A few of us had dined at this site when it was Vico, another classy establishment of Italian cuisine. The entry was similar with a polished bar on the left and high tables on the right, with a narrow walkway to enter the framed opening that led to the next room. The main dining area, then, was a smallish area, with tables appropriately set.

            Savona’s has stepped up quite a notch, with a vibrant Hudson feel to it. These two rooms still exist but… three more levels, each descending past the next one awaits with a capacity of a hundred or more. Our room, with six steps downward, was a cozy 20 x 40, somewhat dim and quite noisy. Savona’s furnishings are still tastefully done. The “outside” wall of windows looked down a couple steps to the attached and covered deck, with heaters, and beyond that lay a “backyard” area, another several steps down. We were impressed.

This Savona is one of four, part of an apparently successful dining business in the Hudson Valley.

After a few of us used our cell phone as a flashlight to view the menu, we selected:

• Crimini mushroom truffle risotto
• Tuscan chicken Milanese
• Chicken pepperoni parmigiana
• Bucatini carbonara
• Salmon limoncello
• Mussel and shrimp fra diavlo PEI

            and there might have been another one I missed. Deb’s order of chicken salad Marsala was mis-heard as chicken Milanese, an error Deb lived with.

A couple beers here, a couple bottles of wine there, a couple sodas/water there and our imbibing desires were fulfilled.

Sated appetites made the dessert menu less compelling and the table passed once again.

The bill, per couple, ranged from $70-$120, depending on the bottle of wine and if an appetizer was ordered.

Our wait person did a steady job, she herself needing more light to record our orders, and straining to hear our orders. Time between each course seemed a little longer than usual; whether it is Savona’s practice or a busy night or short staffing, we did not know. For a group that is comfortable with a 100-120 minute start to finish meal, this evening’s 150 minutes was beginning to drag.

Conversations along the two-sides-of-four meant a couple conversations were happening at the same time, maybe more, so this scribe’s ears heard a fraction. Still, among those I heard:

the drought is over and the grass is hopping-April/May-green, gardening winding down, lots of four-legged visitors to bushes and yards, the straightened road of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, the closing of backyard pools, Mark’s progress on the flip house (good, when he stays home!), friends with cancer, Covid here and there, Deb T’s wildflower garden (and Clematis Club garden of month), the Karnes to the Finger Lakes, the Karnes traveling soon to Santa Fe and area nearby, Deb K’s 50 states quest, the Notars smaller jaunts, the Monteverds heading southward for October to return for DP8 Christmas, the Monteverds upcoming cruise, the Teators heading for Egypt in November, “getting it while the getting is good”, winter plans (four gone, four here), doctors’ appointments, general good health of all, doings of children and grandchildren, progress of house across from Teators, the dredging of the Greenville pond, the damage caused by Hurricane Ian, the safety of friends and family in the path of the hurricane, horse ranch work/play, and more that marks our lives.