So, my Italian friend Gaetano Cilluffo was in town for about a week, and we went downtown a few times while he was here. Whilst there, we ate at Roma Cafe in the Eastern Market and Angelina's in the Grand Circus District. One is the oldest Italian restaurant in Michigan, the other is very new-school.
When you pull up to Roma Cafe, it's in a terrifying neighborhood. They have a free valet, and an Iron fenced in valet lot, or you can park across the street in the demolished vacant lot, after bumping over the curb. All that seems to be open is this little restaurant, and it's a hell of a destination. Around the corner is the Eastern Market, with some awesome farmers' market fare, as well as one of the best pizza places in the area, but this block is desolate.
When you walk in, the staff is all in tuxedos, and it's VERY old school. Everything is plain, but high class, upscale, but not stuffy. The menu is all of mama's favorites, with spaghetti and meatballs, stuffed peppers, grilled Italian sausage, and Veal parmigiana. Gaetano and I, being the Italians kids we are, ask the waiter what's good, and he says "you're Italian? We'll take care of you. You like veal? We'll put some veal in there!" We had antipasto salad, stuffed peppers, spaghetti and marinara sauce, and chicken Marsala.
The salad was overdressed, but only because they were zealous with the massive amount of amazing salami and ham in the mix. The spaghetti was standard, and ok. The veal stuffed peppers were awesome, but plain. And then the chicken was moist, delicious, and really well done. All of it was our mother's and grandmother's food. Nothing to write home about, but definitely delicious and homely. They charged us $13 for each plate, too, which is incredibly cheap for the massive amount of food we had.
Quality 3/5
Value 5/5
I'd definitely go back, and am already craving the stuffed peppers again.
Angelina's is the new school of Mediterranean cooking. They are a small-plates Italian concept, and they are doing cool things with classic Italian recipes and ingredients at this place. It's very trendy, with big opening windows that open to the view of Comerica Park, the Detroit Opera House and the Grand Circus Park, with the People Mover overhead and an old marquee displaying their name proudly. This building was a theater back in the day, and they play up the space, with a large bar and an open kitchen. Again, this is a fancy restaurant that you can just show up in a t-shirt and jeans and not feel underdressed. It's a little pricier than Roma Cafe, but you're paying for the modernist twist.
Gaetano had his "favorite dish anywhere, ever" again, and we went on his recommendation. This time we took along our other friend CZ, a former housemate, and he and I split most of the dishes we sampled. We got an "Angelina sample plate" of their cold meats, fish, and pickled items in the smaller portion offered. It came arranged on a plate with a lemon arugula salad in the middle, and slices of cheese to pair with it. If I wasn't driving, this would have been ideal with a glass of a dry red wine, but instead the intense flavor of my tea I felt did it justice. It was a great starter.
Charles and I also did a plate of meatballs and a "Californian" pizza. The pizza came with prosciutto, pineapple, and jalapeno peppers, and was awesome for an appetizer price. The meatballs were small, coming in a plate of 4, and were disappointingly dry. It's a shame, because they seemed to use too much in the way of cheese and cinnamon, and it killed the flavor of the veal and pork. The cheese and sauce were awesome though, and we finished them because of the sauce.
Now, Gaetano got the Squid Ink pasta with Scallops. I would have been overall disappointed in this restaurant, serving us some cold items and average pizza, if not for this dish. He let us try a bite of pasta and a bit of one of the 2 jumbo scallops. It's expensive, 27 dollars, but it's WELL worth the price. The pasta is purple/black in the squid ink sauce, and was perfectly al dente. The thing is, the scallops are perfect. Gaetano said when he went the first time, the scallops were equally amazing, and as long as they're doing them consistently, this is my favorite scallop I've ever had, anywhere. Seriously awesome plate.
Quality 4/5
Value 3/5
I'll keep this place in mind next time I'm in Tigertown, but I want to try the other places in the neighborhood. Detroit Brewing Company is right there, and another place called "Small Plates" is also down Broadway. It's a good neighborhood, and I'm always glad to see Detroit come back.
-C
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