Rehearsal Dinner: The Dry Run

Both Mike and I come from big Italian families (did our last names tip you off at all?) so hosting our rehearsal dinner at an Italian restaurant is a given.

Mike was at work one night, keeping the streets of Richmond safe from fire, when he noticed a little Italian restaurant tucked into a street corner downtown. He took note of the name and drove by. Later that night his mom sent him an email saying she had heard great things about an Italian restaurant downtown. Lo and behold, it was the same place Mike had just spotted.

Fate? I think so.

Mom-in-law-to-be told Mike that we should try the restaurant out to see if it would work for our rehearsal dinner. Oh, and to charge it to his Dad's credit card.

Bingo Bango! We were sold.

La Grotta is located a few blocks from the hotel where everyone will be staying for the wedding, also the site of our reception. It's not a chain like Maggiano's, and it's big enough to host a rehearsal dinner, but it still has the charm we were looking for.

Appetizers were delicious. Mike ate his weight in bread and a tomato dip, and I couldn't get enough of this tower of mozzarella/eggplant/roasted red pepper:

We both opted for seafood for our main dishes, although it came down to the wire with Mike's decision (Veal? Prosciutto pasta?) I ordered the jumbo shrimp with polenta, Mike ordered the seafood pasta. Deliciousness ensued:

I love any place that decorates my food with flowers, and they weren't kidding when they said "jumbo" shrimp; they were HUGE. I wanted to lap the sauce off my plate. It was so good. Apparently Mike's food was great too, but whatevs.
Our waitress was also really knowledgeable and cheerful; always a good sign of a great staff.
Great surroundings, great food, helpful staff - I think we've found our rehearsal dinner site.
Who said planning weddings is hard?