Reviews

Via Italian Table
Josie Brown's Blog
July, 2007

The Man and I met a co-worker of mine for dinner at Via Italian Table this weekend, and as we sat waiting for a table and said co-worker's arrival, we admired the lush surroundings...rich woods, perfect lighting, huge glorious candlelit chandeliers, and the bustle of a restaurant full of happy diners set the tone for a great evening. At one point, The Man turned to me and said "it doesn't even feel like Worcester in here!"

Of course, about 3 seconds later someone in acid wash jeans and an AC/DC tee shirt walked in, and he said "oh, there it is," but that's all right.

Ability of its patrons to dress the part aside (my theory is basically that if your evening is likely to cost $30 or more, consider a nice skirt or a snazzy pair of trousers. Alternately, just always dress nicely and leave the jeans for fast food joints), we had a fabulous evening. We were seated outside on their great patio, and could NOT have asked for nicer weather. It was just the right kind of neutral temperature, nice breeze. The only thing I would do to change it would be to relocate the valet parking stand to somewhere else...even if it was just moved to the corner of the block, it would go MILES towards dropping the ambient noise.

We started with some cocktails - The Canoli for me, a mix of cream, biscotti liqueur and Stoli Vanil. The Man opted for the Italian Ice (which in and of itself nearly made me fall of my chair...no beer? What hath God wrought?) which is a mix of Hangar One lime vodka, limoncello, and sorbetto, and when my friend arrived, she opted for a Blisstini, a blend of prosecco and orange and pomegranate juices. Thumbs up around the table...The Man and I each had a couple drinks, although the order did switch to beer for him after a while.

We started the food action with some appetizers...we tried the fried olives, plate of Italian meats, and Parmesan chicken tenders. The meats were top notch, and the olives had fabulous texture and taste. The chicken tenders were good, with delicious marinara sauce, but not the most tender and juicy I'd ever encountered. HOWEVER. The most tender and juicy chicken tenders I've encountered were introduced to me by The Man at Longhorn Steakhouse, and seriously...they are the chicken tenders of your dreams. No, I know, you don't dream about chicken tenders, that's fine, but try these? And you will. So my point here is that Via's Parmesan chicken tenders had a LOT to live up to and did have terrific flavor.

My co-worker ordered up the Swordfish Milanese, which is a swordfish filet "lightly pounded, breaded, sauteed on a bed of arugula." It looked fantastic, and got rave reviews, not only on that night but also today when I double checked with her at the office. I find that's the best test of a good meal...if you're loving it when you've just finished, you've got a good start, but if a couple days later, you're still thinking "MAN that was good," you've got a great meal on your hands.

The Man ordered the Ragu of Italian Meats, because for The Man, being a carnivore isn't a food preference, it's a way of life and a fundamental principal. Via delivered big time here, serving up a huge helping of pasta topped with sauce and pork, a ginormous meatball, beef, chicken and sausage. I am deeply impressed with Via, since The Man...couldn't even finish it all! This is a man who does not joke about meats, my friends. He will go the distance if he possibly can, and the Ragu of Italian Meats beat him. My hat is off to you, Via. The Man says the dish was delicious, and the leftovers disappeared almost immediately from the fridge.

I personally ordered up the Seared Sea Scallops, which were fantastic...they come in a pesto cream with truffle oil and a side of roasted asparagus. I think mine was the most artistically presented of the three, with the scallops spilling out of a delicate crispy shell and the asparagus crisscrossed behind it. The Man also offered that it looked delicious...he has this weird thing where he doesn't eat seafood, but he does think it LOOKS good. Obviously, it's a little confusing, but there you have it. The scallops were perfectly done, too...as seafood and scallop fans know, scallops can go wrong pretty fast, usually tending towards the fishy tasting or straight up rubbery, but these were just fabulous.

Over all, a great night and a great meal...I hope Via sees continued success, because they have a great place and terrific food.

Now, to go all the way back to The Man's comment about Via not feeling like Worcester, I ask you...why not Worcester? Maxwell Silverman's has thrived for 30 years, the Worcester Restaurant has brought brilliant restaurants like the 111 Chophouse and Sole Proprietor to Worcester, Viva Bene's been thrilling DCU Center area diners, there has been an absolute EXPLOSION of fantastic Japanese restaurants, and even the smaller locations have been churning out great food for ages...the Saharas and Regatta Delis and Flying Rhinos. It was only a matter of time before someone noticed. We can't keep looking to Providence for inspiration, but instead need to look at all the cool stuff that we, and ONLY we have, capitalize on it, and start singing our own praises from the rooftops. There are great chefs in Worcester, and great artisans, and great public servants. We live in primo city, y'all. Time to get psyched, and time to start saying "hell yeah we've got top notch restaurants here, where'd you think you were, Boston? We blow them out of the water."

During Tim Murray's tenure as Mayor, I really felt like people started being freakin' pumped about living in Worcester and doing stuff in Worcester, and I'm so thankful that that wave of good feeling has continued in his absence. When I saw that Connie Lukes was bound for the Mayorship, I felt awful about it, felt that the progress would stagnate and we'd all slip back into that Worcestarian approach of forming death pools for every municipal action eons before it actually started, and nursing our collective inferiority complex. Connie Lukes has an important role...as a councilor. She plays Devil's Advocate exceptionally well, but I get the sense that she has sort of forgotten how to do anything else. The Devil's Advocate of any group belongs in the trenches, not in the top leadership position. The head of any organization has to be able to issue the kind of fluffy pretty statements that inspire, and Connie doesn't seem to have much interest in that part of it. Things will move out of flux during the next elections, and from there hopefully we'll return to the full force development we saw previously, moving up from the 75% power we've got now.

Me personally? I can't wait.