Nicolinni's Ristorante on Restaurant Row

The space occupying the old Bennigan's location on "restaurant row" in Copley, Ohio had sat dormant for quite some time. After the national chain went belly up, I often wondered what would go into the space. There were some rumors floating around for a while about what would take its place, but it wasn't until the last two weeks that I got confirmation of the new owners. The first confirmation of the new restaurant's identity was from a longtime reader who emails me from time to time to let me know of her own culinary adventures. The second confirmation came when I read Lisa Abraham's short blurb in the weekly Wednesday food articles in the Akron Beacon Journal. The name of the restaurant was Nicolinni's and apparently it was the first Akron-based and third overall location of the Youngstown-based chain.

Stirred by the promise of another chance to try a Brier Hill-style pizza, I decided to go that very night to check it out for myself. The restaurant was located at 85 West Montrose Avenue, Copley, Ohio 44321. They can be reached at 330-664-0808. Parking was in the lot directly outside the building. I was actually surprised that the parking lot wasn't completely full as the restaurant had been open for only a couple of weeks.

Here was a shot of the roadside sign just off of the street:


Once inside, I discovered that due to a server shortage, the wait for a table was approximately twenty minutes. While I wasn't in a particular hurry, my other option, sitting at the bar right away, appealed to me and I decided to do that. After taking my drink order, the bartender left me with the two-sided menu to look over (top and bottom shot of each):





I looked two or three times for the Brier Hill pizza, but the only thing I could find even remotely close to a pizza was the Margherita Flatbread. When I asked the bartender about it, she confirmed that the pizza was only available during lunch and happy hour. Bummed out, I returned to the menu to make an alternate selection. Having never been to any of the Nicolinni's locations, I decided to look for some of their signature items. Interestingly, while some of the signature items were marked with a "N" logo, others had no such mark, but contained the phrase "signature item" in their description.

After placing my order, I handed the bartender my menu and returned to fiddling with my camera to make sure it was set up properly for when the food began to arrive. Unfortunately, I went from having no food in front of me to nearly everything all at once. In a move to get something in front of me sooner rather than later, the bartender had brought out my salad and bread prior to my appetizer thinking the kitchen was running behind. Sadly, within moments of the first round of food being delivered, another food runner showed up with my flatbread, too. I don't actually blame the bartender for bringing the salad early, as her intention was good. Her timing was just wrong.

Here was a shot of the house made focaccia:


This was actually quite good and had a nice layer of crunchy salt on top of the bread. I could tell from the minute I smelled it that it was fresh. It had a great chewy texture and the crust was nicely caramelized. The bread was an excellent way to start the meal.

Along with the bread came a cup of pesto dip:


This was a warmed oil that had been infused with a solid pesto flavor. While it worked well as a dip for the bread, the bread was so good on its own, that I didn't really use much of the dip. If you like pesto, you'll enjoy this oil. Extra points for it being served warm.

Since my entree came with a house salad, I had only to indicate that I would like it dressed with the house dressing, which I had presumed was Italian:


The salad was actually quite large and big enough for two entire servings (the bowl above came with tongs and a separate plate for actual plating of my portion). All of the ingredients were fresh and crisp, although the salad had sadly been overdressed as there was a puddle of dressing sitting at the bottom of the bowl. That being said, the dressing had a nice acidity to it and the salt level was just right. If you worry about over-dressed salad greens, ask for the dressing on the side and do it yourself.

Next up was the Margherita Flatbread:


The flatbread had been cut into six slices and would've made the perfect size appetizer for two to three people. I ended up only eating half and taking the rest with me. Traditionally, a Pizza Margherita is a thin crust pizza topped with extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, basil, and sliced mozzarella. Nicolinni's version was somewhat true to this vision, although the cheese was heavy handed. Also, as you can see in the photo above, gentle reader, the tomatoes were sliced way too thick and felt totally out of place on this thin crust creation. The crispness of the flatbread was nice, however.

For my entree, I decided on going with Chicken Francaise:


The chicken breasts had been battered and fried until golden brown and then topped with what I assume was beurre blanc (being French-style chicken, after all). The chicken was perfectly cooked, being both juicy and very tender. The coating on the chicken was flavorful and not greasy and the sauce had a nice balance between the unctuousness of the butter and the zip from the lemon. I thoroughly enjoyed the chicken.

Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said about my included side dish, the Whole Wheat Penne topped with Nicolinni's Homemade Marinara:


If you look closely at the photo above, you can see the problem in the bottom of the bowl: leftover cooking water. Whatever method was used to make this pasta, it needed an extra thirty seconds to drain properly before plating. In a bit of foreshadowing, when I tried the pasta without sauce, it was definitely overcooked and about a shade under mushy. It is fantastic that Nicolinni's is offering a whole wheat pasta option, but if they aren't going to cook it properly, then they lose points overall. The marinara sauce was thick and rich and had a nice balance of acidity and sweetness. To simplify: marinara good, pasta bad.

