Mystery Diner: Villa Verone brings Italy right to our backyard
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| The pumpkin ravioli at Villa Verone in Geneva was served with squash, mushrooms and an asiago cheese sauce. (Kane County Chronicle photo) |
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Villa Verone
Address: 416 Hamilton St. in Geneva
Phone: 630-232-2201
Hours: Open for lunch at 11:30 a.m. Monday-Friday; open for dinner from 4-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 4-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
Website: www.villaverone.net
GENEVA – My companion and I decided to take a trip to Italy for a Tuesday lunch. No, not that Italy. But the meal we had at Villa Verone in Geneva could have thrown us for a loop.
The restaurant has been a staple in the Geneva community for nearly 15 years. It has a delightful Hamilton Street entrance as well as authentic-looking decor that surrounds you once you take a step inside.
We were seated right away in a pristine location next to a window facing the small patio. Water and warm bread were served up right away as our server came over to take our drink order.
He was fantastic – even convincing my companion to order the day’s lunch special, a pumpkin ravioli dish.
The lunch menu has a wide array of pasta dishes and a decent amount of larger entrees for the public to enjoy. I decided to order the Salciccia Alla Contadina, or mildly spiced Italian sausage with green and red peppers and onions, served over pasta. My companion’s pumpkin ravioli was served with squash, mushrooms and an asiago cheese sauce.
With the perfect amount of time between ordering and receiving the food, our choices came out, still just the right amount of hot, with the offer for additional grated cheese on our pastas. I politely declined but my companion added just a few swivels to perfect his meal.
He described the ravioli as having an appropriate amount of pumpkin in each bite. Not overbearing, he said, which would have brought the whole dish down. Instead, with the cheese sauce and squash, the dish provided an ample amount of specialty flavors that usually aren’t mixed together often.
My choice, a more standard affair, was delicious. The sausage was not too spicy but had a good enough kick to balance the sweetness of the red and green peppers. The sauce felt like a mix of roasted red peppers and marinara, a fantastic combination.
Both of our portions were perfect – not too much to force us to leave some or take some home but enough that I went without my usual afternoon, end-of-the-workday snack.
After both our plates were cleared of everything edible, our server asked if we wanted to partake in a dessert, which we both declined.
Living up to great tradition of authentic Italian cuisine can be difficult, Villa Verone did so with flying colors. I can’t wait to get back there, perhaps to try a few of the different pastas that make up the restaurant’s dinner menu.
• The Mystery Diner is a newsroom employee at the Kane County Chronicle. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a different restaurant each week and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a review.
