Mia Francesca opened last night in the now-famous Ralph's shopping center in Carmel Valley, the new gourmet gulch of San Diego. I found that it was open last night on facebook, and CH passed by today and got the menu. We made reservations for tonight at 6:15, with SB in tow.
ATMOSPHERE: The place is totally happening on day #2 of being opened. They have lots of staff, with many coming in from Chicago (where their flagship restaurants are) to make sure it's at their level of quality. Motown music, fun and lively.
SERVICE: Lots of busboys, though the waitress had a bunch of tables to do. Speed: slower than we'd ideally like with SB, but still reasonable. We had a nice meal and were done in 45 mins.
BREAD: Delicious, very hot and crusty from the oven. Not a huge fan of the rosemary in their olive oil. Could eat it plain, or ask for plain olive oil in the future.
WATER: Fantastic! They put a nice chilled, iceless bottle of water on the table. You can refill your glass, or they come by. Me like.
KIDS' MENU: Placemats just for them, with crayons. SB got lemonade right away in a cute cup. The value of the kids' meal is very good. $5.99 includes the drink (including refills), pizza or pasta, and gelato. The pizza was enormous - looked like a grownup size. Only downside: SB didn't like it that much, and to me it didn't taste that great (not like the kids' pizza I got him at Cucina Italiana). But SB was nutso for the bread and lemonade and the atmosphere, and he wasn't disappointed about the pizza - he just didn't want to eat it (but he was full up on the yummy bread!).
WINE: Here's a slight misstep. $7 for a pinot grigio that wasn't offensive, but tasted like nothing. It was drinkable, but I'd never get it again. The waitress said they had a great sommelier so I couldn't go wrong. I'll still try other things on the wine list, like the Sicilian chardonnay, but that was a disappointment after my fab wine experience at The Shores. Still, it was a generous pour.
APPETIZER: I got spinaci with oil and garlic. DELISH and totally cravable. Really, I could make this myself (though I'd probably get freaked out by the amount of olive oil needed to make it taste like this). But I'd come back just for this dish. Yum - as cravable as spanki lemonato at Athena (though that spinach is healthier!).
ENTREES: I got the rigatoni alla siciliana (eggplant, tomato sauce, fresh grated parm); CH got rigatoni bolognese. We both thought they were delicious. The folks around us at other tables were raving about everything they got, and everything that passed us looked spectacular. I thought the salmon at the next table looked fab. The nice people there said, though it was very good, it happened to be less exciting than the other dishes they got, which they called spectacular, esp.: roasted chicken, lemon chicken, and rosemary chicken.
DESSERT: Included in SB's $5.99 kids meal (including the drink and enormous pizza) was gelato. But not just a scoop - a trio! He could choose any flavors he wanted. SB tried: lemon sorbet, strawberry sorbet, vanilla gelato. He was in HEAVEN, and scarfed them all up.
SB has announced that the restaurant is great, even though he didn't like the pizza. He is excited to try pasta with butter next time (he is not a big pasta eater at home, but he'll try it there). If he's hungry, I also want to get him a salad next time. The choices look great - things like green beans and tomatoes with lemon and olive oil, which would be right up his alley.
ULTIMATE VERDICT: I wouldn't choose this for date night. It's too family-friendly and 92130-seeming to feel for me like a big night out. I'd still put Charisma ahead of it as my fave Italian restaurant in SD - that place is more intimate and the food to me is more spectacular. And it's more fun to get out of the 'burbs and hit Hillcrest or the Gaslamp for a date. But this place is much more buzzy, and is just right for a special night out with a well-behaved SB. Poseidon and Mia Francesca now promise to be our best recommendations for fine dining with a toddler!
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