It's hard to believe that such a place exists in Richmond's Shockoe Bottom, home of the trendy, but there it is. Vitello's, which formerly operated as an independent restaurant on Broad Street, is now Vitello's Room, the restaurant portion of Catch-22, a cigar and martini bar. But if what you want is traditional upscale Italian fare and atmosphere, just go and enjoy. Ignore the bizarre, stripped-down look of the bar you'll pass on your way to the back room and the 1950s. No explanations about the dishes are needed here.
Warm bread comes with each entree.
You'll have to make a special request for vegetarian offerings. Prices tend to be high, but the servings are ample. My husband and I shared both appetizer and dessert, and we took home half each of our entrees . . . Everything was prepared well and presented nicely . . . not imaginatively, but traditionally, with parsley sprigs, for example, and halved cherry tomatoes. And everything tasted just right.