La Bella Vita - The Sagamore Resort — Restaurant in Town of Bolton

If I could select zero stars, I would do so. We went to celebrate a birthday at Bella Vita, and emerged tired, disappointed and angry. Once we were seated, we were given one cocktail menu for six people. We called the waiter over and asked for more menus. We eventually received one more, rather than the appropriate number for the table. The same happened with something as basic as butter, where we again had to ask and wait for enough butter for 6 people. We placed our drink order, and when the drinks came, one of them was not correct. These three steps took over 30 minutes. At this point, one of us went to speak to the host. We asked to either get a new waiter or be switched to another table. We also reminded him that there was a request for a birthday candle with dessert, and pointed out the person in our party who was celebrating. The host stared blankly and did nothing to address the service situation as the waiter continued to disappear frequently. As a result, the meal took over 3 hours, despite having an elderly person with us who was so tired by the end, she could barely walk. Of course, we all would have found the lengthy wait easier to tolerate if the food was wonderful. Sadly, it was not. The fish was dry, the meat was bland and tasteless. Dirty, used dishes and glasses remained uncleared through dessert. When we placed our dessert order, the waiter, rather than bringing the birthday celebrant's dessert with a lit candle, asked him if he wanted a candle. So much for a surprise! At no time did the host come over to our table to see if the service had improved. Nor was the atmosphere helped by the presence of a large dog in the dining room, and unsupervised children running around. We have been fortunate enough to eat at some of the finest restaurants in New York, and the idea that this restaurant cost more than some Michelin-starred dining establishments would almost be funny, if it wasn't such a total failure. Everyone in our party left feeling dispirited. On our way out, the host again missed an opportunity to rescue the evening and said nothing to us. Just a terrible, terrible experience from start to finish. Save your money and spend it anywhere else. The hospitality, the food, and the service are bound...

This lovely resort has one Achilles heel: the subpar restaurants given the price. La Bella Vita is the jewel in the crown of the Sagamore restaurants, the only one requiring reservation and by far the highest prices. You can get some of the same food at other restaurants on property. It is supposed to be high end Italian. It is not. It is good, it’s fine if you know what to order. The pasta was overcooked, the Ragu was bland. The chicken Parmesan was huge so if you want volume go for it, it was dry breaded chicken with a ton of cheese and a lot of red sauce. You could probably get that in town for less. The heirloom Tomato & burrata salad was very good, but very small - and thank goodness we ordered sauce on the side because the dressing was appalling. There is a lot of balsamic glazes on everything, and the balsamic was heavy, too sweet, viscous and tasted like it had fillers in it. The chicken saltimbocca was good. Not extraordinary, but good. This plus 1 bottle of wine was $100 per person with tip. No dessert.

Here is a note about Sagamore and the restaurants in general: there are descriptions in the menu, such as “hand squeezed Persian limes, hand squeezed California lemons, 100% organic agave, pomegranate juice”,etc. When ordering a cocktail do not believe the fancy language. They are using bottled juices filled with acidic preservatives and over-the-counter ingredients. There is no hand squeezing of exotic fruits anywhere to be seen.

The wine lists are uninspired. At other restaurants on resort property the food was good if you keep the orders simple. We tried “jumbo” shrimp cocktail: it was bland, mushy horrible and only 4 small pieces for $20 - it was sent back. If you want to have a decent meal, keep it simple and get something like a burger or a salad or fries. Otherwise, you will be paying too much for something they do not make well. The resort has a lot of children. Lots & lots of children. Which is great, but perhaps the menus are appealing to the cruise ship families who bring their kids on vacation and are just happy to have them eat, and are willing to pay for convenience. We saw other people sending food and drinks back, which were not up to the standards they perhaps expected given menu...

The Sagamore hotel is a vintage treasure hidden away in Adirondacks. Its breathtaking views and desolate location only add to the ambiance of this unique restaurant. This hidden gem is a far off the beaten track. And The La Bella Vita, Italian restaurant is an unforgettable experience, that is well worth having.There are seven other restaurants on site, this is one of my favorites.

The bar,offset by the restaurant , doubles as a cozy lounge area. Their live acts are class acts. I almost passed up the chance to sit outside and enjoy the view, to listen to the jazz musician going HAMM (respectfully so..) on his own renditions of some popular songs, that would have gotten more radio airplay- if he was the original artist. Killed it.

The menus is pricey, as to be expected. The serving sizes are filling - and the plates are artistically inclined. Even the pizza I ordered had a little character to it; I had the Classic Margherita Pizza, the crushed Roma and tomatoes were as fresh as they were tasty. The pesto and basil sauce was full of long lasting flavor. My wife had the Hand Crafted Gnocchi -- the texture of the wild mushrooms complimented the fresh spinach and salty-crispy Italian bacon perfectly. It was all smothered in a creamy pecorino sauce (aka creamy deliciousness) The Gnocchi couldn't have been cooked any better. Needless to say she enjoyed the dish. I stole a few bites - it was a classic. The dessert was Strawberry shortcake with homemade vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries - sprayed with fluffy-sweet-creamy-sweetness whip cream like substance.

The execution on classic Italian dishes as complicated as Chicken Saltimboca to as simple as Rustica Pizza, made with fresh recipes at a pleasantly executed at an award winning restaurant, that is delightfully consistent, is very refreshing. The panoramic view of the Adirondacks, and the gorgeous, makes the restaurant feel more like ant is more like an experience than,...