I recently had dinner with a friend at a restaurant, which started its origins back in my old neighborhood.  As kids we used to congregate at a park, and if it we would walk or drive across the other side of the park we would be in Dearborn, while we all grew up in Southwest Detroit.  The original restaurant was called Roman Village, and it is still a going concern.  Here is this one restaurant that serves Italian cuisine surrounded by Middle Eastern cuisine on one side and Mexican cuisine on the other, and they have survived since I can remember.  Roman Village was the first Italian restaurant that I went to without my parents, so it holds a certain special memory.  Now I was joining a friend to have dinner in their second location, which is located in a large strip center in Dearborn Heights.

Antonio’s Cucina Italiana showed the same bustling activity that Roman Village has always had, each and every time that I had been there.  We each selected a pasta dinner, after we decided that we did not want to share a pizza, which is one of the hallmarks of the original restaurant.  My friend had a special of the evening, which was a pesto dish with shrimp, while I chose a classic shrimp dish from the menu.  My friend ordered a Caesar Salad and requested anchovies, and I ordered the house Italian salad and I also requested anchovies, and I was glad to see that this simple request was honored with out the seemingly common answer of today, let me see if we can do that.  Little things like that, just seem to please me.

When I was looking at the wine list, the first page was offerings of wine by the carafe, and then when I flipped the page, all I saw was stellar wines that I did not feel like ordering.  I was amazed that there was such a major jump in the wine offerings, and then I realized that the middle page was stuck together, and here was a very nice wine offering in the price point that we were comfortable having amongst friends.  The wine that was chosen was listed as a Super Tuscan and I was intrigued.  The wine that we received was an Argiano “Non Confunditur” Rosso Toscano 2010.  It was an interesting blend of varietals; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Sangiovese, which had been barrel aged for a year and then four months in the bottle before it was released.  When our server brought the bottle, she was all set to uncork it, and she was surprised as we were that it had a screw cap enclosure.  The wine I must say had good color, nose and a delightful aftertaste, and perhaps I am just used to having red wines with fish at times, but it worked very well with the shrimp dishes.  I would suggest this wine as a very affordable wine to compliment a good Italian dinner and I do think it would be excellent with any meat dish as well.