Zarletti

If I had my way, I'd be going out to dinner at least once a week.

I love going out to eat, being able to try new restaurants and different foods, being waited on and enjoying the company of whomever I'm with. Food is one of the greatest pleasures in life, and going out to eat is one of my favorite things to do.

Given my current financial situation, I don't get to go out to eat nearly as much as I'd like to – not even as much as I used to be able to.  Money is quite tight and Dave and I just can't be spending what little we have going out for dinner.

This week we got a couple of rebate checks in the mail from when we bought new cell phones a couple months ago. We were torn – do we put them in the wedding fund, or do we splurge and go out to dinner?

After a minute or two of thoughtful consideration, we decided on dinner.

Well, that was the easy choice. Deciding which restaurant to try was the tougher decision. Milwaukee has quite a lot of dining options and the list of restaurants we want to try is a long one. And then there's the list of restaurants that we've been to before, loved and want to try again – it's a much shorter list, but all of the options are still tempting.

The top contenders for last night were Bacchus, Osteria del Mundo, Zarletti, and Nanakusa. Bacchus and Osteria del Mundo were a little too expensive for just any old night, and I'd had sushi already this week, so we decided on Zarletti.

Whenever I'd pass the big Z sign on the corner of Milwaukee St. and Mason St., I'd think, I need to look into that restaurant. Yesterday while looking through Dennis Getto's Top 30 list, I saw that Zarletti made it the past few years, so that sealed the deal.

I called yesterday afternoon and was able to get us an 8:15 reservation. We walked in the door and were greeted promptly by the hostess – who I would guess was Mari Cucunato Zarletti, one of the owners. Our small table by the window was almost ready so we were told we could wait for five minutes at the bar.

We were the only ones sitting at the bar, which had maybe six or eight stools at it, but the rest of the restaurant was full. It's a small place, seating maybe 80 people, and has a very intimate feel to it with dark chocolate colored walls, tables that are very close together, and dim lights hanging from the ceiling. 

We ordered a drink – a glass of Zinfandel for me and a Guiness for Dave – and then were led to our table. It was small and right on the window, and was decorated with a candle and one flower in a small vase. The table had paper over it, adding to the restaurant's bistro feel, and a black Zarletti stamp gave it some flare.

Our server, Collin, was at our table almost immediately. He was extremely friendly and recited the night's specials with ease. After a few minutes with the menus, Dave and I decided to start with the bruschetta appetizer. It was hard to pass up the portabella mushroom with goat cheese and the Maryland crab cakes, but we knew we'd be too full if we ordered more than one appetizer.

When I ordered the bruschetta, I said it "bru-she-tta" like a lot of people in these parts say it. It's actually pronounced "bru-sKe-tta" though, and while he didn't make me feel dumb or correct me, Collin did say it the right way when we ordered it and when he put it down. Now I know that's how I should pronounce it next time. My bad.

The bruschetta was out no more than five minutes after we ordered it, and before we dug in, we ordered our dinner – chicken with mushrooms and spinach in a cream sauce for Dave and sea scallops over pesto fettuccine for me.

The bruschetta was awesome, with perfectly toasted bread and delicious tomatoes in plenty of olive oil. Our plates were taken as soon as we were done, and just a couple of minutes later, our entrees had arrived. I was amazed at how fast the food came. We didn't feel rushed, though – it was just right.

The presentation of our meals was beautiful. I tasted Dave's chicken and it was very tasty, but I liked my dinner much better. Six or seven pan-seared sea scallops, roasted red peppers and toasted pine nuts sat atop pesto-covered homemade fettuccine noodles. I cut off a piece of scallop immediately and had to close my eyes and savor it, it was so grand. So many scallops I've tried have been either tasteless or very sandy, but these were divine. I let Dave try one right away, too, and he said that it restored his faith in how good scallops really are.

The pasta was soft and the pesto and olive oil made it rich and so flavorful. The pine nuts added a nice little soft crunch here and there, and the peppers added just a little heat. My meal was absolute HEAVEN.

