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Deb Hall

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CENA Italian Trattoria open!

by Deb Hall » Thu Aug 07, 2014 2:39 pm

The pictures they been posting on Facebook of the new menu look amazing: https://www.facebook.com/theplacedowsntairsatMBB ( porchetta or Bistecca Florentina 32 oz t-bone anyone? :wink: ) Coming from Fernando, Cristina and their restaurant team, this promises to be great! And they take reservations :D ( I already made a reservation for next week- can't wait! )

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Last edited by Deb Hall on Sun Aug 10, 2014 11:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Robin Garr

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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by Robin Garr » Thu Aug 07, 2014 2:56 pm

Deb Hall wrote:( I already made a reservation for next week- can't wait! )

Please take a moment or a few to post a report, Deb!
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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by Deb Hall » Thu Aug 07, 2014 3:10 pm

Will do, Robin! :D
I'll see if I can get a copy of the menu to post here too- the sneak preview one I saw several weeks ago looked really enticing and looked like there would be lots of different price points. I'm so happy to have an addition to the (few) great Italian places we have in town.
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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by JustinHammond » Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:31 pm

Just got back. Too full for a full report, but it was awesome. Don't miss out on the mussels.

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"The idea is to eat well and not die from it-for the simple reason that that would be the end of your eating." - Jim Harrison

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Kris Billiter

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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by Kris Billiter » Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:40 pm

So after asking if it was ok, we got brave and brought our 8 and 4 year old with us tonight. For the most part they did great. My 4 year old devoured the mussels. He loved them while my daughter loved the campfire jar and the arancini. The arancini were the best version I've had. As justin said, the mussels are great. Spicy broth with sausage,peppers, capers, olives and tomatoes. The gnocchi and carbonara were big hits as well.
We got the porchetta which was amazing. They cook it three different times in varying ways to provide incredibly moist pork with the crunchier skin I have ever had. All four of us loved it. The side of polenta with mushrooms was runnier than I expected but not in a bad way. The zepolis and the house version of tiramisu were a perfect way to end the meal.
Service was very good but expect a leisurely pace. I expect this will be a huge hit and that Fernando and crew will be right about it being a little more approachable to the general public, more so than TPD. Once again the price point was good. The bisteca (32 oz. t bone) is at $60 with the other family style entrees at or below $30. Pastas were around $15 or so and most apps and jars around $9.
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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by Deb Hall » Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:04 am

Kris,
Nice review. ( just don't tell my 10 year old that your kids got to go :wink: - he'd be very jealous. We'll take him some time soon. :D

Full review later as I have meetings, but the food was both fabulous (!) and very well priced as everything is served family style- each for sharing with others. The entrees and antipasti are for 2-3 people. Our porchetta was perfectly cooked and huge ( about the size of an entire pork tenderloin) - easily feeding the two of us plus sharing with friends, with plenty porky goodness to bring home for $29. $8-$9 apps were large and also easily fed 2+. Our table was joking that these "were practically Olive Garden" prices - though admittedly none of us has been to the aforementioned place. :wink: :lol: The point being it was a very reasonable price- two people could split an antipasti, and entree and a dessert for less than $50 without alcohol. :D
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Last edited by Deb Hall on Fri Aug 08, 2014 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by Aaron Newton » Fri Aug 08, 2014 11:40 am

It's opening tonight?

Guess they cancelled my reservation for tomorrow night for nothing then. :|
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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by Deb Hall » Fri Aug 08, 2014 12:00 pm

Aaron- that's disappointing. I'm guessing they cancelled because they weren't sure of the date of re-opening until the last couple of days-at one point they weren't re-opening until next week. Definitely worth trying again.

Note- if you are trying to make reservations, the GM told me last night that it's still on Open Table as "The Place Downstairs", not CENA yet.

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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by Aaron Newton » Fri Aug 08, 2014 12:03 pm

Deb Hall wrote:Aaron- that's disappointing. I'm guessing they cancelled because they weren't sure of the date of re-opening until the last couple of days-at one point they weren't re-opening until next week. Definitely worth trying again.


I'm sure that was the thinking just still disappointing. Can't really rearrange the alternate plans we made at this point I don't think... Oh well.
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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by Deb Hall » Fri Aug 08, 2014 1:37 pm

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Andrew Mellman

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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria opening Friday night!

by Andrew Mellman » Sat Aug 09, 2014 8:56 am

Four of us went last night (Friday night).

The first thing that hits you is that the "vibe" has totally changed from The Place Downstairs! Hard to delineate, but in brief every table was full, everybody was laughing and talking, it was loud, and it was very casual (lots of shorts). I think a part was the PGA, with several big tables that had come from the course, but still it was an overall atmosphere very different from The Place Downstairs's more formal and quiet milieu.

For appetizers, our friends had three crostini (choice of 3 for $8). We have no idea how they tasted, as the (former?) friends scarfed them down in record time and didn't even leave us a crumb to try. They did let us try one of the fried Goat Cheese ($8) balls with basil pesto and truffle honey, and it was so light it literally melted in your mouth! While both presentations were exceptional – not as "busy" or formal as The Place Downstairs but still placed with obvious care – the Goat Cheese could have been framed!

My wife and I split a Primi of Linguini Frutti di Marre as an appetizer ($18). This could have been a nice dinner portion, but was perfect for the two of us with a couple of shrimp, four mussels, and a lot of squid in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. I normally like a spicier version, but I was taking the bread and wiping up all of the gravy after finishing the pasta!