Since I ate about half of everything tonight, I had quite the doggie bag to go. Judging that I was pretty full already, I declined dessert and simply asked for the check. With tax and tip, it came to slightly over $32, which although sounds expensive at first, I took as much food home with me as I ate during dinner. $16 per portion was a reasonable amount to spend at a restaurant that seems to be positioning itself as upscale mainstream Italian. While I do plan on returning to Nicolinni's for another meal (probably during the day so that I can try the Brier Hill style pizza), as with most restaurant experiences, my visit today had some good and some bad. If they can work the kinks out, I suspect that they will achieve a nice fit somewhere between Olive Garden and Vaccaro's Trattoria.

AMP 150 Winner And A Great Charity Event

At midnight on Saturday, I visited Random.org and entered the number of comments left on my blog post regarding the $25 AMP 150 gift card (45 comments). The first go-round left me with #18. Counting the comments from the beginning, it turned out that #18 had been deleted by the original author. Fine. I went for a second random number and this time came up with:

Magical number forty-three! Counting backwards from the bottom led me to MalininGrl, who happened to leave her email address in her comment. I emailed her and she was more than happy to accept the gift card. Congratulations, MalininGrl, I hope your meal at AMP 150 is spectacular!

Next up, I wanted to mention Dinner In The Dark ... now wait, gentle reader. As you know well by now, since last November I have published on a monthly basis my escapades at this amazing series of charity events. And even though May's DITD at the Greenhouse Tavern on Monday, May 16th is already completely sold out, I still plan to review last month's DITD at Palate Restaurant in Strongsville next Monday (as has been my tradition).

However, what I wanted to tell you about was a special Dinner In The Dark that is happening on Monday, May 23rd at AMP 150. It is a slightly different format than the regular dinners. Normally, DITD is a six course wined paired meal that is a "sit down" type of dinner. This special event will have fifteen different stations, each manned by a different chef and instead of servers running food to your table, you will simply approach each station and get the food yourself. So, in essence, this particular event is more of the "stand and mingle" type of dinner.

More importantly, this event is a benefit for the Matthew Finkel Fund. Here's the official profile:

"This 'Special Edition' DITD will feature 15+ chefs offering small bites at various tasting tables. There will also be an assortment of micro breweries and wineries represented as well. As usually we will be offering multiple raffles and silent auctions. The proceeds to this event will go to a scholarship fund in the name of Matthew Finkel and the money will help an under privileged Northeast Ohioan attend the Culinary Institute of America.

Price is $40.00 per person, all inclusive. Due to the expected size of this event, we WILL NOT be able to accept payment at the door.

PLEASE READ MATTHEW'S STORY:

Matthew grew up up in a two bed room apartment in the Bronx with his mother (who is blind), father, grandfather, grandmother, two sisters and brother. He loved to cook since he was a young boy. At the age of 8, he started helping his mother, who was going blind, prepare meals for the family. He was a very good guitarist who began playing at the age of 10 and loved Jimi Hendrix, as well as, composing his own music. He enjoyed working with computers, and would help anyone who was having technical trouble, He had a great heart, and would help anyone with anything, whether or not he he time to spare.

But it was cooking that was his main passion. He would read cookbooks to learn and try out recipes because he knew he wanted to be a chef. He dreamed of going to culinary school but knew it was financially impossible. While in high school he learned of the Food Network offering a full scholarship to CIA with full room and board. Out of countless applicants, he was chosen most deserving and was awarded the scholarship on The Food Network Awards in 2007 by Catherine Zeta Jones and Aaron Eckhart. He received his bachelors of professional studies in Baking and Pastry Management from CIA in May 2010. After graduating he went to work for Bravo TV Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle at his Manhattan restaurant Perilla. He moved to Ohio last October to start a life with fiancee Kirsten Brayn. whom he met and fell in love with while both attended CIA. Matthew was working in Ohio at an artisnal bread shop the Bread Chef in Boardman, Ohio, as well as, Ely Pugh's Vegan restaurant, Ely's To-Go."

So, if you feel like helping out with a great charity and getting to try out the food from fifteen of Cleveland's fantastic chefs, this might be the perfect opportunity. I encourage you to get tickets while they are still available, unlike the DITD at the Greenhouse Tavern and most likely for the one next month at Flying Fig. To buy tickets, simply visit their EventBrite page.

An Akron Institution For Eighty-One Years

About a month ago, friend and fellow food blogger Kathy from Carano's Cucina and I were having a casual conversation on-line when the idea of grabbing a meal together came up. When she suggested Dontino's Fine Italian Cuisine, I was definitely intrigued by the notion. Having driven by the restaurant hundreds of times, nothing had ever prompted me to consider actually stopping in for a meal. Until today. Seeing as we were both slammed for the holidays, we agreed to wait until the new year to check out this long-time Akron staple.

