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| - For our second wedding anniversary, my husband and I wanted to try a restaurant that was out of our usual rotation. After deciding on trying something in Little Italy, we came upon Valerio's. We had no problem making same-day reservations for a Saturday at 8:30pm. The restaurant was easy to find, which was useful as we had to find street parking on a nearby side street. Upon entering, it's a little dark, but it goes with the cozy ambience of the restaurant. The tables have little candles to help add atmosphere lighting as well. It was pretty crowded for a Saturday night, and there was live piano music, which lent a bustling feeling to the place. We started our dinner with the Rotolini di Asparagi appetizer, which was a grouping of three asparagus shoots wrapped in provolone and prosciutto. This was extremely well cooked and absolutely delicious. Our only complaint was that we wish there was one more bundle of asparagus for the price. For my entree, I ordered the Pollo al Limone, a boneless chicken breast in a lemon and white wine sauce. I decided to have a side of spaghetti rather that the included veggies-zucchini and roasted red skin potatoes. My husband went with the Penne alla Bolognese and substituted the penne for spaghetti as well. What was interesting about the Bolognese was that, rather than using all beef, 50% of the meat was buffalo. According to my husband, this lent a little bit more depth of flavor to the meat sauce, which he liked. Both of our dishes were well cooked and well presented, and the pasta was cooked al dente, which we appreciated. Our entrees were very reasonably priced and we had leftovers for lunch the next day! I also ordered an amaretto sour, which was pretty decent. I just wish there wasn't so much ice in it, which really surprised both of us-the glass was nearly filled with ice cubes from top to bottom. Other than the amount of ice, the drink was good. It was getting a little late in the evening, so we decided to forego the dessert selection. Service was attentive and staff members were very friendly. Overall, we had a very good experience and would visit Valerio's again. Especially because I want to try some of their desserts, like their lemon sorbet!
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