Lucchesi's Ravioli and Pasta Company

Doesn't this big guy make you want to walk right in and eat a big bowl of homemade ravioli?? :) Last week, I step foot in the famous Lucchesi's for the very first time. Pretty pathetic for someone who has lived in Memphis for 23 years. I've heard people talk about this place for years! I stopped by because I was picking up lunch for my grandmother so we could have lunch together at her home. She wanted the already made Caesar salad with croutons and dressing and I decided to order a chicken Caesar salad. While I was waiting for my order, I perused the Italian market and frozen ready-made entrees. As I looked at all the delicious homemade pastas, raviolis (including duck ravioli!), gelato, lasagnas, meat sauce, bread, and soups I was a little disappointed that I was in the mood for a salad. But, I just kept telling myself "I'm coming back here and when I do I'm going to make sure I'm REALLY hungry." Everything looked so delicious! They also have a little deli section where you can order all sorts of yummy Italian sandwiches, salads, and soups. Looks like a great place to go especially when it's really cold outside and your tummy is crying out for some steaming pasta or hearty warm soup. Additionally, I'm a big fan of the market and deli combo - always have been. I guess it makes the food and grocery shopping seem more authentic and personal. Anyways, I loved my chicken Caesar salad! Their Caesar dressing is homemade and it's delightful! Nice and light. Love that stuff! I cannot wait to go back to this place for some homemade pasta and gelato!! Since my visit was short and sweet, I feel like I can't give a completely accurate rating because I have a feeling when I have their pasta that my rating will increase. So, for now I give Lucchesi's 3 stars until I return :)

Old Venice Pizza Company

Last night, I enjoyed some pizza and wine with great company! I decided to ask all the girlfriends/wives of my husband's good guy friends to grab dinner together at Old Venice Pizza Company on Perkins Ext. Between the fun company and yummy food, it was a wonderful time. (Bare with me as I turn into cheesy Neel for a second.) Last night is why I love to get people together!! As it says at the top of our blog, "We think that nothing brings people together like good food and good atmosphere." Thanks girls for a fun evening. Ok, I'm done with the cheese :)

I've been to Old Venice, but it was probably 3 years ago and I wasn't very impressed. However, after hearing people rave about their pizza I decided to give it another chance. After last night, I found out I just got the wrong thing when I first went. Last night's meal was very delightful. As an appetizer, all the girls split the fried calamari and crawfish rolls. They were both tasty. I recommend both when you go. I also ordered a glass of Chardonnay. Their wine menu is a big plus! You can get most of them by the glass or bottle and at VERY reasonable prices!! Check it out on their website. I loved my Chardonnay! For my entree, I ordered the individual Margherita Pizza. This is another big plus - you can order any of the pizzas with thin crust or hand tossed and you can order the individual size or regular size. Of course, I ordered the thin crust (I despise thick crust pizza.) and the individual size since we were all getting our own things. I really liked it! It was very tasty with spices you don't normally find on a Margherita Pizza. The cheese was oozing. The crust was thin, but not as thin and crispy as Memphis Pizza Cafe's crust. I definitely think MPC has them beat on the crust. The size was bigger than I would expect for an individual sized pizza. I could only eat half and brought the rest home for Jon. Now, let's not forget that Old Venice is a chain with locations in Oxford, Tupelo, and Starkville. Though you can kind of tell it's a chain through the food's taste and appearance, it's still delicious and I'll be going back.

In addition to the pluses I've already mentioned, Old Venice is a great medium-priced restaurant in Memphis. These are hard to find! I feel like Memphis has a lot of great Ma and Pa cheap but great eats and then we have a lot of expensive but great eats. There's not a whole lot of middle ground. Old Venice is a great place to go with friends for that very reason. Old Venice is one of the few Memphis restaurants that stands in that middle price range.

To comment on the service and atmosphere. The service was great! Our waitress was very attentive, but not annoying. We received our food pretty fast, but not too fast. The atmosphere is where they could probably use some updating. The fake window scenes on the wall kind of make me cringe and are the only thing that prevents me from saying this is a great first date place - definitely give you that cheesy, chainy feel.

I think a more sophisticated and simpler look would really spice it up a bit. But, overall the atmosphere was very pleasant.

Another plus, yes another, is that I hear this place has great specials on drinks and apps! I want to say they have the deal on Wednesday nights?? Not sure. If anyone knows, please feel free to post.

I give Old Venice 3 stars.

Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen

Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen
http://www.andrewmichaelitaliankitchen.com
712 W Brookhaven Cir
Memphis, TN 38117-4504
(901) 347-3569
Click Here for Google Map

We had already heard good things about Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen. So we were looking for an excuse to go. We also needed to catch up with my parents because we hadn't gotten a chance to hang out with them for a while. These two needs converged and were satisfied quite nicely last night when Neel and I went there with my parents. All four of us came away highly impressed with the restaurant.

AMIK is located in Brookhaven circle in a house-looking structure that you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it. Inside, it was quite elegant with some great art work and appropriate candle lighting. It would be great for a date, but the mood really was suited for all occasions. The layout of the restaurant was done well: the tables weren't packed too close together and so it facilitated some privacy/intimate conversation but you could still hear and see everyone and the conversation level was not too hushed.

The service was great. Our waiter made helpful suggestions and really knew the menu. We always felt like we had what we needed but no one was hovering over us.

Ahhh, but now to the meat of it all: the food. The food was really, really good. Our waiter describes many of the items on the menu for us and emphasized the freshness and organic-ness of all the ingredients. And you could definitely taste what he was talking about. For starters, we all four got salad and it was very good and light. For entrees, I got the duck. It was really good. I often get duck at restaurants because I just love the taste but often restaurant's cut is just too fatty. Not true for AMIK. The cut was great, the fig reduction (sauce) complemented it perfectly, and the polenta underneath balanced it out.

Neel got the ravioli with meat sauce because it was the house special. She was partly afraid that it would be too rich, an entire serving of pasta. But she loved it. It was a great balance of sauce to pasta ratio and pretty light for a dish that would normally be heavy. You could definitely taste that the pasta was homemade. As for the sauce, it was really good too. Classic meat sauce and I'm pretty tough on meat sauce since I'm 50% Italian and that's my mom's speciality. My mom tasted the meat sauce as well and thought it was great.

Though my dish and Neel's dish were great, I actually think my parents got the best thing: the snapper. I usually prefer duck/beef to fish, but this snapper was seasoned so well that it blew me away. But it wasn't over seasoned by any means. It was a great balance that allowed the freshness of the fish to come out with the flavor just exploding in your mouth. I think the next time I go, I'm going to get that. In fact, even thinking about it makes me want to go back and order it right now.

We ended the meal with two desserts: cannoli and homemade smores with a small nutella milkshake. I think my only complaint (and it's a minor one) is the desserts. The cannoli was pretty good and I enjoyed it. But I think the problem with the smores was not the execution as much as the idea of it. It's pretty hard to make smores great. It is what it is: smores. The accompanying milkshake was pretty good. But, if I had to do it again, I think I would have gotten the apple doughnuts. Unfortunately, nothing really grabbed my eye on the dessert selection. I kinda wished they had a bit more variety.

But that really is a minor complaint. I don't really go to a nice restaurant to get desserts. Even more importantly, the high quality of the atmosphere, service, and entrees easily overcomes my disappointment with the dessert selections. There is no doubt that Neel and I both want to return to AMIC as soon as we can and experience the other enticing choices on the menu. For that reason, we give Andrew Michael Italian Kitchin 4 stars.