What You'll Get
Food and wine pairings allow people to diversify their palates in one evening, a feat previously attainable only by cramming five frozen dinners and a variety pack of juice boxes into a blender. Savor expanding horizons with today's Groupon to La Dolce Vita Ristorante in La Jolla. Choose between two options:
- For $45, you get a four-course dinner and wine pairing for two (a $90 value), which includes the following:
- Two appetizers with two glasses of pinot grigio
- Two salads with two glasses of barbera
- Two entrees with two glasses of La Dolce Vita syrah
- Two servings of homemade tiramisu with two glasses of moscato
- For $85, you get a four-course dinner and wine pairing for four (a $180 value), which includes the following:
- Four appetizers paired with four glasses of pinot grigio
- Four salads paired with four glasses of barbera
- Four entrees paired with four glasses of La Dolce Vita syrah
- Four servings of homemade tiramisu with four glasses of moscato
Owner and host Enzo Castiglione fills La Dolce Vita Ristorante with the warm ambiance and traditional Italian fare of his native Sicilian town of Raddusa. Couples or quartets embark on a journey though the four-course tasting menu with a taste of spicy sautéed calamari or fresh shrimp, partnered with a light, crisp pinot grigio and its fast-talking napkin sidekick. Then, let a deeply hued swirl of barbera red wash down crunchy bruschetta or a mozzarella caprese salad before chomping down on the main course, a choice between prosciutto-wreathed penne alla vodka or homemade potato gnocchi bathed in a light gorgonzola cream sauce. Kitchen officiants marry either entree to La Dolce Vita's house syrah, a full-bodied vintage made from Enzo’s own organic grapes and aged in oak barrels for one year to lend complex flavors and nostalgia for cramped, darkened spaces. Finally, taste buds bid adieu to dinner with a taste of traditional tiramisu paired with citrusy moscato.
Guests at La Dolce Vita Ristorante can delectate piled-high plates at white-swathed tables amid the warm ochre walls of the dining room—or venture to the outdoor patio, where a bubbling fountain plays beneath the glow of overhead heat lamps and the overhead camera flashes of paparazzi stars.
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Apr 3, 2012. Amount paid never expires. Limit 3 per person. Limit 1 per table. Dine-in only. Not valid on holidays. Must choose from menu. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About La Dolce Vita Ristorante
After childhood games of barefoot street soccer in the Sicilian town of Raddusa, Enzo Castiglione came home to Sicilian food crafted from his family’s traditional recipes. As an adult, he now serves the same cuisine at his Italian eatery, La Dolce Vita Ristorante. Named after one of his hometown’s coffee shops, the restaurant has earned praise in the La Jolla Village News for its authentic pastas, pizzas, and seafood, as well as its intimate dining room.
White lights wind their way around the trunks of potted trees, illuminating nearby plates of housemade gnocchi, grilled Black Angus ribeye steak, and pizzas topped with calamari, Italian sausage, or simple mozzarella and basil. To start, diners can whet their appetites with a caprese salad or bruschetta, rather than the traditional Italian starter of a closed pizza box to stare at longingly. To complement their meal’s flavors, diners can select a wine from the eatery’s vast list, which ranges from pinot grigio to chianti.