Where to go: Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano
Address: 40 N. Ninth St., Noblesville
What to get: Attend the Al Fresco Wine Dinner
Price: $97
Anna’s take: Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano’s goal is to offer an Al Fresco Wine Dinner in the alleyway next to the restaurant in downtown Noblesville each month. I attended the June wine dinner and was blown away at the quality of the food for the price. The June wine dinner was $97 per person, which included tax and gratuity. It was a four-course meal with Banfi wines. The reception wine was a Banfi Centine Pinot Grigio, followed be a starter course of salmon carpaccio with arugula – a delicate and refreshing dish of thinly sliced fresh salmon with arugula and capers – which was paired with Banfi Princepessa Gavi. The second course was a creamy spaghetti alla carbonara paired with Banfi Chianti Classico, and the third course was Lamb Chop Ossobuco Style with Castello Banfi Brunello do Montalcino. The ossobuco was my favorite, featuring incredibly tender lamb chops with a rich sauce. Matteo’s uses the wine dinners to inspire future menu items, and I’m really hoping it plans to put the carbonara and ossobuco on the menu because they both were incredible dishes that paired excellently with wine.
For dessert, there was an Italian version of a Key lime pie, which was a light and wonderful way to end the evening when paired with Banfi Rosa Regale Bianco. Keep an eye out for the next wine dinner, because for five glasses of wine and a four-course meal, the price was excellent, and the way it’s set up in the alleyway definitely made me feel like I was in Italy for the evening. It makes for an excellent date night or celebration. A representative from Banfi explained each wine, so we left dinner feeling full and educated.
