Buddy V’s Ristorante
Focaccia
Margherita Pizza
AUNT NINA’S MOZZARELLA EN CAROZZA – Jersey City style fried mozzarella, crostini, tomato ragu, genovese pesto
MACARONI & CHEESE CARBONARA – smoked mozzarella, fontina, egg, pancetta, sweet peas
NONNA’S LASAGNA AL FORNO – Italian sausage, beef and pork, ricotta, mozzarella, provolone, parmesan
VALASTRO SUNDAY GRAVY (Buddy’s family recipe) – meatballs, sausage, lamb, pork, bowl of rigatoni
PARMESAN POLENTA – Peperonata
CHICKEN PARM – oven-baked, provolone, mozzarella, spaghetti marinara
ITALIAN BIRTHDAY CAKE – rum soaked sponge cake, cannoli filling chocolate pastry cream, toasted almonds
LISA’S WARM NUTELLA CAKE – chocolate sauce, hazelnut praline crunch, salted caramel ice cream
CANNOLI – cinnamon pastry, sweet ricotta cream cocoa drops, pistachios
BUDDY’S XL LOBSTER TAIL – custard cream, flaky pastry shell, seasonal fresh fruit
Espresso on Ice
No stranger to making dining recommendations for friends both novice and gourmand it was admittedly with some reservation that I suggested Buddy V’s to three Phoenix based friends during their visit to Sin City yet having never seen a single episode of Cake Boss and thus entering the restaurant with neither preconception nor bias aside from a personal love for red-sauce Italian and traditional pastry I can honestly say I came away impressed – the food, service, and restaurant itself all an “experience” fully fitting the swanky Las Vegas Strip locale. Completely revamped and redesigned from “First Food” with clever flourishes befitting the Chef’s roots throughout it was with the space fully reserved and full of energy that we arrived and after a brief wait in the bar a banquet built for six would serves as our seats for the next three hours – time that seemed to fly by under the care of a professional captain working alongside an enthusiastic back-server named Patrick, both who provided stellar recommendations pertaining to both the menu and local dining in general from start to end. Speaking next to the food and beginning first with appetizers including a crisp, flatbread pizza with a touch of char and excellent acidity beneath the smooth mozzarella it was actually that the carbonara stole the show amongst the small plates as the tender noodles provided a toothsome backdrop to smoky smoothness while peas and pancetta added a one-two punch of sweet and savory reigning the dish back from being ‘too rich’ or one-dimensional in the least. Continually tempted by the excellent focaccia it was not long after the appetizers had been cleared that main courses arrived and selecting largely based on Italian-American classics the trio that arrived along with a rich bowl of perfectly sticky polenta was anything but subtle, the enormous portions and big flavors all the result of family recipes and excellent ingredients – the Lasagna one of the best I’ve ever had while the chicken parm and Sunday gravy were relatively standard fare save for the gamey and supple slow cooked lamb, every bit of which was enjoyed with focaccia dipped in the sauce as the rigatoni was a bit past al dente for my tastes. Moving last to desserts, a quartet ordered even as my fellow diners were throwing in the towel, suffice it to say that amongst my few steadfast dining rules is that I never leave a good dessert on the table…and when we walked out those plates were empty, the lightly boozy rum cake alone worth the price of entry and more than enough to get me excited for the opening of Carlo’s Bakery in 2014.
