My husband and I decided recently to try a new restaurant in the 'burbs of Atlanta in a fairly new live/shop/dine area called Avalon. The restaurant?
900 Third Street Alpharetta, GA 30009
678.722.8335
Colletta is an Italian restaurant in Alpharetta, GA. They do take reservations, and we were glad we made them as the place was packed by 6:30pm.
We arrived at the restaurant and took them up on their valet parking, as it was a Friday night and not a space to be found in the parking deck nearby.
The building is attractive with an industrial chic decor, and it offers outdoor seating to the right with cool columns framing the patio area.
And inside, the bar scene is hopping as well as the dining area. The food is Northern Italian, and the chef is Michael Perez. It's a welcoming environment and casual. There were people on dates, families with kids and business people dining. There's a huge wood burning oven in the middle of the open kitchen for you to enjoy watching meals being prepped.
To the left as you walk into the restaurant is a relaxing greenspace area with adirondacks around. It's a nice peaceful look - especially on a gorgeous spring evening in Atlanta.
Our server Aaron showed up immediately and took our orders - I went with a Sauvignon Blanc.
Then the chef's gift was brought out by another server - a fried ball of rice and cheese topped with a spicy marinara. It was decadent and delicious and caused us to forget about watching our carbs completely...
A couple of custom made industrial lights that were fun:
This light was created from an outdoor stadium light - very cool:
Next up: we split a salad - bibb lettuce with a wonderful vinaigrette and pickled veggies. It was a light nice start to the meal.
Then, the killer appetizer! We chose the:
PROSCUITTO DI PARMA parmesan, honeycomb, seasonal fruit, fried flatbread
The prosciutto was not anything you could buy at your local grocery store - so fresh and tasty. And that fresh parmesan - wonderful!
For our main courses we went with
BLACK PEPPER TAGLIATELLE carbonara, pork tesa, egg yolk, chives, pecorino romano
This dish has black pepper and pork belly infused into the pasta and it's served with a raw egg yolk so your job as a diner is to immediately stir the yolk into the pasta to create the "sauce" or carbonara. It was fabulous!
The other dish we sampled was their
PORK MARSALA pan seared fingerling potatoes, cremini mushrooms
It was a bit tough for my preference, but that flavor was fabulous - a really rich decadent marsala.
There was no way we were going to be able to eat any more, but the desserts SOUNDED delicious.
All in all it was a great experience: delicious food, and very good service. We'll be back to sample more items from the menu. THAT was the only negative - so many choices and too little time...
Here's a sample dinner menu (they also have a fabulous wine menu as well as cocktails):
|
| CAESAR SALAD 12parmesan vinaigrette, crouton, baked parmesan, anchovy |
| OCTOPUS 16white beans, basil aioli, fennel sausage |
| CRISPY PORK BELLY 15chive puree, egg yolk, brioche, smoked lemon agrodolce, pickled shallots |
| MEATBALLS 14beef, pork, tomato, basil, polenta, pecorino romano |
| BRUSSELS SPROUT SALAD 11spiced hazelnuts, radicchio, apple vinaigrette |
| CALAMARI 14fried, spicy marinara, garlic aioli, lemon |
| BURRATA 16marinated olives, flatbread |
| PROSCUITTO DI PARMA 22parmesan, honeycomb, seasonal fruit, fried flatbread |
|
| PEPPERONI 16tomato, mozzarella, basil |
| CALABRESE 16calabrian chili, olives, fontina, basil, parmesan, honey |
| SAUSAGE 16mozzarella, tomato, basil, parmesan |
| MUSHROOM 15ricotta, fontina, rosemary oil, pecorino romano |
| MARGHERITA 14tomato, basil, mozzarella, parmesan |
| SUNFLOWER PESTO 16cherry tomato, artichoke, tallegio, parmesan, crispy leeks |
|
| BLACK PEPPER TAGLIATELLE 22carbonara, pork tesa, egg yolk, chives, pecorino romano |
| FARFALLE 28lump crab, shrimp, basil, parsley, lemon, crispy garlic bread crumbs |
| SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS 22tomato, parmesan, basil |
| LINGUINE 22calabrian chili pesto, castelvetrano olives, sausage, pistacchio, burrata |
| TORTELLINI 22in chicken broth, shredded chicken, ricotta, parmesaan |
| LASAGNA 22pork and beef bolognese, mozzarella, tomato, basil |
|
| MARKET CATCH 28stewed tomato, fennel, celery root, fregola sardo |
| MUSHROOM RISOTTO 21wild mushrooms, black truffles, spinach, parmesan |
| CHICKEN PARMESAN 21creste de gallo, garlic crema, tomato, provolone |
| PORK MARSALA 24pan seared fingerling potatoes, cremini mushrooms |
| PORCHETTA 27pork loin wrapped in pork belly, tuscan kale, fried polenta |
| HALF ROASTED CHICKEN 24romanesco, mushrooms, charred onion, chicken jus |
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