I was in Atlanta November 2010 and wanted some really good Italian food. I did not want to go to a chain restaurant but wanted to visit a place with a little more personality. My friend recommended going downtown to Veni Vedi Veci. I checked the website and saw they recommended making reservations. They use Open Table reservation system so it was easy and quick to reserve a table. Unfortunately for me, Atlanta traffic was going to make me late for my original reservation time. I called the restaurant and changed the time with no problem. The person that answered the phone was polite and courteous. At one point on my way to the restaurant I was lost, I called the restaurant again and the person gave me directions. Once I finally arrived, the valet parked my car and I went inside.

The hostess took my name and seated me almost immediately. I wanted to taste everything on their menu because it looked so delicious. I decided to go for the three course menu for $29.

For my Antipasti, I chose shrimp polenta. I thought this was a fitting dish for an Italian restaurant located in the South since people love to eat shrimp and grits. The shrimp were very tasty and not overcooked. The texture was firm but not tough. The polenta was creamy and cheesy. I am not a big fan of polenta, but I can say this was probably some of the best tasting that I have ever tried.

For my Primi, I chose rigatoni with sweet peppers. Only one word to describe this dish: SUPERB. It was really good. It was not spicy for those people who cannot handle

For my Secondi, I chose Trota Salmonata. This was Idaho Red Trout cooked with olive oil and parsley, served with potatoes. The skin on the trout was crispy, while the fish flaked apart without much effort. It tasted very fresh.

For dessert, I decided to try their strawberry with marscapone pizza. The server did not describe this dish very well and I was disappointed. It was a pizza (dough was not sweet) with strawberries (that were not sweet) and marscapone cheese (that was not really sweet). And it was served hot. So after the light delicious flavors from dinner, I had this warm not quite sweet, not quite savory pizza. I tried to eat just the strawberries, but eventually gave up on that. Since I love my desserts, this was a disappointment. If they had added more sugar, I think that it might have tasted better. The overall concept had promise, but there was a lot missing in the execution.

Overall, I would go here again. Next time, I would probably not experiment on the desserts and just go with cheesecake. It is hard to screw up cheesecake.

ADDRESS:

Veni Vidi Vici

41 Fourteenth Street Atlanta, GA 30309

Cross Street:

(404) 875-8424