It’s been ages since our last visit (and Chef Angelo’s departure), but since its facelift, we decided it was about time we visited our old friend. The place is still comfortable and cozy—then again it might have just been us being sentimental fools. The new interior boasts grey booths, dark furnishings, wood accents and mood lighting. The walls are peppered with black and white photos of Italian icons like Sophia Loren and Andrea Bocelli making it impossible to ignore the restaurant’s ambiance.
We settled easily into our seats and opened our meal with a Caesar salad of well-dressed leaves, slices of parmesan cheese, topped with a poached egg and circles of streaky bacon that crumbled easily. Their interpretation involved a thin slice of toasted baguette, but we would have preferred the more traditional croutons instead for that added crunch.
We took the wait staff’s suggestion to try one of their more popular dishes, the Capesante e gamberi, which turned out to be a good decision on our part. The duo of scallops and garlic prawns was a flavorful effort. The black caviar and onion confit accentuated the natural sweetness of the plump pan-seared scallops. While the fresh prawns matched the sundried tomato pesto and lemon butter nicely, we craved a stronger garlic taste.
Try as we might, the carb lover in us just could not say “No” to pasta. The Fedelini al limone sounded particularly inviting, so we succumbed to temptation. Regrettably, it almost made us wish we hadn’t, or that we’d at least made an effort to state our preference for al dente pasta. Our overcooked fedelini lacked bite and fell short on lobster pieces. However, the mildly tangy sauce of limoncello (lemon liqueur), butter, shallots, mascarpone cheese and lemon juice was creamy without being too heavy.
For dessert, we could not pass up the quintessential Tiramisù traditionale—alternating layers of coffee liqueur-soaked savoiardi (sponge fingers) with mascarpone cheese and whipped cream, and a sprinkling of grated chocolate.
Granted, none of the dishes were particularly earth-shattering, but it was still an enjoyable experience.
