VILLA D’AQUA 27 MAR 2022

By LONG ISLAND WINE DAD April 02, 2022

Villa D’Aqua in Bellmore is an old friend, and this note on how fine a restaurant is long overdue. Today, we stopped for a late lunch early dinner with our son for his birthday. The restaurant was doing a brisk business, but ample parking was still available alongside the docks. So we opted to sit inside as there was still a chill in the air. We were warmly greeted and guided to a table of our choosing by the friendly staff. Cocktails were ordered to open the palate and arrived promptly with generous pours (Figure 1). The menu has all the usual offerings and a page more of fantastic specials for the day.

Opening the meal with starts, we each selected small plates and a salad. The Stuffed Pepper (Figure 2) is a fine roasted red bell pepper filled with a flavorful, moist meat and rice mixture covered in a red marinara sauce. The Spinach Salad (Figure 3) is a goodly portion of spinach with Mushroom and Prosciutto and finished with a warm balsamic reduction dressing that perfectly wilted the spinach. A fine opening salad. Lastly, for the starters, our son had the Muscles in a light white wine and garlic butter broth perfect for dipping bread (Figure 4). Drew selected a Woodpecker 2014 Brunello Di Montalcino (Figure 5) as the wine to accompany the entree. The moderately priced DOCG Brunello Di Montalcino was the perfect match for all the classic Italian food. One of the specials is a veal chop pounded and filled with mushrooms sauce and lots of golden cheese (Figure 6). A fine hearty meal. Jo had the classic Veal Scaloppine Saltimbocca, a fusion of veal, prosciutto, cheese, and a delicate Marinara sauce resting on a bed of sautéed spinach (Figure 7). Lastly, on more from the daily specials menu is the Branzino which came complemented with grilled shrimp and bay Scallops on a bed of sautéed spinach (Figure 8). We closed out the meal by passing on desserts but closed with Espresso and complimentary after-dinner drinks.