Do I please easy?: Friday night's dinner at DOLCE

When it comes to restaurants, you grade them essentially how Johnny Drama grades talent agencies on the HBO series "Entourage." Pick a few categories and rate them all according to a bar of standard excellence. My categories are:

1. decor
2. wait staff
3. food
4. drinks (yes, I separate food and drinks)
5. ambiance

Well, Friday night, out with Connecticut and a group of her friends from back home, Dolce set the bar high. This "enoteca e ristorante" gets just about a "FIVE" (as in an A+) in all categories! Crazy?

The restaurant, backed, like Geisha House, by the previously punk'ing, presently restaurant-mogul'ing Ashton Kutcher, outshines Geisha by ten. Where Geisha is trendy-meets-kitsch with its predominantly red day-glo-esque lighting and phony, wandering geishas, DOLCE is purposefully upscale. It is dark and lovely inside, with cool textured tables and all-mirrored bathrooms (yes, you have to watch yourself pee). The wait-staff, however, does not have a lick of the upturned nose that annoyed me at Geisha. Except for the women at the door who seem to be skeptical of anyone claiming to have a reservation, the staff overall was friendly, brighter than the lighting and worthy of a generous tip. Our waitress, a British girl who whispered the prices of everything to one of the frugal lawyers in our group, even laughed when we cracked an Ashton "Did I just get punk'd?" joke--even though she must get them ALL the TIME.

The drinks were especially of note: the bartender at the firelit bar (no, really, there's a fire behind him) had a dashing smile and was talkative about his favorite cocktails. One friend got the signature Dolce cocktail, and its fruity flavor inspired her to sip on a second soon after. I had a Veev ginger something-or-other that was giggly good, and later the forty-page wine selection did not disappoint. But a round of cocktails and two bottles of some Italian red later (sorry, I don't remember which wine), our conversation still contained favorable commentary on the great food.

I started with the tuna tartare, which was IMMACULATE (the crispy wantons were a delicious touch), and I entree'd on the mushroom risotto. The risotto was large enough that I took half of it home, and trust me, even Saturday morning cold from the fridge, it was ridiculously good. Our waitress, at our behest, dusted all the food with fresh ground pepper and grated Parmesan there at the table. Nice touch.

So once again:
1. decor - 4.5 (it is just a touch too dark in there)
2. wait staff - 5
3. food - 5
4. drinks - 5
5. ambiance - 5

Final note on this gushing, long-winded tale: Go for the creme brulee for dessert. Oh so right.

THE RESTAURANT: http://dolcegroup.com/dolce/