Dolce Vita isn’t your typical Macon eatery/coffee shop/bar.
You won’t find super-sized portions, There’s nothing on the menu that’s fried. Your check comes delivered inside a paperback book.
Dolce Vita, located downtown on Cherry Street, serves up what it calls “small plates,” coffee, desserts and adult beverages.
When a couple of friends joined me for dinner, we decided to employ the usual tapas strategy of ordering several things for the table to share. We also each ordered a salad.
All three of us loved the salads ($5). I had a baby spinach and pear salad with gorgonzola and walnut vinaigrette dressing. I was surprised at how perfect those flavors went together, and I was pleased with how fresh the spinach and pears tasted.
My friends ordered the Dolce Vita salad, which was a Greek salad, and the avocado and crab salad. Both said the ingredients were fresh and that they’d order the salads again.
There were three soups on the menu, but two of them were cold varieties — not what you’re looking for in December. I’d love to see more hot soups.
We shared four small plates — Southwestern bean and corn tacos ($4), tramezzini (three sandwich triangles-$4.50), Caribbean spicy sour cream and black bean dip ($4) and the hummus trio ($9.75).
All of us really liked the black bean dip, which was just spicy enough and served warm with pita points. We were also big fans of the tacos, which were soft and served with a yummy salsa verde.
The tramezzini was OK. My friends said the tuna salad was tasty, without too much mayonnaise. I tried bites of the other two sandwiches that had ham, turkey, tomato and mayonnaise. They were OK, but nothing special.
The hummus trio included edamame, jalapeño and tahini varieties. The jalapeño hummus was my favorite, slightly spicy with a little bit of cheddar. The tahini hummus was very good, and had roasted red peppers. I wasn’t a fan of the edamame hummus. The texture was chunky and the taste was bland.
We split a piece of white chocolate peppermint cheesecake — huge and wonderful. It had just the right amount of mint flavoring and a yummy dark chocolate top. We also had coffee and hot chocolate, all of which was as good as any in town.
On another visit, a friend and I had coffee and dessert. The mocha was good, but I prefer a little more espresso in mine. My friend ordered the chocolate mousse tartlet and was disappointed in the chocolate/cream flavor. I ordered the chocolate tarte and loved it. It was deliciously rich, and I’ll order it again.
Overall, I’m a fan of Dolce Vita. It’s nice to be able to try dishes and share them with friends in a warm, comfortable place downtown.
Dolce Vita
Three stars
@BR Box Type bold lede colon:Address: 484 Cherry St.
Phone number: (478) 257-6440
Hours: 8 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday; 8 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-1 a.m. Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday
Payment: Cash, credit cards
Smoking: No
Alcohol: Yes, full bar
Noise level: Low
Wheelchair accessible: Yes
Health rating: 100
Price range: $1-$10
