By Our Correspondent

Bollate Restaurant is pleasantly tucked back into a beautiful green neighborhood. It is just around the corner from Pepe's Café. This brand new restaurant is located in what must have been an amazingly opulent home. The building has a massive porch for pleasant outside dining and extensive gardens. There are even tables scattered about the garden for those who enjoy eating on the lawn.

I was given a tour by the director of the restaurant, a delightful woman appropriately named Gladness Mbise. She led me through the tables on the spacious and calm veranda and into the dining rooms. The dining rooms are immaculately furnished with classy unpretentious art and the many tables are set with sparkling cutlery and dishes, with cloth napkins expertly folded. The bar looked particularly inviting, the bar stools looking at once modern and sheik yet cozy. The dark wood of the bar gave the place a warm, comfortable aura without compromising classiness in the least.

Gladness explained that Bollate is a small town in Italy, somewhat near Milan. But please don't assume that Italian Cuisine is the only trick up Bollate's sleeve. They have an astoundingly diverse menu and  their wine and beer list is quite extensive. Bollate also offers many sodas and fresh fruit juices for all of you teetotalers out there. A variety of sandwiches are available, all served with chips and salad.

A Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich, a Club sandwich and an assortment of Burgers are all offered.

The Mexican food menu must be the most extensive in town. Bollate offers Guacamole, refried beans, salsa, quesadillas with several different fillings, fajitas, soft tacos, enchiladas, and a smooth and refreshing avocado soup, as well as a black bean soup. I had the quesadilla with refried beans which came beautifully presented on the plate, with the quesadilla cut into quarters with a large dollop of guacamole in the middle and salad filling the gaps.

The Italian menu was strong, loaded with pizza and pastas. I tried the "Pasta Arrabiata," which was mildly spiced and also beautifully presented. I was tempted to try the "Pizza Verde" (with spinach and avocado), but that will have to wait until next time. The Continental Menu drew my attention with the "Thai Style Pumpkin Soup" which turned out to be subtle and served with bread sans crust. The broccoli soup looked interesting as well.