Due Amici, College Park (Closed)

I tried this new (two weeks) Italian restaurant in the old Kingfish location on Edgewater and the street that leads to I-4 (not sure if that is Princeton going that way) today at lunch. It's somewhere between an average Italian place and a good Americanized one. They said they have a location in Tampa. This is number two. I had a lasagna for $10 and a personal pizza to go for $8. The lasagna was a bit bland and I didn't like the sauce. They added carrots and celery to the tomato sauce. I don't want a V8 in my sauce. Especially not chunks. Celery has a disagreeable flavor if it has any at all. And carrot can as well. At best it gives a sweetness that this sauce already had too much of. It made me think of all those kids whose mothers sneak veggies into their brownies, etc. The horror. The pasta was also dried out on the edges (reheating) and seemed under boiled in general. The cheeses seemed low quality. It was a big square though. It came with a garlic knot that was tough and dry in the center and top. The bottom was a bit more moist. The pizzas I saw on the other tables looked a bit prettier than my plain cheese one. I'm not sure how they cooked it. It had no char, so, I'm thinking conveyer belt. It was a bit nicer than those though. On the positive side, it had good cheese coverage, was thin and the crust was tiny. On the negative side, the cheese was cheap (salty and rubbery and congealed quickly) and they doused it with garlic olive oil that had raw chucks of garlic in it. I thought it was more "chunky soup" sauce, but, I think it was the oil. Not much sauce now that we are speaking about it. They are serving a soft opening menu of the pizzas, three burgers, the pizzas and two more pasta dishes. I just saw a show that says the bigger the menu the greater the chance of frozen items being used. Hopefully this menu precludes that. I would ask them to ask themselves whether they want to be a two star or three star place. They need better execution in the kitchen and better ingredients in the larder for that to happen. As of now it is probably no better (or worse) than the other American Italian places already in business on Edgewater. The place is basic inside. It seats about thirty. Tables of two or four. Bar in the rear. Brick backdrop. 40 and 50's music (think Sinatra) over the speakers. Faux marble counter tops on plywood tables. You can see the underside. I hope they aspire to more than mediocrity. If they tweak things a bit, that should be possible.