by Margo Callaghan

It was Wednesday night and La Villa was full of locals. Matt and I were joined by friends Robert and Kara Grist of Charlotte for an informal dinner, and La Villa is one of my regular haunts for such an occasion. Owners Jill and Adam Spell were in Florida for a much-needed vacation, but they’ll be happy to hear the place ran smoothly in their absence.

Between the four of us, there was no major entree group left unordered: fish, beef, pork, and pasta all made its way to our table. But first came the appetizers. What a surprise: Matt ordered and thoroughly enjoyed La Villa’s spicy crab cakes (he always does). Robert took advantage of the night’s special appetizer – tiger shrimp on greens with goat cheese and almonds…and he was nice enough to send a plump, meaty shrimp over to my plate – even without my asking! Once again, I overdid it with LaVilla’s fabulous bread and dipping oil. There would be no dessert for me.

Kara and I both selected classic pasta dishes. She chose the linguini with sweet Italian sausage, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. I wanted to try the linguini with meatballs, one of the few dishes I had not sampled at La Villa to date. Here is a good opportunity to mention that the beef served at La Villa comes from Boyden Farms in Cambridge and the pork makes its way to the table from Maple Wind Farm in Huntington. Although we didn’t order it, La Villa’s popular pan-seared chicken breast is from another local farm down the road at Misty Knoll.

I had a chance to taste the grilled pork tenderloin (Robert again was kind enough to share). It was flavorful and well grilled, served with a medley of roasted root vegetables. Given that the Grist’s hail from West Virginia, I was curious as to their take on the cornbread served alongside the pork. Nowhere near traditional, but this sweet moist rendition of a southern classic received thumbs up around the table. I later asked the chef for the corn bread secret, but all he would share was the recipe was Adam Spell’s.

Matt’s salmon was the only entrée that didn’t originate in Vermont, but the Spell’s go to great lengths to offer organic Scottish salmon as one of their favorite entrees. The fillet came topped with a walnut crust that offered a great textural foil to the soft meaty grilled fish.

There is a new face at LaVilla; Chef Jason Huffine. He comes to Shelburne by way of The Frisky Oyster in Greenport, Long Island. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Huffine has relocated to Shelburne along with family members Ann and their five-month-old son Travis. He is bringing his talent for cooking with local harvests to the table at LaVilla. "I’m working with Adam on the new spring menu items [which should be available next week – hopefully after all threats of snow]. We’ll be introducing a few new creations, but keeping our customers’ favorites," said Huffine.

So stop by LaVilla. Say hello to Jason and sample the new items for spring. And see if you can snag that cornbread recipe for me.

Dine in or pick up Monday-Thursday 11 a.m-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. and Sundays 4-8:30 p.m. For more information or reservations contact Jill or Adam at 985-2596.