It’s not exactly like sitting down in your nonna’s house, while the aroma of Sunday gravy cooking wafts through. It lacks the overstuffed floral chairs and plastic flowers. But the elegant Buddy V’s Ristorante in The Grand Canal Shoppes still has a lot in common with grandma’s house (if you’re Italian), and namely in the inspiration for the menu.

Named for Buddy Valastro, star of Cake Boss, and owner of the Carlo’s Bake Shop chain on the East Coast, Buddy V’s features a piano player tickling the ivories in a sweeping bar as bright light streams through the wide windows. The dining room curves around the kitchen, with wooden tables creating that homey feeling.

As you peruse the menu, you get a feel for that family inspiration for the food: Grandma’s meatballs, My Wife’s eggplant parm, Nonna’s lasagna, Aunt Nina’s mozzarella en carozza. Buddy’s caprese salad combines Jersey beefsteak tomatoes, soft creamy burrata and balsamic, an excellent way to begin your meal. Jersey tomatoes are rumored to be exceptionally juicy and large. Aunt Nina’s specialty takes mozzarella, and basically creates a fried cheese sandwich with Genovese pesto, soft and crunchy at the same. A very familiar dish, eggplant parmigana, takes the staple and stacks three breaded, meaty slices, covering them with mozzarella, sauce and a light, tasty eggplant “tapenade.” It’s a nice twist.

Other Italian favorites populate the menu, like orecchiette and Italian sausage. This flavor-packed dish blends together the ear-shaped pasta and Italian spiced sausage with roasted tomatoes, broccolini, chili de arbol and pecorino. Linguine in a garlic oil sauce accompanies tender chicken marsala. The rich tones of the classic dish perfectly balance the linguine’s flavor.

Desserts are suitably decadent, considering the calling of the restaurant’s namesake (Carlos Bake Shop is located just across the corridor from Buddy V’s), with nutella cake and salted caramel ice cream pairing beautifully. Berries and lobster tail pastry, filled with a luscious cream, make for a pretty plate. Add in an espresso, and you can’t go wrong.

And like you might at home, consider ending the meal with a classic digestif such as limoncello or Sambuca. It’ll buy you a little more time to bask in that family feeling.

The Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian & The Palazzo, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fri.-Sat., brunch 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sun. 702.607.2355