As someone who genuinely likes Italian food, this is a place I was looking forward to eating at and it did not disappoint. That is not to say that there were not people disappointed tonight. This is as place where a reservation is highly recommended. There are not many seats to be found in this restaurant–it is only slightly larger than restaurants I have been to like Yak & Yeti’s Himalayan restaurant or the Queen of Sheba Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant, and this restaurant definitely has a much larger client base. When we were there there were quite a few large parties around and also a lot of people waiting up to an hour and a half for a place, and we just barely got served in the last open table while we were there, which underscores the desirability of having a reservation, especially if one has a party more than four people.

This place is a pretty classic Italian restaurant and an example of fine dining that is among the best restaurants in Anchorage, and it offers plenty of options. While we were there we were told there were no calzones, but that left a large part of the menu still opening and as might be expected we explored a fair bit of it. For my own part, I ended up being (again) the only person in our group with eyes that were not larger than our stomachs, eating more than I ordered because others had ordered more than they could eat. As far as our orders go, my stepfather and I had plenty of garlic bread to eat and also had side salads with Italian dressing to go along with our entrees. My mother had a large chicken salad to go along with a plate of veggies, which I also ordered for myself as well. Then my stepfather had pollo alla fettucine while I had pollo parmagiana, a pretty normal dish for me to eat at an Italian restaurant. The food was tasty and the serving size was bountiful, more than sufficient for our purposes even though we were quite hungry. Naturally, I ended up drinking a lot of water and quite a bit of iced tea as well.

As a restaurant, this particular place had an interesting feel to it. It seemed to be a place where people felt comfortable not wearing masks, and if I had to describe the vibe the place had it was like a contemporary speakeasy. That vibe is by no means unattractive–the decor made frequent use of references to both classic art as well as alcohol, and the merlot that my stepfather ordered came in a comically large wine glass. With so much of a focus on alcohol and a vibe that seems to cut against the current of our contemporary times, it was an interesting feel that added a lot to the way that I felt about the restaurant as a whole. If this is a vibe you like, this is certainly a restaurant that I can warmly recommend.