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| - Phenomenal, amazing, wonderful. Can't come up with sufficient superlatives. Absolutely the best northern Italian- real Italian, not "American Italian"- in Charlotte, and for me the best and finest restaurant experience in Charlotte period, without question. There's a reason it's packed to the rafters with regulars for every seating, every night it's open.
Chef Gabriele is phenomenally talented, yet manages to present food that is authentically "home", from his native region of northern Italy. I've been eating here for two years, since just after the restaurant opened, and have never had a meal or a dining experience that wasn't perfect. Chef treats you like family, and while he certainly appreciates the regular customers, he's also welcoming to new diners. This is a very special experience, with very competent staff who know their business and work hard; they also get to know their customers and do treat regulars accordingly, so don't be surprised to hear wait staff speaking familiarly with the customers at the next table. Everyone becomes friends and family here.
A few things to point out, if you're a first time customer:
The restaurant is very small, with maybe 40 covers total per seating, so there isn't much wiggle room for the staff if a table decides to relax and have another bottle of wine... it's not the restaurant's fault if diners take a little extra time to finish their meal, so there may sometimes be a short wait for a table to open, even with a reservation, but it's rare.
It's very hard to get seated as a walk-in most nights, so a reservation is most definitely recommended.
There's virtually no space inside the restaurant to wait if you're there early, so you may have to stand outside for a bit. The patio is lovely and it's nice outside. Enjoy it. The food and experience will be more than worth it.
And yes, this is most definitely a true European restaurant, with exquisitely prepared food in portions planned for multiple courses, so if you're looking for one huge portion of pasta, red sauce on everything, lots of beer, a kid's menu, or a salad the size of a shoebox, turn left instead of right and go across the patio to Red Rocks and enjoy it. They're nice too, just a different experience.
You'll never find better prepared food in Charlotte than Aqua E Vino. Not anywhere. Go once and try it. Go twice. Go every week. Get to know your server. Be patient; it's an intimate restaurant, and the food is prepared just for you. Get to know the chef... ask Gabriele to come out and talk about the preparation of a dish. He will be happy to talk to you if it's not crazy busy. You can't go wrong at this place; I'd eat there every night if I could. Absolutely wonderful in every way.
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