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| - Ok so I'm going to come off as a bit snobbish here [ok, reading this it's more than a bit] - my apologies and please bear with me in case you're also a latent snob and want someone to talk you into a nice experience..
The photos of meals don't convey a lot of elegance or frippery - a simple plate (I think the same plates we have at home) of whatever was ordered. They had standard red tablecloths for a restaurant Lady and the Tramp would patronize, against the backdrop of an unadorned structure that used to be a (dance hall? retail space? I can't tell...), and across from Goodwill in the strip mall.. so yeah admittedly I was skeptical..
So when I looked at Miele's and my wife said she wanted unpretentious Italian, and her illustration was to avoid "tablecloths and cloth napkin stuffiness" I thought well technically yes, but surely this place can't be all that... so it'll be like a happy medium since clearly Yelpers love it - and I live and die by the Yelptuarial tables.
Of course when the moment we walked in we were confronted with the aforementioned cloth everything, we had one of those "just trust me" moments - duration of which thankfully is much shorter than in the olden days - and we all had a seat.
First, my mother likes to test people (she refers to this as "being nice to people") and the way she apparently be's nice to people at a new restaurant is to say, "We've never been here before!" very excitedly, and when the response fails to be suitable (i.e., "Oh - well, *welcome*!") she follows up with," Is there anything you would like to tell us about?" (followed by a less than satisfactory "Um... what.. would.. you.. like to know...?"), Mom redoubles with, "Do you... specialize in anything?" finally resulting in the chagrined admission that our server has just a bit more experience with the restaurant than my mother, but will gamely tell us all she can. In fact she was eager to tell us what she'd tried and thus could personally recommend, and more about the menu, naturally. She was delightful - and very very patient.
Not to be contented with this pleasantness, I joined in my mother's testing when both of us (to my poor wife's embarrassment) ordered When Harry Met Sally style, my mother requesting a dish nowhere to be found on the exhaustive menu (chicken piccata), and me ordering a white sauce rather than marinara with my gnocchi.. and not even a particular white sauce "just *not* the marinara". My wife very creatively ordered shrimp and garlic ravioli from the menu.
[First off, yes I inherited my high-maintenance ordering genetically, obviously - so it's not my fault. Second, on Yelp the restaurant encouraged patrons to ask for whatever flitted through our perpetually unsatisfied brains, and you really can't throw an option in front of my mother or me that we won't take.]
Anyway, no questions asked, absolutely happy to make our bespoke dishes: my gnocchi with alfredo was intense and wonderful (perfect for my tastebuds though I don't necessarily recommend it for others since it does lack the brightness of the marinara); my wife was very happy with her ravioli (perhaps a bit more sauce?) - very distinct and balanced flavors; and my mother thoroughly enjoyed her chicken piccata - oh yeah - and she added artichoke hearts... which were not cooked into the dish but added on the side.
*note* I will say, I decidedly did not enjoy the caesar salad - it just seemed pretty lifeless, and not for lack of dressing.
My elitist test for an Italian restaurant is in their tiramisu (my test might be arbitrary and pointless since I have no idea what genuine Italian tiramisu is supposed to taste like - only what I like - but tiramisu is my second favorite dessert so that's that) I like mine very moist and boozy and.. spongey? .. and theirs absolutely hit the spot - really delicious and sweet and intense - I'm not a chocolate lover and theirs has a layer of chocolatey goodness on top that was nice but that I imagine most people would appreciate more than I. But what I was shocked by was - after our wonderful waitress sang the praises of their straight from New York cheesecake recipe, we finally ordered some and it was *AMAZING* - the PERFECT balance between the moist cake and dry cheesiness - every one of us at the table kept returning to devour it.. (cheesecake being my favorite dessert... but, unlike tiramisu, nearly ubiquitous). This had to be one of my top three cheesecakes ever... And the portions of both desserts were sufficient for four..
So for the tl:dr folks:
atmosphere so-so,
wait staff wonderful, helpful, sweet,
food (except the caesar) terrific, full of flavor,
flexibility really very generous and helpful,
dessert - amazing!
All-in-all a really fun, delicious experience that we will repeat!
and my wife realized she should really just trust me more - like, of course... (thanks Yelp! - thanks Miele's!)
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