Rated "3 Stars" by The Bergen Record
January 7, 2000
"At one time, Mayor Jimmy Walker came to the stucco house on Sylvan Avenue to escape summer in New York City: the noise, the air, the traffic. Today, North Jersey is no place to escape any of those, but Walker's old manse does offer Italian food that would make the Greenwich Village native proud.
Walker, a handsome bon vivant who wore the mayoralty like a boutonniere in the late Twenties, summered in Englewood Cliffs until his abrupt resignation and departure for Europe during an investigation into municipal corruption.
But his house at No. 14, with its many awnings and its sprawling terrace, has been the scene of a new conviviality over the past 25 years as an Italian restaurant. Jim Lulani, a 30-year restaurant veteran, has been in charge for 11 of those years. He spent six years at the helm in the 1980s and returned in 1995, following an interlude when the restaurant was known as Gianni D's.
Business has been so good that this past year, Lulani opened a sister restaurant, Il Mulino in Dumont, and turned the kitchen at Cafe Italiano over to Joseph Turkaj, a Croatian chef skilled at the classics as well as more seasonal fare.
Winter finds glittering white lights and poinsettias decorating the homey restaurant, but summer may be its best season: A terrace more than doubles the restaurant's seating capacity.
The dining area inside extends along both sides of the house from the five-step entry, forming a boxy U-shape. The left side seemed like a backwater the night we were seated there, with slower service and a sense of being closer to the kitchen, When we sat in the right side, though, the meal moved at a sprightly pace with attentive servers. The kitchen door was out of sight.
The welcome is immediate and warm. A plate of fresh bruschetta, damp with balsamic vinaigrette, is set down almost as soon as the menus are distributed, and a basket of bread is delivered to the table.
The all-male serving staff is professional, sweeping the table of crumbs before dessert and refilling water glasses promptly.
The menu includes a full fist of pastas, veals, chicken, seafood, and beef, as well. as printed specials, which are augmented by recited specials.
Two special appetizers showed Turkaj's skills to good advantage. His hand was light with the Gorgonzola that scented the grilled portobello appetizer ($7.95), served on a bed of mesclun greens with a sliced tomato. So often, that cheese simply overwhelms what it is intended to accent. And his single crab cake ($8.95) was sizzlingly hot, crisp outside, yet silkily smooth inside, beneath a delicate mustard sauce. The pretty puff pastries and salsa on an endive leaf made a witty presentation.
The Cafe Italiano salad ($6.95) again, included several assertive flavors, but nothing in excess: Gorgonzola, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette dressed the mix of greens.
Many of the pastas on the menu are homemade, including the raviolis. One night we tried another, the pappardelle special with three mushrooms ($13.95) - portobello, shiitake, and oyster. The thick mushroom sauce was laced with brandy to produce a surprisingly rich, if meatless, entree. Penne alla vodka ($14.95) added three swirls of shrimp to a luscious pink sauce, punctuated by a sprinkling of peas.
Veal saltimbocca ($14.95), the classic preparation, was here generously served with three scaloppines, its sauce hinting of sage. Also extremely popular, says Lulani, are the seafood entrees. A Chilean sea bass ($19.95), simply broiled light rendition with asparagus tips and a heap of zucchini, was delightful.
For dessert, the waiters pull a huge Viennese cart tableside. The offerings include homemade tiramisu, cannoli, and cheesecake, as well as more complex and indulgent confections, and range from $4.50 to $5.50.
Mississippi mud pie was over the top, even for this chocolate lover. Our favorite was the tiramisu, a creamy square in which the mascarpone dominated." |
- 'Sopranos'