Restaurant Review: Varanese

Be sure to enter my Blush Beauty June Box Giveaway worth $100 while you're here! 


Hubs and I had dinner at Varanese recently to celebrate our 12th anniversary! Depending on where you read, it's described as anything from "New-American Cuisine" to a "Mediterranean restaurant." We had heard such great things about this Louisville favorite and were excited to give it a shot!



First, of course, what to wear??

Dress by High Society, scored at the Gilt Warehouse pop-up sale happening in Louisville right now, random bag scored at the major Urban Outfitters haul I did in California in May, Steve Madden studded sandals (on sale now!, available here), freshwater pearl necklace and Bauble Bar bracelets. Cute! :)


The night we went was RAINY... one day of what seemed like three weeks in a row of non-stop rain. The open-air dining room was open regardless and it was actually nice to still be "outside" despite the wretched weather! 

A stock image, with dining room all closed up!
I didn't get one from outside!

View from our table.
Live three piece band up there in the middle
(pretty much in the rain...)

Water feature wall was SO pretty,
added to the water-all-around effect! LOL!

Before we even placed our orders, a little plate of bruschetta was brought out as a starter from the kitchen! Loves it! And my drink of choice, the Sunrise _____ (can't remember second word in name?, sorry!), came out right afterwards. Cocktail was gin based with fresh grapefruit, mint, etc., kind of like a mojito! 

Let me just stop here and say how OUTSTANDING the service was, from the hostess who greeted us to the chef who stopped by each table as entrees were served. We are suckers for great service! It makes ALL the difference!!

Isn't our little table pretty?? 

Great refreshing summer cocktail! 

We started with the Baked Brie ($9) and it was wonderful. I have high expectations for this dish, though. We have the hands down best baked brie recipe EVER that was passed along to us by a friend of ours. The secret? Bourbon! I'm going to put it in a follow-up post in a few days! 

For salads I had the Candied Pecan and Apple Salad ($7) and hubs had the Pistachio Encrusted Goat Cheese option ($9). I couldn't really get pictures of his food in this setting without looking like a freak, but take my word for it, he loved his!! LOL! The hot garlic cheese bread was fab, too! 

My entree was the Angel Hair Bruschetta Pasta ($14) and hubs had the Bourbon Barrel Smoked Pork Chop ($18). After ordering the pork chop at 610 Magnolia and being grossed out by the fact that the plate included pork BELLY, he was very, very happy with this "normal" dish! Haha!

We skipped dessert this night, so no indulgent chocolate pictures! LOL! The meal was really really great. Everything was so tasty, the ambience was so comfortable and fun, the staff was outstanding. The price was actually pretty surprising, too, ringing in right at $90 even including a 30% tip! We liked everything we tried and will definitely return to try some other things! If you would like to see the whole menu, you can access it here!

They are having an event that looks really fun tomorrow night. It's a Sierra Nevada Beer Dinner with a guest speaker from River City Distributing. Sounds fun to try all the beer pairings! Let me know if you check it out!!