I never in a million years thought I'd be able to finish the whole thing, but I just kept on going and before I knew it, I was down the final bites. I didn't want to have to take any home since I knew I'd have to be back on my diet today and wouldn't eat the leftovers, and I'll be damned if I was going to waste any of that delicious dish. I gave Dave a few more bites, but devoured the rest myself.

I was pretty darn full when I was done, but I still had room for dessert, and when Collin ran through all that they had, we had another tough choice to make. There was Ghiradelli white chocolate cheesecake, tiramisu, chocolate cannolis, gelato, and something else chocolaty I can't quite recall. I thought we should share one but Dave wanted two, so we ordered two: the tiramisu and the cheesecake.

Once again, they were out in no time. And once again, the presentation was great – powdered sugar covered the tiramisu plate, and chocolate and caramel sauce made a swirly design over the cheesecake plate. The tiramisu didn't require any chewing, it just melted on your tongue. The cheesecake was really good, too – it was a huge piece and I can't believe we finished it, but we did.

In between all of our rich food, we both drank a lot of water, and the bus boy kept our glasses constantly full. Our waiter was attentive without being overbearing. The food was divine, and I commented to Dave that the place was really nice without being at all pretentious or intimidating.

There were only a few things I didn't like … The wine list was small – they only had four red wines by the glass. It got pretty loud in the restaurant, so I don't think it'd make for a good first date place, and the music was fast, kind of bump-and-grind-ish, and didn't really fit the atmosphere. And I thought I read in the reviews that we got bread and butter but I guess I was wrong because we didn’t get bread. I left there feeling like I was going to throw up I was so full, so I certainly didn't need bread, but I sure do like bread and butter when I go to dinner. These are small complaints though – overall, the experience was fantastic.

Our bill came to around $76 for two drinks, an appetizer, two entrees and two desserts, before tip. Not bad, but certainly not something we can do too often at this point in our lives.

When I am able to get out to dinner, I always hope that it'll be worth my hard-earned money – Zarletti definitely lived up to the hopes I had for it. 

Comments

[Suzanne]

Sounds Delish! Now...I must. go. eat! so. hungry!

(hi from Michele's)

[amused observer]

milwaukee is a city i've never visited. your dinner out sounded wonderful.

oh, and i am very excited for opening day as well.

here from michele.

[Derek]

Thanks for the great write up! I've been meaning to go there for many months and we just never do. Outside of your review, I've also heard good things so it's now first on my list of places to go next. Thanks again!

[Amanda]

Good for you guys! I'm glad that you took the opportunity to try a great new place with your rebates. I think that too often, when people are really in a crunch phase with money, they forget to get out there and still enjoy life. Now, obviously you guys know how to do that - look at all the great things you blog about - but kudos on giving yourselves a pat on the back with a great night out.

I love scallops, and just reading about your dish made me salivate a little bit. Glad that you enjoyed your dinner!

[Terry]

My partner and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in January. We'll be spending a couple of nights in downtown Milwaukee. Zarletti is always a place we've talked about going to for dinner. Perhaps we should give it a try.

[Terry]

Zarletti is a terrific place. We've been there a couple of times since my post on 12/31/06. I highly recommend it.

[Terry]

My partner and I visited Zarletti yet again on 1/19/08. It was our 11th anniversary. Dinner was wonderful, as was our server, Ryan.

However, on all our visits over the past 12, 13 months or so, it wasn't until this visit that we realized the Zarletti's allowed smoking in their restaurant.

Perhaps we were just lucky on previous visits, and no smokers were on premises, but I can assure you it was certainly a turn off!!!

It's a relatively small dining room, and even though smoking appeared to be allowed in just one corner of the bar near the restrooms, it still permeated the dining room. We wondered, where was that smell coming from? Yuck!!!!

Oh well, I think we did a good job of trying not to let the smoking ruin our evening. The food and service again -- excellent!

However, and we have to be honest, do we chance a return visit and risk the smoke smell again?

We sent the Zarletti's a short letter commenting on the meal and our "issue", thinking perhaps they'd respond, but they have not. Oh well . . .

However, just thinking again of the tilapia and pumpkin squash stuffed ravioli we had as entrees that evening makes our mouth water.

So, do we return? Hmmmmm . . . . .