A few weeks ago, a friend and I went out to Sarducci’s to celebrate their moving to Seattle, Washington. Sarducci’s was established in Montpelier in 1994 by Carol Paquette and Dorothey Korshak, as they wanted to bring authentic Italian food to the area. The restaurant, originally a railway grain storage building, is located on 3 Main Street in Montpelier, overlooking the Winooski River.

Sarducci’s menu includes an extensive list of appetizers, including calamari, shrimp cocktail, and a variety of salads from Caesar to antipasto.

Pasta dishes range in price depending on if it includes seafood or not, with the “Linguine Al Pescatore”, priced at $21.00, being a dish I’ve had and enjoyed in the past. Other entrées feature salmon, veal, steak, chicken, and eggplant. There’s also the woodfire pizza and mac and cheese. Desserts range from iced treats such as gelato and sorbet, to cheesecake and a few chocolate cakes as well.

We arrived at Sarducci’s around 6:30 p.m. and were seated right away. We were tucked into a corner with a perfect view of the front entrance, an excellent spot for people watching. The atmosphere of Sarducci’s is pleasant; the lights are dimly lit, warming the space, with fluorescents seemingly only used at the bar. Every table includes candle light, a few potted plants are visible, and it most certainly plays into the classical Italian aesthetic. Conversational chatter filtered through the room, but the noise didn’t carry loudly enough to be distracting.

My friend and I started with the bruschetta as our appetizer, consisting of four pieces of toasted Italian bread with olive oil, parmesan, tomatoes, and pesto. My friend noted that not one flavor overstayed its welcome. We both enjoyed the bruschetta, and in jest, we had a bit of tussle over who got what piece. The bruschetta alone costs $5.25, and with tomatoes and pesto, an added on $3.25. We were also given what we thought was a complimentary half loaf of bread with garlic oil, but unfortunately it was actually two dollars. It was still delicious, the bread was perfectly crisped, and the garlic oil had a surprising hint of spice to it. I also ordered the “Penicillin,” a honey-flavored cocktail. I’m quite picky with my alcohol, but I can always assume anything honey related will be in my favor. I wasn’t wrong.

For the entrée, my friend ordered the Local “PT Farm” Bolognese, a dish with penne pasta topped with red wine meat sauce, parmesan and parsley. “It was very lovely, and the texture of the meat in the sauce was divine,” They said. They noted that the parmesan was a nice binding agent for the overall sensation of the dish. It cost $19.50.

I ordered the Cap Del Mare, a dish with angel hair pasta, shrimp, fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, and vermouth tomato sauce. The vermouth tomato sauce was great, I enjoyed the hints of garlic and basil and the consistency wasn’t dense at all, even with parmesan added in afterwards. The angel hair pasta was light, a good fit to match the sauce. There was a good amount of shrimp as well, evenly spread out through the pasta. I enjoyed the dish, though I’ll admit that I mainly ordered it for the shrimp. For a seafood dish, the Cap Del Mare is on the cheaper side at $19.00.

Both of us ordered affogatos for dessert, a shot of espresso poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I had mentioned to a coworker that I was going to Sarducci’s and he recommended this dish, and as a coffee fanatic of course I had to order one. My friend is also a fan, and it was the perfect way to end the meal. I’m not always a fan of sweets, but the espresso was perfectly bitter and vanilla ice cream in general is never too sweet.

Although a bit pricy, our bill came out to about $85 between the two of us, which is expected as Sarducci’s is considered one of the bougier restaurants in the Barre-Montpelier area. Our waitress was great, we gave her a good tip, and since we went on a Wednesday, we had excellent service as it wasn’t super busy. We were in and out within an hour and a half. Overall, it was a lovely night out to celebrate my friend’s move across the country.

Sarducci’s hours are 11:30am-9:00pm Monday through Thursday, 11:30a.m.-9:30p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 4:00p.m.- 9:00p.m. on Sundays. Their phone number is (802)-223-0229. Reservations are strongly advised.