A few days ago, I made a rookie mistake that I’m embarrassed about. Since this mistake happened at a restaurant I planned to review, I have to tell you about it. I figure if I can tell you the fun and exciting restaurant related news, then I should be able to tell you the weird and awkward, right? As long as there’s good food involved, I might as well let it all out.

Here goes.

Normally when I go to restaurants to review their food, I drag a close friend along. Lauren, TJ, and Ajay are my go-to friends because they’re familiar with the foodie process. However, on the day I was set to go to Via Veneto in Santa Monica, everyone was busy. I then decided to invite my semi-crush James (not his real name of course). There lies the rookie mistake. I know James because we go to the same gym, talk every now and then, and he makes a few appearances in my daydreams. I knew it wasn’t a date, but when I walked into the gorgeous restaurant that is Via Veneto, I got nervous that it would look and feel like date. I thought I could brush it off, but the dimly lit interior with beautiful cascading chandeliers, romantic music, and Italian accents from the staff made it seem date-like. I tried to convince myself, “Danielle, don’t worry it still doesn’t look like a date.” Then the waiter showed me to our table which just happened to sit in a tight nook near the window that I conceded: “Yep, it looks like a date”. And that’s when he walked in, we hugged, and I thought: “Oh Lawd, let this be a date”. He looked so handsome and smelled nice; dangit, who told him to do that?!?

Although James is dreamy and I’m single like a dollar bill, it wasn’t hard to divert my attention to the task at hand: reviewing the restaurant’s menu. Our waiter, Simone B., started us off with drinks. I had a glass of Prosecco ($16) and James had a glass of the Cabernet ($24). Even though James offered me sips from his glass, I’m not a fan of dry red wine. Instead my white Prosecco was perfect, light, and easy to sip.

Shortly after Simone brought out our wine, we ordered our food. For starters, we ordered three dishes and split them. The first was the Vegetali Arrosto ($18). The dish took grilled market vegetables and placed them on top of buffalo mozzarella and in a balsamic reduction. The vegetables selected were zucchini, bell peppers, and eggplant. The vegetables easily lived up to the description of “fresh” as they tasted as if they were pulled from the ground earlier that morning. The mozzarella was incredibly soft and the balsamic reduction added a sweet accent to the appetizer. My favorite of all of them was the zucchini. Considering ho much I love a motivated guy, to hear James tell me he is an entrepreneur sent butterflies into my stomach. Wait no, that was actually the mozzarella in my gut. Silly me, I confuse attraction with deliciousness all the time.

Following the vegetables was the off menu item: Ravioli Trio ($22), yeah this dish is expensive. The three types of ravioli were lobster and zucchini, ricotta and asparagus, and a pumpkin and sage ravioli. The lobster ravioli was a balanced style that was nice to enjoy. The ricotta on the other hand was simple and lacked much zest and flavor which made it easy for me to dismiss it. The pumpkin ravioli was my favorite. I loved the seasonal flavor that comes with pumpkin and I admired the way they paired it with such an accenting herb. I could have had an entire bowl full of the pumpkin and sage raviolis!

The last of the appetizers was the Crudo Di Pesce ($24) wild king salmon tartare and ahi tuna tartare. It was an aesthetically pleasing plated dish that I didn’t want to cut into. That feeling quickly went away as the fragrance wafted in my direction. We both jumped into equal parts of the appetizer and I loved the way it tasted. Both the salmon and tuna were cooked in such an expert way that they disappeared on my tongue almost effortlessly. At this point, I know James was talking but I was too busy eating that I think I just gave generic responses. You know the: “Oh really?”, “Wow”, “Oh my gosh”, “That’s so interesting”. It’s not my fault, talking should be limited when good food is in front of me.

Before Simone returned to take our entrée order, James moved close to share a menu with me. I know he had his own menu so I don’t know why he did that, but my spidey senses kicked in and I could smell him again. I tried to pretend like I didn’t just inhale his scent by faking a sneeze, but I think I just made it look like I was allergic to him. Great going, Salmon.  Thankfully Simone arrived and took our requests. James got the Kansas City ($50) a 16 oz aged prime bone in New York steak with rosemary, sea salt, and garlic with a side of Peperoni Arrosto ($7) roasted peppers. When I first saw his steak I thought it looked dry and was skeptical about it. Thankfully I didn’t let its appearance halt me from trying it as it was pretty good. The medium rare steak was moist and full of flavor as any steak should be.

For my entree, I got the Grigliata Mista ($48) homemade Pata Negra sausage, New Zealand venison chop, and California lamb chops with a side of Spinaci ($7), simply put: spinach. I liked that the restaurant had an option that combined multiple meats to fit someone with a broad preference. The first one that I dove into was the sausage. Unfortunately, this one was too salty for me. Yes, I know sausage comes with its own levels of sodium, but this was a bit too much for me to the point that I didn’t care to finish it. Instead, that gave me time to enjoy the others. Both the lamb chops and venison chop were tender and succulent. The lamb slipped off the bone and the venison was perfectly seasoned that part of me wanted to stuff myself on it. Too bad I was full and I knew dessert was coming.

The last plate to arrive to the table was the Panna Cotta Al Frutti Di Bosco ($14) in a fresh berries sauce. The tiny dessert came with a small shot of Espresso ($14) for James. I didn’t even touch his espresso as my eyes were set on what I ordered. The white panna cotta was drizzled with a ruby red raspberry sauce and joined by a raspberry, blackberry, and mint leaf. And lets not forget the vanilla rolled wafer that sat atop of the dessert. I tried my best to gently slice into the panna cotta to preserve its beauty, but that didn’t happen. Slicing into the thick gelatin of sweet cream and eating a forkful of the dessert was heavenly! The panna cottta was soft, the sauce was sugary, and the crunchy wafer was a perfect addition of texture to it all!

There you have it, the non-date with Via Veneto as the beautiful focal point of the evening. From the atmosphere to the food every part of it was lovely. Of course, as he drove me to my car and we parted ways I realized how funny and nice he was. Recalling the entire evening as I write this review, there’s a little piece of me that hopes he may be reading this, call me and proclaim that he’s feeling the same way. But if he gets to the last sentence, makes an awkward facial expression, and simply clicks the ‘x’ in the right corner of this window, then that’s fine. While I may not have a second date with him, I can always have Via Veneto whenever I want (as long as it’s during their hours of operation). And that alone is good enough for me.

Update: Oh my gut, this fool hasn’t called since the dinner so I guess he was there for the food. That’s ok because so was I.

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Address: 3009 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Phone: (310) 399-1843
Hours: Sunday through Thursday 6:00pm to 11:00pm, Friday and Saturday – 6:00pm to 11:30pm
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