A couple of years ago I was planning a driving trip from Birmingham to Charleston. These days, we don’t drive more than six hours in a day and Macon looked like a convenient stopping point. I looked for hotels that’d be easy to get to from the highways we were taking and that might have a decent restaurant nearby. The Homewood Suites and Natalia’s fit the bill. My expectations of that first visit weren’t high – an Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Macon? We were stunned. The main dining rooms are elegant. Beautifully decorated with reds & golds & cream colors. An excellent wine list, superb service and food. A restaurant that would compete successfully in the middle of any great food city in the country. We get to the coast a couple of times a year and Natalia’s has become an essential part of the trip. This time, we were at the very end of a seventeen day journey that had included fabulous meals in Orlando, St. Augustine and Charleston. We might’ve been jaded by that point but Natalia’s more than held its own. One of the things I appreciate about the menu is that the pastas and filets are all available as full or smaller portions, so it’s possible to do a traditional three course meal. I started with grilled octopus served on a bed of blackeye peas, perfectly seasoned, the octopus as tender and flavorful as one could wish. The ravioli del giorno was duck in a cream sauce with scatterings of crisped duck skin across the top. The only drawback is I won’t be able to have ravioli anywhere else for six months – not until the memory of these has faded enough that someone else’s preparation won’t just be a disappointment. For the entrée, a medium rare filet with the marsala mushroom sauce. The filet, perfectly cooked, with a slight char and cool tender center, covered in the rich, thick sauce full of sliced mushrooms. Natalia’s has an excellent wine list, with selections from across the globe, but I typically stick with their Italians. This time a Castellani Amarone that needed only fifteen minutes in the decanter to open up wonderfully. For dessert Lynn ordered the delicious pumpkin cheesecake which the two of us managed to almost finish, accompanied by a couple of glasses of tawny port. Wonderful service, an engaging room. As satisfying a dining experience as one could hope for. We’ll be back in February.