This week: Atlanta's Aria

Tomorrow is my birthday! Yes. I turn ... um 30, again! This year is a special birthday because I am spending it with two of my closest oldest friends, Allie and Rachel. Allie and I are flying tomorrow afternoon to Atlanta to visit with our friend from grade school, Rachel.
Of course, since it's my birthday, Rachel said that I could pick the restaurant that we go to for my birthday dinner. After doing a little bit of research, I decided to book a dinner reservation at Aria.
Aria opened its doors in Spring 2000 in one of the hippest hottest trendiest places in town, Buckhead. Buckhead has become a place be seen since it is frequented by a lot of young professionals. Chef and restaurateur Gerry Klaskala has received plenty of attention as Aria was named one of the country's best restaurants in 2000 by Esquire magazine and tops local lists for best restaurant, best chocolate desserts, best food and wine pairings and most romantic. The ambiance of the restaurant so I have heard is intimate and romantic. I'm very excited to visit this restaurant on Thursday. I have also read quite a bit about chef Klaskala's version of "slow food"-- those braised, roasted, stewed and patiently simmered meats so savory they are creating headlines. This is no surprise ... Chef Klaskala graduated with honors from the Culinary Institute of America.

New Indicator Rating - TBD

So I've decided that I need to come up with my own type of rating or indictator.
Tom Sietsema from the Washington Post uses stars (four is the highest) to rate primarily the quality and taste of the food but also takes into account service and ambiance. He introduced a noise level indicator in April 2008 where he checks the decibels of each place he visits and he reports on the din level. Apparently, he thinks people are interested in this. I'm not sure what Todd Kliman of the Washingtonian has. Well he ranks them from 1 to 100 ... and healso uses a four star rating system, plus he rates them according to price (from c to $$$), and also rates the service from adequate to supremely attentive.
So what shall mine be?
Should I have a kid-friendly scale?
Something like this?
I also want to report categories such as atmosphere (5), service (5), value/bargain (5), food (5), and more!
Stars are used by most reviewers for food. Most people recognize it and now what it means. 4 stars usually means excellent, 3 very good, 2 good, 1 satisfactory.

Extra Virgin - Italian

Extra Virgin Modern Italian Restaurant
4053 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, VA
website

(Not Kid-friendly)

(3 stars = Food, Very Good)

($$ = Expensive or >$50 per person)

Sunday evening my family met at Extra Virgin, Modern Italian Restaurant in Shirlington, located at 4053 Campbell Ave. Shirlington is a developing area due to the new Harris Teeter and is gaining popularity due to the new Busboys & Poets cafe. It is still quite difficult to get close parking. There is a garage, but most people I don't think like the walk to the shopping area. No one in my family has been there before except me. I have been to Extra Virgin before for lunch a few months ago when it was still warm enough to sit outside. They have a nice outdoor seating area in front. Inside, the dining room is modern, colorful, and the dining room is quite large, however you can't tell unless you get up and walk around. The restaurant is partitioned off into several small dining areas. Many tables are situated next to windows, which creates an intimate and cozy feel. and I like that the tables aren't on top of each other. We sat right in front of the large revolving door, yet it was not cold. I was worried that we were going to be cold while sitting so close to the front door. The winter menu provides a lot of excellent choices, however, I was very disappointed that there was no kids menu. It's not very kid-friendly establishment.
I ordered the pan seared Rainbow Trout with roasted almonds, served wit mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini and eggplant. The trout was delicious, cooked perfectly and was a nice size portion. The mashed potatoes were fluffy and very good. I tried the Veal Ravioli but did not care for it at all. It tasted like rancid meat. It tasted musty and had an awful aftertaste. I also tried the homemade ribbon pasta with asparagus, and shrimp in a cream sauce. I liked this so much I would consider ordering as my entree when I return. What was most memorable besides the trout was the Insalata della case which is heart of romaine and spinach salad with gorgonzola cheese, kalamata olives, red onion, diced tomato, and raisins. It was absolutely delicious and it really could stand alone as a entree salad.
Everyone enjoyed their meal, perhaps we shall return.
The service was pretty good however it became quite confusing right after we sat down and while we were waiting for other members of our party to arrive. At least four different people came over to the table to talk to us... all of them saying that they would be "taking care of us".
The restaurant advertises that there is live music nightly, but I don't think it is on Sundays. There wasn't anyone performing when we were there.