The Upstate Life

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Her Majesty The Decemberists

Colin Meloy will be returning to the DC area in a few months, but instead of singing Morrissey covers at Iota, he'll be back with his band The Decemberists when they perform at the 9:30 Club on Friday, May 6th according to their website. It is part of their "Advance of the Picaroons Tour 2005" (Parts 1 and 2) in an effort to support their latest album, Picaresque, which will be released on March 22. The Upstate Life does not know when tickets will go on sale as of yet, but you know you can find that tasty bit of information here later down the road.

The Upstate Life went to Volare Ristorante Italiano last night in downtown Bethesda for Valentine's Day dinner and, after the evening's experience, would highly recommend this restaurant in the future. The atmosphere had more of an old-school approach with its décor of Italian paraphernalia covering the walls, but wasn't overkill found at such places like Buca di Beppo. They had an extensive menu with an insert of numerous dinner specials available that night. TUL ordered an appetizer of Calamari Fritti and it was one of the best I've had in quite awhile. You easily could tell the marinara sauce that accompanied it was a distinctive homemade blend that really hit the spot. The calamari itself was excellent, lightly breaded and not too salty. TUL selected Chicken Parmesan as his entrée after much deliberation and was definitely satisfied with his choice. It was a modest-sized portion complemented with homemade angel hair pasta and assorted vegetables. The night was capped off with one of the richest slices of Tiramisu The Upstate Life has ever tasted. It was also one of the most unique as well due to the thickness of each of its layers. Overall, if you ever decide to go out to dinner in the Bethesda area and are in the mood for a good Italian dinner, you should definitely check out Volare. It'll certainly beat what TUL is having for dinner tonight, most likely that Red Baron pizza that's been sitting in my freezer for a good month or two now.

Posted by Brett at 2:19 PM |