Il Cena'colo

Hard not to love this upscale, somewhat pricey but ultimately classy and adventurous restaurant. You'd almost miss it driving by, that's how unremarkable it is from the outside, but once you step inside (and down actually, as it's set up almost like a basement restaurant in Italy) there's no mistaking the delicious food that comes at you from all angles. The menu has a great selection of appetizers, salads, pastas, fish/seafood, meats, and chicken dishes, but it's the lengthy daily specials that are what really offers up the surprises. Creamy oyster soup, steamed clams in garlic, wine, olive oil & lemon, fresh anchovy platter with carmelized onions, fettucini with a creamy tomato sauce filled with succulent lobster meat, and quail stuffed with sausage, wrapped in pancheta and served over polenta are just some of the tasty items we've had here. Yes, the wines are expensive, and desserts, while great, also will run up your tab, but if you are looking for a great meal, a dinner for two (2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 drinks) will run you about $100 and it's well worth it. Service is fantastic, and the ambience is nice, though very dark.

For years I wanted to try this restaurant and after reading so many great reviews I knew it was time to give it a try.  My hubby and I went on a Wednesday night and there were about five tables of customers but I wasn't surprised since it was the middle of the week.  I liked the decor immediately - warm, dimly lit and inviting - like you were inside your grandmothers house - with serving stations at the front and the back of the dining room.  So the waiter comes over and leaves us with a wine list and two menus and after about 10 minutes comes to get our drink orders.  Upon getting our drinks he asks us if we want to hear the specials and we immediately say yes as nothing on the menu was grabbing us.  So he goes through this gargantuous list and I am having a hard time taking it all in.  Again, nothing sounded really appealing to me among the selections being offered.  I didn't want the same old same old I can get at any Italian restaurant and yet I didn't want vennison, rabbit, trout, duck, etc.  Well we settled on the boratta cheese appetizer with prosciutto and peppers and the fried calamari - both were excellent.  I decided on the sausage stuffed quail wrapped in pancetta on top of polenta and my hubby had the chicken breast with fontina cheese & prosciutto with a brown mushroom sauce - unfortunately our entrees were just not good - the quails were stuffed with an entire sausage link inside each one which overwhelmed the taste and the polenta was a drippy, tasteless mess.  The chicken breast was a huge breast underneath a glop of cheese and sauce - my hubby ate more than half because he was hungry.  So the waiter passes by and sees that I have pushed my dish aside but makes no attempt to remove my plate, ask me if I wanted anything else or offer me another drink - in fact they never asked or brought out more than one drink to each of us - strange - especially since we declined water.  Finally the waiter comes back and sees my plate and I tell him it wasn't for me so he says he would take it off the bill.  They offer us dessert and I have the cinnamon bread pudding which was divine and my hubby had the strawberry sorbet which was great - our cappucinos were not so great though - they tasted old as if the cappucino machine hadn't been cleaned out in a while and they had an aftertaste.  Maybe we went on an off night or maybe our entree choices weren't the best choices so I may have to go again and try something else before I say sayonara to this place just yet.

4.5. We were passing through the area and hoped to find a great Italian place.  We did!  It doesn't look like much from the outside but as soon as you walk through the front door the aroma tells you that you have arrived. The inside is small but very cute and the delights arrive course by course. Endive and leeks with broiled smoked mozzarella. Osso bucca which falls off the bone. Cheesecake made in house. This is one of those places we'll remember in years to come.