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| - Had another AMAZING dinner at Nove Italiano tonight.
It was date night and we were meeting another couple. It was also the first time that I was seated in the area at the back of the restaurant with the awesome view of the strip.
I started with a Pimmp's cup (Pimm's, Hendrick's gin, cucumber, strawberry, apple). It was refreshing and not too sweet, but I don't think I'll be ordering it again any time soon.
We decided to eat everything family style; pretty much order a bunch of food and just share.
We had the house-made salumi, calamari, fried squash blossoms and the shrimp francaise. It was nice to try the 4 or 5 different cured meats/sausages on the salumi platter. Calamari was served hot with peppers, fresh grated parm and a splash of lemon. The squash blossoms were stuffed with diced zucchini and king crab, then battered, fried and served with a nice lemon butter sauce; a nice change from the "traditional" ricotta filling. The shrimp francaise was yummy; dipped in nice egg batter, pan-fried (i think) and with a similar (if not the same) lemon butter sauce.
Chef sent out some nice individual Caesar salads: whole hearts of romaine dressed with a light, almost lemony, Caesar dressing and a couple of garlicky, parmesan croutons. Delicious.
For the main course, we shared a balsamic rib eye, whole sea bass, and osso bucco with risotto and English peas with Polenta and asparagus as our sides.
We ordered the rib eye medium and it was grilled to perfection. They marinate their steaks in olive oil, garlic and herbs before grilling them. The tanginess of the balsamic vinegar complimented the rich, fatty ribeye well. 2 or 3 slices was plenty for me.
The sea bass was served whole (with the skeleton/bones removed table side) tasty and served with a nice salsa verde. I wasn't really in a fishy mood, though.
The osso bucco was good. So tender it had fallen off the bone and I was able to "cut" through it with a spoon. I loved the risotto with peas that it was served with... and I don't usually like risotto, but this one was creamy and rich and perfectly cooked; not too hard and not too mushy.
The polenta was rich and delicious and served topped with ragout (meat sauce) and shaved parmesan.
The asparagus was grilled (I think) and topped with a fried egg. SO good when you pop the yolk and let it drip all over the place.
I'm new at the whole wine thing, so I can't properly describe (or remember) the wines we had. I know there was a red, and an Italian white (which had a bit of a bubble to it; I had thought it was a sparkling wine that went flat) and a nice dessert wine (santo vino or vino santo... like I said, I'm new to this) We also had a round of Espresso shots and some sort of sweet, creamy, almost caramelly shot.
DESSERT the main event in my book ;)
My boyfriend LOVES the cheesecake, but it was a bit heavy for me after our super rich meal. It IS delicious though. Made with mascarpone in the actual cheesecake and frosted with a mascarpone cream and with a kind of butter cookie crust in place of the "traditional" graham cracker.
My favorite is the Strawberry Carpaccio. Thin sliced strawberries artfully arranged, drizzled with balsamic reduction, topped with toasted panko and served with a scoop of creme fraiche sorbet. Light, refreshing AND delicious.
Our friend ordered the chocolate bread, which I had heard stories of but always forget to order. Crusty, grilled Italian bread with white chocolate and hazelnuts served with a generous quinelle of dark chocolate ganache drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. It may sound odd to some, but trust me, it works. It was delicious.
Bottom Line:
It may be pricey for some, but OMG it's worth it. My boyfriend and I rarely have a date night without our daughter, but maybe 2 out of 3 of our last ones were at Nove (we have brought her daughter here once with no problems at all, we just decided not to tonight) The food, the view, the service. All amazing.
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