Living the Good Life at La Dolce Vita

"Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used."
William Shakespeare

One of the first things I noticed when moving from San Diego to Petaluma was the prevalence of good restaurants and watering holes, all within walking distance. An early and continued favorite is in the Theater District.

There isn't much better in life than taking your girl out for a great glass of wine, good food, and a movie. With its relaxed and comfortable atmosphere, La Dolce Vita is one of the more pleasant surprises I've found up here. It takes its name from Federico Fellini's classic 1960 film: La Dolce Vita, meaning the good life.

The first thing you notice when you walk into the restaurant is the nightly movie playing on the wall above the bar. La Dolce Vita celebrates retro-hip '50s and '60s culture with films such as "West Side Story", "Funny Face", "North by Northwest," and of course its signature "La Dolce Vita." Native Petaluman Sahar Gharai's philosophy behind the restaurant is that wine should celebrate a person's daily life.

I'm not a wine guy as a rule, although I've always loved a good, rich red wine. But as I get older, wine becomes a more important part of my life's good times. Like so many of my generation I've discovered that drinking wine is as individualistic as the person sipping from the glass. Gharai, who studied microbiology at UC Berkeley, opened the business as a direct result of her personal love for wine.

"I grew up around wine," saud Gharai. "My parents always loved to talk about wine and discover new wineries in the region." Gharai's parents came from Iran, and owned the Chevron station for more than 30 years on the corner of B Street and Petaluma Boulevard.

After graduating from college, Gharai moved to Italy and studied wine in Florence. Her time there reinforced a love and appreciation of wine, while her science background helped her understand the chemical process which goes into making wine.

"Though I started out in college to become a doctor, I soon realized that my passion in life was wine," she says.

Developing her own palette and knowledge of wine varieties, regions, flavors, and the ability to talk wine, gave her the confidence to enter the business.

"I came out of Italy appreciating European wines. I learned to appreciate a wider spectrum of wine. Before that I just knew what I liked," said Gharai.

At La Dolce Vita, you can certainly be a wine connoisseur, talking wine and reveling in its atmosphere. Yet you can also enjoy a glass without knowing anything other than what's in that glass tastes good.

La Dolce Vita celebrates this flexibility. I have been there for dinner and serious conversation. I have also been there for drinks and unwinding. Wine is both sophisticated and serious, yet at the same time, irreverent. Like Jake Barnes lying on the banks of the river with his wine chilling in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, wine can be as much about an afternoon on a summer day as it is a late evening in winter.

Gharai's parents were a direct influence on her 2007 decision to build her restaurant. Together, they saw the potential in Petaluma's Theater District, which just a few years earlier had been empty fields and a used car lot. They were small business owners in Petaluma who understood the changing business climate, and knew their daughter had a unique ability and passion for wine.

"They came to me and said you have a lot wine knowledge and you should open up a business that utilizes it," said Gharai. "They helped me go through the process of starting up; meanwhile I worked for a number of people who taught me how to run a wine business."

She particularly credits Marcy Roth, proprietor of Baccus and Venus in Sausalito, with helping her learn the business of wine. Since Gharai's opening in September 2007, she says she has never regretted the hard work and long hours which create a place she knows her customers enjoy.

"Eighty percent of my customers are regulars. Many of them are not just customers, but have become good friends," said Gharai.

Though she emphasizes films from the 50s and 60s, she has been known to show soccer matches, has held an Academy Awards viewing night, and regularly takes customer film suggestions. Everything from "Casablanca" to "Grease" to James Bond movies can be seen, depending on the night.

"I try to have a movie night one Sunday a month where I feature a film and play it with the sound on. I'll make complementary gourmet popcorn for everyone to enjoy." said Gharai. "I am always open for suggestions on what to show for movie night" 

La Dolce Vita is located at 151 Petaluma Blvd. South. The restaurant is open from 5-10 p.m., but is closed Mondays. Not surprisingly Gharai says her busiest nights are Fridays and Saturdays, while Sundays and Tuesdays are usually the nights customers can be sure of getting a table without a long wait.