Café Americano: New dinner menu; same great location

Located in the heart of downtown Sarasota, near the Five Points rotary on Main Street, Café Americano is ideally situated for dining before or after any downtown activity. With its high ceilings, contemporary décor and indoor and outdoor seating, the restaurant has created a slightly sophisticated, upscale dining space — the perfect spot for a light meal, glass of wine, dinner or coffee.

This potent combination of locale and décor raises a diner’s expectations on the meal to follow. People expect the quality of the food served in a restaurant to be commensurate or better than the setting and décor. Although not disappointing, I would put my past experiences with Café Americano in the category of “underachievement." The food was average, with few stand-out items on the menu.

Under new ownership in the past year, Café Americano has reworked, updated and upgraded its breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. The changes and improvements were a bit overdue, but certainly welcomed. We recently sampled a number of items from the new dinner menu. Here's what we tasted:

• Meatballs of the Day (2): Homemade with marinara sauce. $6.95

  The choice for the day was pork. As I used my fork to cut the large meatball in half, I knew it was the real thing. Tender, with wafting aromas of parsley, onions, cheese and marinara sauce filling your personal dining space. Delicious.

  

• Meat and Cheese Board: Served with fresh-baked bread and accompaniments. $10.95 A wonderfully presented plate of goodness. So much more than expected. Carefully sliced meat and cheese, slightly salty and delicious. Accompanied by plump caper berries, olives and stuffed peppers. The olives and peppers are house brined and the peppers are stuffed with goat cheese.
• Mediterranean Chopped Salad: Salami, provolone, mortadella, chickpeas, Parmesan, red onion, tomatoes and chopped romaine. $10.95 Avery generous size, and one of my favorite salads. It can easily be a meal on its own or be shared as a starter. All ingredients were fresh, colorful and full of flavor.
• Chopped Greek Salad: With chopped romaine, feta cheese, black olives, tomatoes, cucumber, oregano and fresh mint. $10.95 Once again, a very generous sized salad. The lemon-based dressing added a very fresh acidic flavor coupled with the mint. It tasted like summer in the Greek Isles. A definite winner!
• The Vegetarian: Gluten-free pasta with fresh tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and smoked mozzarella. $13.95 The vegetables can vary, depending on what is available fresh. For gluten-free pasta, this dish was quite good. It was tossed in an olive oil and light garlic sauce. The smoked mozzarella added depth of flavor.
• Braised Lamb Shank: With parmesan white polenta. $19.95

  Outstanding! The meat was so tender it just fell off the bone. Very rich with a slightly gamey taste, as one would expect. The herbs come through in the marinara sauce and the sweetness of the polenta created layers of flavor.

  

• Roasted Chicken: One half all natural free-range chicken with pan sauce on the side, mashed cauliflower and grilled asparagus. $18.95

  Fall-off-the-bone tender. Very moist with great roasted color. Nice subtle herb flavors; a comfort-food dinner for sure.

  

• Panna Cotta: Served with caramel. $7.00

  A light, creamy custard — smooth and not too sweet. A nice finish to a meal.

  

• Pistachio and Ricotta Donuts: With orange blossom honey. $7.00 Dense, sweet and delicious; a must-have signature dish if I ever saw one!

Café Americano offers an adequate selection of beer, wine and soft drinks to accompany your meal. We found the wait staff to be very pleasant, friendly, attentive and helpful, taking time to explain the dishes and make menu suggestions.

When was the last time you had dinner at Café Americano? If your answer is never or more than three months ago, you must give it a try. You'll be delighted with the experience.

Café Americano: 1409 Main St. / 365-1026

Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

http://cafeamericanosrq.com/about/

https://www.facebook.com/cafeamericano