Dolce and a Gramma

Hanover Township villa Vino Dolce is a family tradition

Gene Padden

The extensive menu at Vino Dolce reads like grandma's time-tested recipe books.



Puttenesca ... polenta ... gnocchi ... pumpkin ravioli.



It reads like grandma's favorites, because that's exactly what it is. Just ask Renee (don't call me "chef") Coleman about the long lineage behind each savory dish at Vino Dolce.



"I always tell people I am not a chef," she said with a laugh. "I always say that I'm my grandmother's granddaughter and they like to hear that, because our food is all homemade."



Renee and husband Dale Coleman own Vino Dolce, and recently celebrated the restaurant's four-year anniversary in December. She makes her pasta by hand, and closes her ravioli with a fork. There are no giant food processors in the kitchen.



"I do it all by hand - all of it," she said, "and it's fine, because we're small enough so that there isn't much of a wait. And nobody minds, anyway, because they know what they're getting."



Vino Dolce's dining room comfortably seats 40, and it's nearly impossible to leave the restaurant without having made a few new friends. The décor is akin to dining at a friend's home, and Dale's custom-made mahogany bar is truly a setting where "everybody knows your name."



"After you're here the second or third time, you're like part of our family," Renee said. "Our customers suggest changes and once a year we may adjust the menu if something can work better."



The thick menu likely played a huge role in Vino Dolce winning diamond city's readers' poll in 2005. The tough decisions begin on the first page, with 10 appetizers including Clams Vino Dolce, crustini gorgonzola, eggplant rotelli, stuffed tomatoes, and marinated artichokes with lump crab.



Pasta entrees range from $12-16, with choice selections like Pasta di Cucina, Pasta Aglio e olio, and tapenade. Pasta di Cucina dishes can be ordered with a dozen clams over the top with red or white sauce for a few dollars more, or you can go with the Clams Fra Diavlo, as spicy as you like it.



Italian favorites like lasagna, shells, and eggplant are menu mainstays, along with "Nona's Favorites" polenta with mushrooms, meatballs, or sausage; and tripe in homemade red spicy sauce. To turn the page finds gnocchi, seven varieties of ravioli for $14-20, and a lengthy list of chicken and veal dishes ranging from $16-19.



"We sell a lot of veal," Renee said. "People definitely come here specifically for the veal and the homemade pasta. Also the crab ravioli and pumpkin ravioli. I made the pumpkin one time just for that season and people just kept ordering it."



There also are plenty of seafood, risotto, pork, and beef selections, including a "seafood lover's dream" dish called Seafood Fra Diavlo with lobster, shrimp, crab, scallops, and clams.



At the end, Vino Dolce's homemade dessert menu is highlighted by the aptly named Italian Love Cake, a heavyweight closer forged with vanilla and chocolate cake with ricotta filling and topped with chocolate mousse and whipped cream.



In the spirit of upscale, family-owned Italian restaurants, Vino Dolce is open four days a week with the last seating at 9:30. On Wednesday evenings, you can usually find Lee Strumski on the piano. Located on the Sans Souci Highway across from Air Products in Hanover Township, Vino Dolce is secluded without being inconvenient. A five-minute drive from Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, or Nanticoke, it never had to worry about the influx of corporate chain restaurants in Wilkes-Barre Township - not that any could rival the intimacy of an authentic Italian dining experience.



"When this place is crowded, that's when it's the most fun," Renee said. "It's like a big, Italian, family dinner and that's how it should be. There are nights I'll custom make anything - all they have to do is ask."