Having been around for eighty-one years, the restaurant itself was fairly simple to find. Located at the corner of East Cuyahoga Falls and Linden Avenues, there was ample parking behind the restaurant. Technically the restaurant was located at 555 East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue, Akron, OH 44310 and can be reached at 330-928-9530. Interestingly, there were two entrances to Dontino's. The first was the door at the front of the restaurant on the corner. The second was towards the rear of the restaurant on Linden Avenue. Either led you into the restaurant.

Here was a shot of the front of the restaurant:


Tonight Kathy and I decided to enter the rear entrance (since we had parked in the lot behind the restaurant and this was the closer of the two entrances) and once inside, we were greeted with tonight's specials board:


I'm not quite sure what "Guinness" was doing underneath the dessert selection for the day, but I've often considered Guinness to be substantial enough for a meal, so I didn't really give it a second thought. We indicated two for dinner and our hostess led us to an incredibly dimly lit table just off the lobby.

She left us with the menu to peruse:





[Ed. Note: For the camera geeks out there, in order to get a non-blurry handheld shot of the menu panels, I had to jack my camera up to an ISO of 3200 and the exposures still took nearly 1/2 a second. Thank goodness for image stabilization and some serious post-processing work in the GIMP. Fortunately, I was able to return to a more sane ISO of 200 for the food pictures since I had my tripod.]

After placing our food order, the server was quick to return with a basket of sliced seedless Italian bread:


When the bread first came out, it was reasonably fresh, but it quickly staled and by the end of the meal, would've made a good candidate for croutons or French toast. The bread was served room temperature and while useful for sopping up red sauce off my dinner plate, was entirely unremarkable on its own.

As Kathy and I had both ordered an entree for our dinners, each came with a side salad with choice of dressing:


Among the myriad of salad dressings our server named, only the house Italian was homemade. Both Kathy and I decided to go in that direction. The salad was about as tasty as it looked. The tomato was mealy and hard (it was a January tomato after all), the salad was completely unseasoned, and the dressing had split into oil and vinegar components. Hoping that the seasoning would be in the dressing, I liberally applied it to the greens. While there was definitely a lovely garlic flavor in the dressing, it lacked the kind of seasoning needed to punch up the flavors. Fortunately, a glass jar of grated Parmesan cheese (from the "green" can, I would assume) sat at the edge of our table. I generously dusted the top of my salad with the cheese, "tossed" my salad slightly, and took another bite. Eureka! Kathy repeated the experiment to her salad and came to a similar conclusion.

Tonight I decided to go with the Thursday evening special for my entree, Sausage and Peppers:


At the time I ordered this dish, I hadn't realized that it came with a side of pasta. For an additional $0.75, you can upgrade any of the pastas to homemade pasta. So, unfortunately, it was dried pasta for me. As I lifted the spoon from beneath my pasta, I noticed one of my pet peeves: a pool of water under the pasta. While one can argue whether plain noodles should be topped with sauce or whether the almost-cooked pasta should be finished by tossing it thoroughly in the sauce, one thing that should never be present is a puddle of water under the pasta. Fortunately, the water was fairly minimal and the red sauce thick enough that when I got around to eating it, the two integrated into a decent consistency.

As for the flavor, the spaghetti and red sauce were good, consistent with most mom and pop Italian restaurants. The pasta hadn't been cooked to death and once I topped the pasta with a bit of hot pepper flakes, it was spiced to my personal preference. The sausages were a little on the dry side, but definitely not so dry that it crumbled. While there was seasoning in the sausage, I missed the anise flavor that fennel seeds would have brought to the party (a traditional flavor found in most Italian sausage). There was also an absence of any chile heat that red pepper flakes usually provide. I didn't find the flavor objectionable, per se, but more uninteresting.

Kathy, knowing that her entree came with a side of pasta, opted to upgrade to the homemade spaghetti topped with the same red sauce that I had:


Kathy ordered the Chicken Parmesan and she let me try a bit of her chicken (I had let her try some of the sausage from my dish). It certainly wasn't the best Chicken Parmesan I've ever had (that honor goes to Monte Carlo Italian Kitchen), but it wasn't bad either. It was clear the breading had herbs in it as not only could I taste them, but I could also see them.

When the subject of dessert came up, our server rattled off a list of several usual suspects (tiramisu and spimoni) as well as one that had been highlighted on the specials board at the front of the restaurant, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie:


Not surprisingly, Dontino's didn't make any of their desserts and this was more than likely standard food service fare that you could get at any of the national chain restaurants. But, since Kathy and I wanted to end our meal on a sweet note, we each donned a fork and split the wedge of pie within just a couple of bites. It tasted good, but as I suspected, it wasn't exceptional or even really that unique.

