you know what I think. In the meantime we've got to figure out where the hell we're going to go for Father's Day.
Farewell Carmine's and thanks for the memories.
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