Valentino Italian Restaurant

Wine Spectator once declared Valentino’s 2,500-labels-long wine list “the greatest wine cellar of them all.” If that seems daunting, never fear. This three-decades-plus gourmet Italian restaurant is all about walking you through it. Same deal when it comes to the food, where they offer two-course “classic” menus and four-course tasting menus filled with homemade pasta, chewy risotto, veal tenderloin with black truffles, and Santa Barbara prawns. Dripping with ivy outside and bustling-yet-civilized inside, the mood is kept intimate through warm service and a cozy string of small dining rooms. Reservations, of course, are a good idea, but you might want to show up early anyway. It’s so nice to start off slow nibbling parmesan crisps and sipping Prosecco at the bar.