La Vigna

It's hard to imagine that they would name a restaurant La Vigna (the vineyard), in Utah County, but that the name of the Italian restaurant that was once Ottavio's in American Fork. Charlene Winters hits it right on in her review of this restaurant in the Deseret News--it's hit and miss. Some of the dishes are very good and others disappointing. The Daily Herald offers a similar opinion--fine Italian dining, but not as fine as one would hope.

AnneMarie and I have been there twice, once for lunch and most recently for dessert. At lunch we had the buffet, which included some pretty good Neapolitan-style pizza (cooked over gas, not wood, in their brick oven) and some pasta dishes, which were a mixed bag. For dessert, I had the creme brulee, which I thought was very good. A good creme brulee should have a hard sugar glaze--it should crack when you break it with your spoon--but not be burned. The custard should be creamy and smooth. AnneMarie was looking for something chocolaty (no surprise), something like the Ottavio's chocolate cake. She had a small cake with a creme anglaise topping. (This sounds pretty fancy, but you can create your own pretty quick and easy version with melted premium french vanilla ice cream.) It turned out to be a chocolate sponge cake, which tasted OK, but not for $6. Here's one problem with La Vigna: everything seems pretty expensive for what you get. Even the dishes that taste pretty good seem overpriced. This restaurant is also pretty low on the authenticity scale. Some dishes look authentic Italian, but "Surf and Turf"? Sometimes it's just the name that is authentic. I do like the focaccia at La Vigna.

Based on the crowds, La Vigna seems pretty popular, but so is The Olive Garden--which offers inauthentic Italian food at a much lower price.

La Vigna is close by, so we may end up there again, but for good Italian, we'll probably stick with Ottavio's, Macaroni Grill, and (for inexpensive family dining) The Pizza Factory.