Ciao Down: Top-5 Dining

TOP 5 DINING Ciao D n!

Often ranked as the top national fare polled in the United States and worldwide, Italian food is comforting and familiar. These local ristorantes take this beloved cuisine to the next level in atmosphere, preparation, service, presentation, and fl avor. Discover a new local favorite or get the latest update on a tried-and-true Louisville classic. Mangia!

BY DAWN ANDERSON | PHOTOS BY DANNY ALEXANDER

Gra a Gramma Ristorante Italiano

In January 2019, brand marketing expert and restaurateur Kevin Grangier added Grassa Gramma in Holiday Manor to his Belle Noble portfolio of Louisville restaurants, including The Village Anchor and Le Moo Steak House.

Grassa Gramma translates to “plump grandma” and speaks to the familial love and the work that goes into Italian cooking, as exemplifi ed by the matriarchal Italian grandmother, or Nonna.

The restaurant serves authentic northern and southern Italian dishes among its dazzling art decor, tapestries, and marble reminiscent of old-world Italy. For example, the bar features a salvaged 18th-century Gothic church altarpiece.

Grassa Gramma servers have extensive training in Italian food and wine. In addition to Executive Chef Ben Notess, Grassa Gramma’s pasta, pizza, and pastry chefs all work in-house. Owner Kevin Grangier selected some main dishes he likes to recommend this time of year. The Spaghetti & Meatballs has three of their famous meatballs atop hand-made spaghetti and San Marzano Pomodoro sauce.

“Seven layers of house-made pasta and Ragù alla Bolognese spiked with house sausage and ricotta” make up the decadent Lasagna. The Sous Vide 8-oz Filet Mignon is served with crispy Tuscan potatoes, asparagus, and bordelaise. Be sure to ask about their featured ravioli as well!

Save room for the beautiful Limoncello Torta with house-made limoncello, sponge cake, lemon curd, black currant coulis,

Italian meringue, and macaron. From the revamped cocktail menu, Grangier spotlights the Penta Costal with Buffalo Trace, Visit grassagramma.com and follow @grassagramma on Facebook and Instagram. Wild Turkey Rye, and Lillet Blanc. The restaurant also has a growing list of Italian liqueurs and wines. Tripadvisor recently named Grassa Gramma a 2021 Travelers’ Choice Award Winner.

According to tripadvisor.com, “Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’

Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.”

ROC

Originally located in Tribeca, NYC, ROC Restaurant is a chic, authentic Italian restaurant fi lled with high energy and situated in the heart of the Highlands on Bardstown Road. Chef/Owner Rocco Cadolini brings authentic, fresh pasta and seafood dishes from his hometown of Sorrento, Italy. Over 21 years in business, Rocco & Stacy Cadolini know how to throw a party with fi ve-star service.

Food Network featured Chef Rocco on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate,” “Access Tribeca with Billy Crystal,” and other national TV shows. Rocco’s impressive credentials include Hotel and Restaurant Management study in Sorrento, Italy, and training in Lugano, Switzerland, and London, England. After moving to NYC in 1989, Rocco spent the next ten years at the iconic Elio’s Restaurant on the Upper East Side, NYC, before leaving to open his restaurants, ROC Tribeca and Baci & Abbracci Trattoria, in hipster Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Ladyroc Stacy is a native New Yorker, member of Les Clef d’Or, and Chief Concierge for 15 years at the Essex House Hotel in NYC. You can fi nd Stacy at the helm of ROC along with their daughters Alessia and Sofi a. It is “all in the family!”

ROC’s “beautiful bar” boasts over 100 bourbons and an excellent Wine Spectator Award wine list, one of the best in Kentucky. Chef Rocco has exciting menu recommendations for autumn, including Truffl e Carpaccio served with micro arugula, toasted almonds, and parmesan fondue topped with seasonal truffl es. His seaside hometown on the Amalfi Coast inspired

Linguine Seafood with clams, mussels, shrimps, and salmon. “This is a bonafi de Italian meal!”

Tuesdays will transport you to Rome with Rocco’s Cacio e Pepe — a giant wheel of pecorino Romano cheese set on fi re with fresh pasta, extra cheese, and pepper — entertaining and delicious! Rocco and Stacy want ROC to be your dining room from everyday dining to business meetings to celebratory meals. “Our home is your home with a little extra fi nesse!”

Visit rocrestaurant.com and follow @RocRestaurant on Facebook and Instagram.

Silvio’s Italian Restaurant

Silvio’s Italian Restaurant opened on Columbus Day 2015 after two years in the making. Silvio’s Chef/Owner Bill Silvio Melillo kept his dream of owning a restaurant alive even after Melillo’s closed on East Market Street in 2008. He describes Silvio’s food as “all homemade, East Coast infl uenced, with a lot of products from the East Coast.” Silvio’s marinara, the linchpin of several Entrees and Pasta dishes, is the family recipe Bill “grew up on.” He shares menu highlights for this fall season.