For dinner, our friends' roasted Black Bass ($35) had a wonderful presentation. They take the bass, filet it (a few bones were found, but that always happens), and then put it back together so it appeared to be a whole fish on the platter. We were allowed to try that one, and the rich flavor was wonderful – much more than expected from what can be a very mild fish. As a side (one comes with each entrée) they had broccolini, which they declared to be the best version that they had ever tried.

We had the whole roasted chicken ($28), a partially boned (breast) quartered bird with crisp skin but incredibly juicy and flavorful meat, and surrounded in the attractive serving piece with a panzanella of bread, tomatoes, and fruit acting almost as a "stuffing" as it soaked up the flavorful juices. We ended up taking a few pieces home, only because we wanted to save room for dessert! Our side was polenta with mushrooms, a soft version of silky smooth polenta with a rich umami mushroom background flavor and what we thought might be a tad of cheese.

For dessert the friends had Cena's version of tiramisu, really closer to a coffee mousse covered by a coffee granite – different dessert but perfect for those who like a strong coffee flavor. We also had the doughnuts stuffed with ricotta and served with a Nutella sabayon sauce, which tasted as good as it sounds, quite rich (both the dough and sauce) but a perfect ending to the meal.

Our total check for two was $76, including two of their special drinks (but not including tip); our friends' check was slightly less, as they only had one drink.

We can't wait to go back, as the only real negative to the evening was that there were just too many menu options that we had wanted to try but just could not.
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Deb Hall

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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria open!

by Deb Hall » Sun Aug 10, 2014 11:51 pm

We had a pleasure of going to CENA with another couple, and we all walked away thoroughly impressed! As Andrew described, while the actual space hasn’t changed much from The Place Downstairs, CENA has a decidedly more “upscale casual” vibe to it. But while the price point has dropped significantly, the food we had at this new concept demonstrated the same level of excellence in flavor and quality as we’ve had at TPD.

Keeping in mind that the dishes at CENA are served family-style (each serving 2-3), we started with a selection of crostini ( 3 for $8). All 4 we had were large ( we split each in quarters to share) and very flavorful. The antipasti’s/appetizers were all tempting; they range in price from $6-$14 and the portions on our two were substantial- easily shared by 2-3. The heirloom tomato salad with burrata and pesto tasted like a bowl full of summer with its amazing heirlooms, and the burrata was some of the best I’ve had. The fried goat cheese ( 5 good-sized balls) were perfectly fried and in an amazing truffle-honey sauce- we asked for a spoon to get the leftover on the bottom. For entrees, we shared 3 ( 2 would have been plenty, but everything looked so good it was hard to choose). Our vegetarian pasta – Cappellacci with Spinach/Ricotta/Marscapone/Tomato Sauce (‏ ( $15had beautiful strips of fresh pasta - I assume housemade- in a great sauce. The Gnocchi with Fennel Sausage/‏ Ricotta/San Marzano Tomatoes/Oven Roasted Fennel ($16) was perfectly cooked with some very flavorful fennel sausage ( again housemade?) My personal favorite was our Porchetta ( $29)- a huge piece of pork goodness with a perfect crispy crust, topped with green apple slivers and raisins. We’d had porchetta in Italy and this was a fabulous version- all succulent pork and crispy , fatty crust. The porchetta fed 3 with leftovers (making my husband very happy today with a sandwich made of those leftovers).

Although thoroughly stuffed at this point, we still couldn’t resist ordering dessert made by their pastry chef. We split an order of the zeppoles with Nutella dipping sauce, and the cake with olive oil cake crust, mascarpone and berry. While the zeppoles were great, the latter was the winner – a truly decadent Italian cheesecake with many layers of flavors. As a baker, I’m really picky about dessert, and I’m still dreaming about that cake….

CENA is a fantastic addition to our Louisville dining scene and we see ourselves visiting often- both with and without kids. We can't wait to go back- ( I already have a reservation for Wednesday with friends :wink: ) With this level of food ( and a great price point)- it promises to be an(other) huge hit for the supremely talented Martinez team! And they take reservations- make them NOW folks.
Deb
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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria open!

by TracyBasham » Mon Aug 25, 2014 11:02 am

My husband & I had a wonderful meal at Cena on Saturday night. I can honestly say there were no complaints whatsoever with the food & service. We left with full bellies :D and a take home bag of leftovers.

Chef Fernando has this Italian thing down for sure!

Our meal choices were:
APP: Bone Marrow, 3 salumi selections
DINNER: Gnocchi, Porketta
DESSERT: Zeppoles
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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria open!

by TP Lowe » Sun Feb 01, 2015 8:36 am

My first visit to Cena last night - what an odd physical set-up for this place. Food was quite good, but some of the poorest (if polite) service on the planet. It was so loud our sever couldn't hear at least two of four parties at our table and of the two of us he could hear he failed to deliver one item until asked a third time. Noticed the same thing for the table next to us. Rather surprised by it all, and not in any big hurry to go back.
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Re: CENA Italian Trattoria open!

by sam.patton » Wed Feb 04, 2015 10:13 pm

TP Lowe wrote:My first visit to Cena last night - what an odd physical set-up for this place. Food was quite good, but some of the poorest (if polite) service on the planet. It was so loud our sever couldn't hear at least two of four parties at our table and of the two of us he could hear he failed to deliver one item until asked a third time. Noticed the same thing for the table next to us. Rather surprised by it all, and not in any big hurry to go back.


Owner's son probably was waiting on you. They recently let their best server go because of a mistake made by the owner'a son. Hard to go up against family. Food is excellent but I will never return. Bad way to run a business.
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