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| - We were taken to Little Italy for a Cleveland dinner experience while visiting family there last weekend. We chose this charming restaurant out of all the others mainly due to the sidewalk cafe tables. Both my cousin and I had been craving Veal Milanese and were thrilled to see they had it on the menu! Immediate seating outside with the weather beautiful also? We excitedly said, "this evening is starting out great!"
The wine list was adequate (nothing special) but the wine I ordered wasn't available, however the waiter found something not on the list, but similar at about the same price (musta been a left over from a previous wine list change). Good pull!
Appetizers consisted of the calamari appetizer and the bruschetta. The calamari arrived and I was surprised how small the portion was, however the bruschetta rocked with thick toasted bread, crisp on the outside and soft in the center, the tomato/garlic/basil olive oil spread was great.
My gal ordered a baked chicken dish with tomatoes, artichokes etc. with pasta in a light tomato sauce. My cousin's wife ordered a ravioli dish, but before we ordered the veal, my cousin asked if the veal was thin and crisp, the waiter told us that the veal was indeed thin. JACKPOT! We ordered their Veal Milanese. Then the waiter asked us how we wanted it cooked! Huh? I thought to myself, never been asked that before for milanese, but figured it was their standard/protocol or something. Up this point La Dolce Vita would get a 4+ star rating....then the entrees arrived.
The chicken was bland and the pasta was under cooked (not close to al dente) the sauce was really good and fresh though. The ravioli was also very good cooked perfectly. Then the veal was placed in from of us. what we were given was a charbroiled veal chop, on a bed of chopped arugula with chopped tomatoes, the chop was drizzled with balsamic glaze and sprinkled with shaved parmesan cheese!
Both were not cooked as requested (medium) and we were both shocked as to what happened to our order. The server was summonded and after explaining to us that this is how they made milanese, and us stating our dissadisfaction with the entrees he made an awkward but quick exit.
Shortly thereafter, a big hulking guy (think NJ club bouncer) in a Justin Timberlake hat and vest holding a half bottle of Tuaca liqueur abruptly came to our table and placed both of his hands on the edge and leaned in real close and started verbally assaulting us for complaining to the waiter about the dish. Get this-he was the manager/owner! He explained that this is how his chef made the dish and that was that. No apology, no offer for an exchange, nothing. Now I have been a chef for nearly 25 years and I am also Italian, and I have NEVER had Milanese served this way, and his menu was misleading. In stating so, the manager got more brutish and basically insinuated, 'tough shit' and then said he was going to fire his lousy chef and abruptly left us sitting there in shock.
We ate the veal (should have sent it back and refused to pay for it) and then our waiter appeared with dessert menus offering free desserts/cordials. Nice job on the recovery, but we were set on going broke buying all the cookies from the Italian bakery across the street. Would have preferred to have the mistakes taken off the the check, but we had some coffee and shared a tiramisu (outstanding) and paid the bill and left.
Needless to say, avoid the Veal Milanese at La Dolce Vita and don't piss off the owner!
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