We were lucky to have a larger group dine with us for our first visit to Amore Trattoria Italiana, and I must say, there is no better place get together with friends, socialize, and eat way too much food!
Amore is an authentic Italian restaurant, located on Alpine near 6 Mile. Owners Jenna and Maurizio Arcidiacono met in San Francisco before moving back to Maurizio’s native Italy. While in Milan, Jenna took some cooking lessons from a superb chef….Maurizio’s mother. Lucky for us, the couple moved back to Jenna’s home town of Grand Rapids and now they’re sharing their authentic Italian goodness.
We started our evening by taking advantage of Amore’s $3 happy hour specials while waiting for the rest of our group to arrive. Suzie was our bartender and she was great. I think it was the first time I’ve ever had a bartender formally introduce themself to me, and remember the names of everyone in our entire group.
Since we had such a large group we were able to try a lot of different foods. Our appetizer was beyond fantastic … the Saccottino Di Caprino (crispy dough stuffed with goat cheese, roasted peppers and sun-dried tomatoes.) The Zuppa del Giorno (soup of the day) was Lasagna Soup, and it was better than any lasagna I’ve ever had.
Salads completed the second course. They had a nice assortment of unique salads to choose from. Here you see the Speck e Mele which had gorgonzola, apples, pistachios, and fig balsamic dressing.
The main course offered a nice assortment. Amore took some Italian staple dishes and added their own flair. Our group gave high marks to the Eggplant, the Gnocchi, and the Fettuccine.
And, we couldn’t leave without trying the pizza….so good!
To top off our evening, Jenna made us a mini signature Italian chocolate cocktail, and a buffet of assorted desserts. Included were the Tiramisu, Cannoli, Tartufi (truffles), and Ravioli. All four desserts were amazing, but the Tartufi was absolutely to die for. You might remember our previous favorite dessert that we ate at Big O’s. I have to admit, this dessert is right up there with the best treat we’ve had to date. How could you not be enticed by all that chocolate??
If you want to learn how to make a little piece of authentic Italy at home, Amore offers free cooking classes the second Saturday of each month from 2-3pm. Rumor has it, this month you just might learn how to make some of these chocolate morsels of goodness:)
Here is our group, definitely happy, definitely full, and appreciating Jenna’s hospitality. Now that’s Amore!
We’ve become regulars at this place over the last 6 months and now we don’t go out for dinner anywhere else! Jenna changes the menu with the seasons, so there is always something new to try, I love that she uses ingredients mostly from local farms, farm markets, and stores and every meal is made fresh!
The staff is remarkable too. I just can’t say enough great things about Amore’ Trattoria Italiana !
I may have forgotten to write about Jenna using local farms…thanks for bringing that up! We love restaurants who support the local community!
What a great article and beautiful foodie fotos! You were a fun group and I’m glad I was tending bar the evening you came in. Looking forward to seeing all of you again! Susie