Livia and learn

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

There comes a time in every married man’s life when he has to endure the most diabolical torture ever devised. I am referring to the dreaded time when his wife asks him to accompany her to a quaint suburban town and wander aimlessly through old homes that have been transformed into stores filled with useless dust collecting tchotchke. Such was the case recently when Nancy asked me to go to downtown Geneva for an afternoon of fun-filled shopping. After several hours of my grumbling and pouting, Nancy decided to ease my suffering and take me to an Italian restaurant nearby. This oasis in the sea of shopping was Livia Italian Eatery in Geneva.

While walking down the steps to the restaurant, we noticed something we have never encountered before. On their patio there were several clear plastic “igloos” with small heaters attached to them and a small table with chairs inside.

When we entered the restaurant, there was a bar in the middle and dining areas on either side. This venue struck us as a modern chic eatery in an upscale shopping area.

The waitress came over to take our drink order and we were disappointed when she wasn’t carrying a basket of warm crusty bread which is offered in 99.9% of Italian restaurants. As the bread Nazi would say, “no bread for you.”

For an appetizer we went with the Shrimp and Calamari Fritti ($16). This was crisp calamari, shrimp, cherry peppers and lemon aioli. However, this turned out to be a small plate of oil-soaked calamari strips, a few shrimp, and five cherry peppers. The shrimp however were crispy and the cherry peppers gave the appetizer a kick. An unusual item was the sliced, breaded, deep fried lemon slices. Ever try to eat one of those? This was not a good start to our meal.

After all the shopping, Jim wanted to pig out. He chose the Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs ($22). This was house-made veal meatballs, roasted tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, and ten-year old balsamic. What arrived was the smallest portion of spaghetti that we have ever seen. The three meatballs were large, but in his opinion, they contained much more breadcrumbs than veal. The parmesan and balsamic were nowhere to be found.

Nancy went bonkers when she spotted the Lobster Risotto ($36). This was a butter poached lobster tail, leeks, tomato, basil, vino, lemon, and parmesan. Her entrée was tasty, but the risotto portion was even smaller than my spaghetti portion. Again, the parmesan and basil were missing. This was the smallest portion of a risotto entrée that Nancy ever had.

Hope springs eternal. Let’s try dessert. The waitress said the Key Lime Pie ($9) was out of this world, so we tried it. Hallelujah, the meal was saved!!! The pie was to die for, especially the graham cracker crust which we think had a hint of toffee in it. Our waitress steered us right.

FYI: This restaurant is not handicap accessible. Also, there are no parking lots, just street parking.

It has been our experience over the years that in some upper crust areas we assume the restaurants would be good, but most of the time it’s quite the opposite. Frankly, the service matched the food.

The cost for what we thought would be our post-shopping feast was $96.28. Feeling like we got ripped off, bummer…“Liv”ia and learn.

Jim’s take: I was sorely disappointed, but at least the pie was delicious.

Nancy’s take: I love lobster risotto. I order it every year when we go to Aruba. Not so much here. The pie was OMG deliciousness.

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com

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