Welcome to the La Dolce Vita web site!
The home of authentic Italian cuisine in Athens Georgia. Food like my family made in my childhood in the foothills of the Italian Alps. Hearty portions of the highest quality pasta made from scratch. The lightest gnocchi each rolled by hand just hours earlier. Fresh tomato sauce straight from the garden. Seafood and shellfish caught that morning in the Mediterranean sea. Home made prosciutto and salami cut into the thinnest slices with freshly cured cheeses slathered with spiced olive oil we’d pressed in the Fall. Wild porcini mushrooms we’d gather from the woodlands nearby.
My kitchen shares the very best of my culinary heritage. Poor country Italian peasants can enjoy the sweet life of great Italian food and at La Dolce Vita, you can too. Please, come be our guest and enjoy.
-Stefano & Cristina
Our House Specialities
Carpaccio – Genuine carpaccio done well can be hard to find. We slice the very finest portions of the highest grade raw beef into razor thin but generously wide slivers. Then drizzle cittronette over the shaved Parmigiano cheese which perfects the dish. Good carpaccio should all but dissolve upon the tongue like butter. Italian sushi, if you will.
Panini – If you think panini sandwiches are good, wait until you try a real one created correctly with the freshest, highest quality of ingredients. Our prosciutto mozzarella panini will be the very best “ham and cheese” sandwich you’ve ever eaten! A great lunch value. Freshly baked and pressed focaccia (flat-bread), newly cut baby greens, fine melted cheese over the finest thin-sliced pork available make it unforgettable. Then, explore the other panini recipes.
Seafood – Fresh, big, and abundant. Enjoy over classic risotto or with freshly made fettuccine swimming in a red or creamy white sauce.
Meatballs – There are meatballs, and then there are the La Dolce Vita meatballs. Our flagship dish, made with a secret family recipe. They’re melt in your mouth tender which we will match against any meatball anywhere. Having a Polpette al Sugo (spaghetti and meatballs) or a Polpette Panini (meatball sandwich) for lunch will be a culinary experience to remember.
Generous Portion Sizes – Work on the farm is hard. People need to leave the table full and after dining here, you will be fully recharged for your afternoon of work or evening of romance. To-go bags turn last night’s splurge into today’s two-meal deal.
Wine / Beer – We stock the best of authentic Italian wines and imported beers. Definitely not the typical stock of most every other restaurant here in Athens, Georgia. Looking for what tasteful worldly people actually drink? Come to La Dolce Vita and sample our varied selection.
To make a reservation, please call (706)353-3911.