dinner at valenza (lyn)

Atlanta feels like a big city.  After being in North Carolina and Tennessee for three days, it also feels comfortable and familiar.  Rodrigo goes online and chooses a restaurant.  We give him only two criteria:  must be in Buckhead; must be reasonably priced.  He selects Valenza, described as “a cozy, upscale, Italian eatery.”  

We get to the restaurant and the neighborhood looks deserted.  This is not the Buckhead area we had expected.  The restaurant does not stand-alone.  It’s situated next to a few other attached storefronts.  It looks dubious.

But as soon as we get inside our initial doubts evaporate.   Rodrigo has chosen well.  The restaurant is warm (both literally and figuratively) and bustling.  The menu is impressive and everyone finds something they like.  I gravitate to a pear salad that is described this way: sliced pear, percorino toscano, frisse, endive and pecans.  I know I won’t be able to adequately account for this, but it sounds great and I order it.  It is well-worth however many points it should be.  The salad is beyond good.  For an entree I order a duck breast with butternut squash.  That too, is delicious.  The desserts look great, but I just get a cappuccino. 

We all leave happy and sated.  I expect I’ve gained a pound or more from this trip, but I have no regrets.