Description: The Villa Florentia doesn't belong. It's some sort of time/space warp, probably engineered by Sun Ra or Charlie Parker.
OK, first of all, this is essentially rural Mexico. And Puerto Angel is very remote, lightly populated, not particularly visited by tourists, and just generally a complete backwater. There are actually very few restaurants for a beach town.
So when you step through the brick arches and hanging greenery of Villa Florentia to find yourself in a tastefully appointed, formal dining room hung with great art and drenched with the sounds of Vangelis or Billy Holiday or cool jazz, you just might have done the time warp again. Then you look at the menu.
The Villa is predominantly Italian, but also provides international entrees. I confined myself to the Italian menu, which was pretty astonishing, all things considered. They actually know how to make an Alfredo sauce: from scratch and with refinements. Their carbonara is advertised as "from an old family recipe" and there is no reason to doubt it: it has authority, uniqueness, and exactly the right ingredients and preparation. They use pasta from Italy. This is not only in Mexico, but backwater Mexico.
Service is excellent, with cloth napkins, sparkling glasses, correctly decanted wine. OK, they serve commercial ice-cream instead of gelati, but it's good. The Villa does what a restaurant is supposed to do: makes you comfortable, surrounds you with a pleasing visual and auditory environment, and brings you food that is nourishing, tasty, and interesting. Brava!
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