I had purchased a gift certificate from restaurant.com to Milano Cafe and we decided to give it a try last night. Note to anyone else having such certificates - if you wait too long to use them, you will be dining on typical bar food instead of Italian. We were informed that they are changing their menu to reflect more what the "Baxter Ave Scene" is demanding. Their words, not mine.
Our first impression, upon entering was an air of mixed signals. It looks like a bar even including tall tables at which to stand (no chairs), but has a menu that reads like Primo. We were told to sit anywhere and after a ten minute wait, figured that the only person working front of the house was the bartender. So, we moved to the bar. I wanted iced tea and my other half ordered a beer. We made our decisions and started to order. It was explained to us that, since the menu was changing in a few days, they were out of salads. They actually told us were could get the Caprese, but they were out of basil! (REALLY!?!?!?!) So, we ordered an aspargus risotto to split, I got chicken alfredo with tagliatelle pasta and Gordy got the swordfish with shrimp penne. We were brought a basket of fresh, slightly warm bread (soft, rather boring) served with rock hard butter pats. All three dishes came out pretty quickly. I had to ask the server to take the alfredo back to the kitchen to be heated up and we sent the asparagus back because it tasted like vomit (I am NOT making this up!) The swordfish dish was actually quite tasty and the alfredo was ok. There was not one single solitary piece of adornment on the plates. My alfredo literally had chicken. pasta and sauce. That's all!
While eating we talked to the bartender/server who showed us the upcoming menu. I took this opportunity to ask him if the intention was for the place to be a restaurant or a bar. He said more of a bar. A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the liquor laws for that area. I was looking over the proposed new mwnu and noticed that they were adding a hot brown (with cheddar cheese - ugh!) I asked him if he was from Louisville - yes he replied. So, I begged him to at least make it as close to the original as possible - use parm, not cheddar! He acquiesced and changed the menu. I did suggest the substitution of pancetta for bacon to make it more Italian! He also mentioned that the owners were getting ready to open another place on Shelbyville Road out past Hurstbourne called Da Vinci's. I wish them luck, but it seems more intelligent to make sure what you have is finely tuned before starting something else. Anyway, we took home an order of lasagne to try and we might give them another shot after the new menu gets broken in, but all in all, not impressed.
