My first experience at Casa Nuova was picking up food and wine for a virtual wine dinner. The family run business was quick to pivot after the pandemic shut down restaurants. Entering restaurant, on corner of a strip mall in North Alpharetta, I immediately saw Maria Fundora, co-owner of Casa Nuova hustling to gather all the takeout orders for the wine dinner. My 3-course meal was packed and ready to go and despit the many orders, they quickly found my order and her son, Pepe even helped me bring it to my car, along with the 3 bottles of wine we would taste during the dinner. 3 bottles. 4 courses. Only $99 per couple!
Maria and her husband Antonio both immigrated from Cuba in the 60s, but it wasn't until several decades later they would meet and another decade before they would open their popuar Italian restaurant, Casa Nuova. Pepe, a sommelier, has brought an excellent wine program to the restaurant.
I returned for a double date a month after the virtual wine dinner, which went swimmingly, by the way. We were able to sip on wine that paired perfectly with each course. But the best part was getting to meet with someone from the winery - one of my favorites La Crema! If you've never had their Pinot Noir you are missing out.
Even well before 7 pm the restaurant was quite full on a Saturday evening. But honestly a weekend is exactly when you want to visit Casa Nuova. Why? The specials, silly! I'm getting ahead of myself. The stuffed mushrooms and the salad were a perfect start to our meal, the salads hearty and filling.
Sure on the menu are the perennial favorites like calamari, mussels, stuffed mushrooms for appetizers. spaghetti, ravioli, veal of all kinds...you get it. I'm sure any of these would have been spectacular but the floodgates open up on the weekend with an amazing number of specials like lamb chops, lobster ravioli (what I had) and fish specials (think Grouper and Snapper). Our entire group ordered off the special menu and it was incredible.
I think the winner at the table was the Grouper Francese, lightly fried and a lemon sauce that was insanely delicious. Definitely make sure to get that if it is an option at Casa Nuova when you visit.
Oh and the desserts! Tiramisu, Limoncello Cake, Cannoli? You can't go wrong with any of those choices. But there are so many. In fact on the weekends there is literally a table full of different dessert items like cookies and Italian specialties.
Comments / 1