Silvio’s Baked Ziti is rich with spicy Italian sausage, ricotta, marinara, and mozzarella. The Shrimp and Polenta is “a fragrant dish of grilled shrimp topped with capers, sun-dried tomatoes, and lemon zest, served with polenta and grilled broccolini.” A fi g glaze coats the Grilled Pork Chop, which comes with risotto and vegetable medley. Order Spaghetti with Meatballs and marvel at 1/3-pound spheres of beef, veal, and pork. Silvio’s goes through 10 pounds per day! Meatball Lasagna is layered with “homemade meatballs, ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmigiana Reggiano, or choose Nonna’s Cheese Lasagna sans meatballs.

Silvio’s Chicken Parm was recently named Best in Kentucky by “Eat This, Not That!” (EatThis.com). Lightly breaded chicken breast topped with provolone, Parmigiano Reggiano, and marinara is served with a choice of pasta. For dessert, try the triple-layer homemade Italian Cream Cake with pecans, coconut, and cream cheese frosting, or Cannolis with Brooklyn bakery cannoli shells and Silvio’s house-made fi lling.

Bill feels blessed to remain open, “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.” He credits the “rebounders’” (customers who try Silvio’s once and get hooked) word-of-mouth to their friends and “the fl avor of the food.” Silvio’s offers indoor and outdoor seating, takeout, and curbside carryout.

For more information, visit silviositalianrestaurant.com and follow @SilviosItalianLouisville on Facebook.

Vincenzo’s

2021 marks Vincenzo’s 35th anniversary. Vincenzo Gabriele considers Humana co-founders Wendell Cherry and David Jones, Sr.’s 1986 invitation to start an authentic Italian restaurant in downtown Louisville “one of the greatest honors of his life.”

Brothers Vincenzo and Agostino, signifi cant proponents of downtown Louisville, are thrilled to see business, arts, and entertainment returning to the heart of the city. As supporters of Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT), the Gabrieles purchased a Gallopalooza horse several years ago to display outside the restaurant. After the horse was stolen, damaged, and recovered in the summer of 2020, FEAT, its supporters, and the brothers paid to restore it to resume its place of honor earlier this year.

In early 2020, Vincenzo’s was ranked 22nd on Yahoo’s list of “America’s 50 Best Italian Restaurants” and the only Kentucky restaurant listed. Vincenzo and co-owner and Executive Chef Agostino Gabriele hail from Palermo, Italy, in Sicily, where

Agostino learned to cook from his mother and Vincenzo learned the importance of sincerity in hospitality from his father. As one of Louisville’s oldest continuously operating fi ne dining restaurants, Vincenzo’s lends Old World elegance and tradition to Italian dining here.

A highlight of the Pasta menu is Spaghetti Con Aragosta, Pomodoro e Arugula: spaghetti with South African lobster tail, petite shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, and arugula sautéed with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and Italian parsley. From the Secondi section of the menu, Chef Agostino recommends Maiale Infarcito — Berkshire pork tenderloin stuffed with a composition of walnuts, spinach, carrots, apple, and brie, served in an Evan Williams Single Barrel reduction. For dessert, sample the chef’s Tiramisu and always “take the Cannoli!”

Live music has returned to Vincenzo’s on Tuesday nights. For more updates and information, visit vincenzositalianresturant. com and follow @VincenzosItalianRestaurant on Facebook and @vincenzoslouisville on Instagram.

Volare Italian Ristorante

Despite ever-changing COVID protocols and supply chain issues, “We have tried to stay as close to business as usual as possible,” says Joshua Moore, Executive Chef and Managing Partner of Volare Italian Ristorante. Together with General Manager and Managing Partner Jonathan Tarullo, Josh strives to deliver “the Volare experience,” honoring the synergy between the front and back of the house.

Chef Moore recommends some heartier, comforting dishes from the Volare menu as the weather turns cooler.

An Ambassador Chef for Certifi ed Angus Beef®, Chef Moore continues his well-received dry-aged steak program for weekend specials. For Antipasto, try the Rotollini do Melanzane — baked rolls of eggplant with ricotta and marinara. “Even people who don’t like eggplant have come to love this one.”

Lumache Carcerata is house-made shell pasta in a sausage, tomato, cream, basil, and ParmigianoReggiano sauce from the Grandi Paste menu. From the Piatto Principale menu, Osso Buco Milanese is a veal shank slow-cooked in red wine with mirepoix and served over saffron risotto with fresh rosemary.

For dessert, Chef Moore suggests the Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta: classic Italian eggless custard naturally fl avored with vanilla beans, topped with fresh berries macerated in sweet balsamic vinegar, dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Chocolate lovers indulge in the warm Chocolate Fudge Brownie or Heath Cheesecake.

On his 10-acre farm in Taylorsville, Chef Moore has added over 3000 plants for the fall season, bringing fresh crops of lettuce and kale to the restaurant just in time for his upcoming October menu revision. He expects an excellent harvest of Brussels sprouts, broccoli, caulifl ower, and cabbage in December. Josh and Jonathan have maintained generous table spacing, employee mask-wearing, and curbside carry out through the recent COVID Delta variant surge. ■

For updates, visit volare-restaurant.com and follow @volare_italian_restaurant on Instagram and @ VolareLou on Facebook.

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