The owners already had another successful restaurant in Merida, Oliva Kitchen + Bar nearby at the corner of Calle 49 and 56, which we have not checked out but the reviews are great.
Although we arrived a little early, our table was ready and the hostess, Melissa Marcelletti, seated us immediately. She owns the restaurant with her husband who works in the kitchen. He came over to greet us briefly then got back to work in the open kitchen near us where we could watch all of the cooking and prep work.There are three sections to the restaurant; the room you first enter has a bar with a few tables around the room and a small, open loft above with a few more tables. Then a slightly larger room past the bar with about 6 more tables, all with an open view of the kitchen, which is where we sat. The decor is modern and inventive with even the light bulbs displaying multiple filaments that look like a bunch of pasta. Draped ropes and other ornaments continue this theme, complementing the actual fresh pasta on display, hanging from a drying rack between the tables and kitchen.
As I mentioned, the place was packed and it was a vibrant, almost festive atmosphere. Perhaps about half of the guests were English speaking expats, as you would expect by this location near the bottom of Paseo de Montejo, with the other half dominated by Mexicans, mostly young, looking like successful professionals. The owners and all of the staff we had contact with all spoke English.
The home-made pasta hung on racks on a work island near us with a stack of Italian cookbooks below, proving the home-made, fresh status and lending more Italian authenticity to the entire place and the aromas from the open kitchen were very appetizing.Chris chose Arrancine for her antipasti (Appetizer). This is stuffed rice balls filled with cheese and mushrooms and then fried. The presentation was very nice and she thoroughly enjoyed the food.
I had the Bresaola -Carne de Res Curada (cured beef sliced thinner than paper) with Arugula. The meat was fantastic, so mild and it practically melted in my mouth.
Then we ordered our Primi (first course). Chris ordered a la Diavola, which is pasta with shrimp in a tomato and cheese sauce. I ordered Il Capretto which is ravioli stuffed with goat cheese and covered in parmesan cheese sauce. And then we waited. And waited.
It was EXTREMELY difficult to get continual service. It took over half an hour just to get our waiter to bring us more water. Perhaps we should have ordered both courses immediately but we didn't want them coming too close together and they didn't seem to be bothered at all when we chose to order this way.
The kitchen began to look a little troubled and disorganized with someone running full speed through in one direction or the other every few minutes. The odd dish crashed to the floor. Eventually, about 90 minutes later, our food arrived.
The presentation was beautiful and Chris' meal was perfect in every way. Mine however, was not the greatest. Although we both loved the flavour of the fresh, home-made pasta, the edges of some of my raviolis was hard, and almost crispy as though it wasn't fully cooked or perhaps it was ready too early and dried out under the heat lamps waiting to be served. It was impossible to tell exactly what the problem was underneath the sauce. But I was not in the mood to send it back and wait another 90 minutes. It was VERY edible and still somewhat enjoyable.
The last thing that happened was another surprise. I asked for the bill and it was brought with little delay in a leather-like folder. I placed cash with a generous tip into the folder and caught the waiter's eye and gave it to him telling him we did not need any change. He opened the folder and counted out all of the cash onto the table ... TWICE! That's certainly the first time that has ever happened to me! Our total bill was very reasonable; including a bottle of nice wine, and the tip, it came to just 1,250 Mexican pesos, about $100 Canadian.
Their phone number is 999-923-3081.
No comments:
Post a Comment