March 6, 2009: Cannoli Joe’s Tex-Italian Wine Tasting
     The delightful Vanessa Tobias  invited us to be her guest at the weekly Tex-Italian Wine Tasting at Cannoli Joe’s this past Wednesday.  If you have not visited the exceptional restaurant for this weekly festivity,  you definitely need to take all your friends and enjoy a weeknight treat.
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     If you have not experienced Cannoli Joe’s before, it’s an Italian theme park for culinary fans.  The old Wolfe Nursery on Highway 290 next to Burger Center has been reimagined with several themed dining rooms and an incredible “buffet” of cuisine.  I hesitate to use the word “buffet,” because all the dishes are made from scratch, prepared in small batches, and cooked in exhibition kitchens immediately behind the food displays.  This is quality food, folks!
    Our visit included a personal tour by owner Don "Skeeter" Miller - he of The County Line fame, which also created Cannoli Joe’s.  Skeeter pointed out all the extensive decor, including the antique wood ceiling that used to be a sugar mill in Louisiana, and the very inviting bar.
      But the weekly highlight is the wine celebration, hosted by the restaurant each Wednesday and Thursday night starting at 6 p.m..  Live jazz combines with wine sampling stations set up along the buffet line.  And you can purchase the featured wines by the glass for only $4.00, or by the bottle for just $16.00 (and these are high quality wines!) - and all the proceeds from the wine sales benefit a different non-profit organization each week.  The program started in November, and to date Cannoli Joe’s has donated more than $12,500 from the wine sales to area charities.
     So for just $13.99 per person you get all the made-from-scratch gourmet Italian offerings you can handle (I highly recommend the pasta dishes and grilled salmon), plus quality wines at ridiculously low prices.  You can feast like a gourmand and benefit the community simultaneously.  Seriously folks - go check out the wine dinner event at the restaurant this week!
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