Visconti’s in Leavenworth

Though one might not think of Italian restaurants when visiting a Bavarian-style tourist town, we were lucky to find a great one! Visconti’s proved to be a wonderful choice. The ambience is nice and we were seated in a twinkle light laden window table above the street below. The table cloths were covered with white paper and crayons were provided. I’ve always been a fan of restaurants where you can indulge your inner kid and color directly on the table. We took full advantage of this, laughing at the goofy creations appearing around our dinner plates.

My husband and I both had the drink of the night, which was titled a French 52. It was a light cocktail concoction of lemon topped with prosecco and served in a champagne glass with a lemon wedge garnish. It was very refreshing. They brought out a really good focaccia style bread with an herbed olive oil for dipping.

We then had an appetizer plate that the chef prepared, it was a board with Pecorino cheese, a smoked white cheddar, roasted red chilis, cured meats and toast points and crackers. They served it with a small pot of their homemade fig jam. It was very good!

Next up came the salads and soup. My husband and I both chose the same salad, the Beet and Arugula with goat cheese, candied walnuts, red onion, aged balsamic and a thyme honey vinaigrette. They were very tasty! The Tuscan Bean Soup was equally good, and had pancetta, pomodoro, red onions and rosemary. Our son liked it so much, he stole it from my husband and ate the entire cup.

For the main entree I chose the Lemon Crab Linguine. The linguine was perfectly al dente, and the sauce was a lovely light cream sauce with lemon zest and nice big chunks of Dungeness crab. My husband ordered the Cannelloni, which was house made pasta stuffed with Italian sausage and ricotta baked with pomodoro and béchamel. It was wonderful! Our son ordered off the kids’ menu, which we sometimes find isn’t a large enough portion. However, his beef ravioli with red sauce and cheese was a healthy portion and turned out to be the perfect amount.

I was too full for dessert, and our son wanted to go downstairs to their Gelateria, Viadolce (www.Viadolcegelato.Com).

My husband loves Limoncello and happily ordered their lemon sorbet with a shot of Limoncello poured over. I did taste a bite and wow, very good. Our food server, Sidney, was warm, knowledgable and attentive. So, excellent service and excellent food!

When you find yourself in Leavenworth, do yourself a favor and head to Visconti’s for dinner. If you don’t have enough nights to fit it in, they are open for lunch as well.