I stopped at this Italian restaurant in the strip mall on Lake Mary Blvd and Rinehart (has the Burger Fi) yesterday. It seemed to be under construction for a year and finally opened three weeks ago. It was great. You know I usually take no joy in trying yet another Italian option, but, they may replace F&D as my Lake Mary fave. The place looks appealing. The menu is great. The execution was spotless. The service was friendly. The prices were reasonable. They even played background music (mellow Sinatra) at a unobtrusive volume. I had something from the lunch menu. It is less expansive than the dinner, but, not a four or five item cop out. I had the Italian Mac and Cheese for $12. I just saw an episode of 3D and Kid Rock took him to a place where they claim to have the best mac and cheese. It must have been on my mind. And then I saw Italian sausage and I had to have it. It had plenty of diced up sausage along with a blend of gooey cheese and sliced garlic and orecchiette and bread crumbs. A nice combo. Perfect portion size. The pasta was toothy. Sun dried tomatoes added some contrast to the savory elements. They also added some thyme or oregano. It wasn't salty. It came with some fairly good reheated rolls. The soda glass was large. They had other things like pizza and subs and meats done alla francese, marsala, etc. I saw a huge burger being delivered to another table. I was there at two pm and it was still about a third full. It seats about sixty in the windowed main room (with a bar) and thirty on an outside patio. The decor is more modern casual French or American, but, it works. Lots of wood. Black palette. everything is new. They have one of those sliding farm door at the rear. The kitchen is pretty much out of sight. The wine list wasn't picked by the distributor. It had some interesting options. Same with the hard stuff. Mostly well chosen. The beer seemed to be widely distributed craft options like Shocktop. The pizza area is up front. I think you can grab slices to go. The dinner menu has sixteen items ranging from burrata to carpaccio to chicken wings to some sliced sausage ring and fennel and broccoli rabe thing called Meeker Ave. If they were really serious they would dump things like mozz sticks and wings, but, it makes the place more accessible and it doesn't seem to hurt the authentic stuff. Pastas like cacio e pepe. While not mixed in a wheel of cheese, it is good to see that some one in this town has heard of it and is offering a version. It's one of about a dozen pastas. Sixteen including "classics". There are four fish dishes and four chicken dishes and four veal dishes. Six beef/steak dishes. Four salads. Two soups. Five heros. Five calzones/stromboli. Seven desserts. They even have a kids section The highest priced thing is steak at $33. Fish is in the low $20's. Pasta in the teens. A 10" pizza is $8. a 14" is $13. I thoroughly intend on coming back and it will be on my "favorites" list. Very surprising. Very welcome. I couldn't find out much if anything about ownership or the kitchen.
*11/25/2018 - I returned for dinner and it was less inspiring. My cacio e pepe tasted of neither. Nor seasoned. I tried a piece of a friends chicken dish and the chicken was rubbery. My salad came on a frigid plate that denoted pre-assembly and staging that you see at catered affairs. It tasted similarly The mussel soup was also unseasoned and bland. The calamari was good. The chicken wings were bland. The salmon looked unappealing (over cooked). They didn't serve bread. I'll chalk it up to Thanksgiving weekend fatigue. I'll give them one more shot to get back on my good side. Place was packed though.
**12/12/2018 - I grabbed their two slice and a drink special today. The pizza was good. They get back into my good graces.
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