Our meal complete, the server brought our check. Since Kathy and I had ordered virtually identically priced meals and split the dessert, she agreed when I suggested we divide it right down the middle. With tip and tax, each of us shelled out $18 for our meal tonight at Dontino's. While this certainly didn't break the bank for either of us, it wasn't exactly inexpensive either. Neither of us left physically hungry, but I can't help but think that tonight's visit didn't really quench my craving for really GOOD Italian food. I'm certain that being around for eighty-plus years has made for some arduous fans of Dontino's food. Based on the food from this first visit, I remain unconvinced.

AMP 150 Gift Card Giveaway

For those of you out there who happen to be Facebook friends with me, you might have seen a status update or two regarding a food photography shoot I had over the weekend. Chef Ellis Cooley from the restaurant AMP 150 approached me a little over a week ago and indicated that the restaurant was in need of photographs of their new menu items for a redesign of the corporate website. He asked if I and fellow foodie Edsel would be interested in doing a photo shoot. Feeling quite proud of how far I've come in my food photography in the last seven months of study, I quickly agreed.

I decided to drop off the finished photographs last night and since the weather was crappy (really, when will this rain end?) and the traffic going south on I-71 backed up, I decided to stay and try a few of the dishes I had photographed over the weekend. You might be tempted to think that with all of the food Edsel and I photographed over the weekend that we would have also tasted it, too. One of the dirty little secrets of professional food photography is that the food doesn't have to taste good, it just has to look good. Thus, if an ingredient doesn't contribute directly to the appearance of the food (like, say, salt), it wasn't added.

So, what did I order? First up was a Shrimp and Pea Risotto with Fresh Local Ramps:


Creamy, buttery, sweet, and garlicy. If I could sum up a dish in four words, those would be it. This was an amazing small plate that did much to feed not only my stomach, but also my soul. The rice was creamy without being mushy, the peas added little pops of sweetness, the shrimp were cooked without being rubbery, and the ramps (kind of like wild garlic) added a much needed sharpness to balance the entire dish. If you are interested in trying this dish, get to AMP 150 soon as ramp season will be over in a matter of weeks, not months.

My second small plate tonight was Poached Sea Scallops over Squid Ink Farro, Fines Herbs, and Fumet:


Again, this was all about texture and flavor balance. The scallops were tender and buttery, the farro had a slightly chewy texture that felt like a cross between barley and rice, and the squid ink, although dark in appearance, had a certain brightness in flavor. I can't tell you which one I enjoyed more as they were both outstanding.

Finally, to finish up my meal tonight, I decided to go with one of AMP 150's new desserts, Lemongrass Rice Pudding, Herbed Tapioca, Coconut Foam, and Passion Fruit Caviar:


As with all of the dishes at AMP 150, this was a clever combination of tart and sweet, creamy and chewy. The rice pudding had a soft, but still chewy texture to it. The herbed tapioca (readers familiar with Bubble/Pearl Tea will understand the texture) had a vegetal quality to it that worked well with the lemongrass and coconut. The passionfruit caviar was practically unsweetened, and as such, contrasted brightly with the sweetness of the foam and rice pudding. This dish was light and airy, yet not overly sweet and ultimately satisfying.

Now that I've whetted your whistle with some of the new menu items available at AMP 150, I think it is high time to announce the gift card giveaway! As part of the compensation that AMP 150 offered me for my photography services, they graciously agreed to include a $25 gift card to give away to one lucky reader of my blog. Considering that $25 is enough for one person to eat a complete meal at AMP 150 (which was pretty much what my bill came to last night with water), it's a great way to experience one of Cleveland's premiere dining destinations.

The contest will work as follows: starting now, simply leave a comment stating that you'd like to win the gift card. You will have until 11:59:59 PM on Friday, April 29th, 2011 (that's 1 second before midnight Saturday) to leave your comment. At 12:00 AM on Saturday morning, I will use random.org to randomly select the winner from all the posted comments. IF YOU LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT, I will contact you to tell you that you've won. If you only leave a name in your comment (which is entirely your option), I will post the winner's name and that person will have until Monday morning, May 2nd, 9:00 AM, to contact me and claim your prize. If no contact has been made by Monday morning at 9:00 AM, I will select another winner.

Bottom line is ... if you want to be entered into the contest and don't wish to leave your email address, make sure you check back to see if you've won!

Once the winner has confirmed their interest in claiming the prize, I will get them the gift card in the manner which is easiest for them (most people prefer the US Postal Service).

Good luck! Even if you don't win the gift card, take the time to check out the fantastic menu at AMP 150. Chef Cooley and crew are really doing some marvelous new dishes on the spring menu.