4 Years: Pane E Vino

Located on Atwells Ave. on historic Federal Hill, Pane E Vino is one of many Italian restaurants boasting an extensive wine list, hearty meals, and a complimentary valet service. While I'm sure many of the restaurants in this area are top notch, I regret that I haven't been on Atwells enough to enjoy them. Last nights dinner helped me decide to come back that way more often from now on.

It was our anniversary so we wanted to go somewhere for dinner that we hadn't gone yet, that celebrated our love of local food, and that came highly recommended. Pane e Vino hit all the marks. We had an 8:00 reservation and our table wasn't ready yet so we did wait a little bit longer than normal. That was fine because there were seats at the bar and the host checked on us and apologized multiple times.

The atmosphere was exactly what you want in an Italian restaurant. The walls and decorations were warm, the seating arrangement was intimate, and everyone around us was eating well and clinking classes. Our server did her job well, was fun, and helped us a great deal with reading the menu since neither of us have any experience reading Italian. As to be expected on a busy Friday night, we did have a moment or two where we felt a little forgotten, but we can forgive her that because the food she brought out was so damn good.

To drink we had a bottle of red that had come recommended to us by one of our friends. He knows far more about wine than either of us could ever hope to so T sent him the wine list in advance to see what he thought. Not surprisingly, we were very pleased with his selection and didn't have any problem finishing the bottle.

The vino.

Dig in.

Chewing that last precious bite and celebrating a clean plate.

To eat, we started with zucchine ripiene which was basically a zuke stuffed with Italian sausage, cheese, and served in a boat of delicious house red sauce. For our mains, T went classic and ordered chicken parm and I went for pasta and dove face first into a gorgeous bowl of tagliatelle al funghi which was totally made by the garlic cream sauce and smoked prosciutto. Naturally the meal ended with limoncello but we didn't spring for dessert because we were both so full. I know, its a crime. I wouldn't have any problem going back again to make sure that I tried their dessert menu though.