dolce

[pnapoli]

the space formerly occupied by 77 walnut has been renovated and the sign outside now says 'dolce.' looks pretty nice inside, but they're still working on it.

any word on this? new owners, or just a new start?

[Rosie]

I heard it was new owners.

[Susan]

I stopped in the other day. I think they opened last Monday. He told me he owns Soho Pizza on Valley Road in Montclair I was thinking of trying the place this weekend. Has anyone been there yet?

[kimmyb72]

very funny that i was just going to start a thread about this place. curious to see if anyone has eaten there and what the food is like.

[Rosie]

It's Italian and BYO. If anyone goes be sure to give us a report.

[Susan]

Had dinner here on Friday. The hostess, who is one of the owners, was very gracious. The servers seemed to lack knowledge of the menu. Smoking is not allowed in the restaurant, but is allowed at the tables outside. Since the restaurant door was open, it smelled as if they were smoking right next to us. My husband and I shared an arugola, mushroom and pancetta salad. When it was brought out, it looked and tasted as if it had no dressing on it. It was brought back in the kitchen and was remixed with more dressing. Tasted much better. I had some kind of fish that was served oreganto style. I think it may have been halibut. It was good - not great. It was served with two small potatoes and sauteed vegetables. My husband had veal wrapped in shrimp with pancetta. I couldn't image how this would be prepared. When it came out, it appeared that the veal and pancetta were kind of wrapped around the shrimp. I can't remember what kind of sauce was on it, but my husband said it tasted like wedding food. We had no dessert and the bill was $56 with a tip. Overall, I would say the food was okay, but nothing to run back for.

[Rosie]

Dolce Bistro, 77 Walnut Street, Montclair has “Inventive Mediterranean Cuisine” written on their menu. This confused us as some of their appetizers include spicy tuna roll, Philadelphia roll, and shrimp tempura roll. We didn’t try any of these Japanese dishes but can tell you that the best thing we had was the homemade tiramisu and the coffee.

We shared an appetizer of zuppa di clams and mussels in a red sauce ($9) that contained 4 mussels and 5 clams in a ho-hum tomato sauce. The bread was not worth the carbs—disappointing since one of the best NJ Italian bakeries, Gina’s Pacificios, is two blocks away.

The tilipia oreganato was so salty that it was inedible. The waiter offered to replace it but I opted for the arugula, mozzarella, roasted pepper salad which was a cold salad served on a hot plate. The grilled boneless chicken with seasonal grilled vegetables was also salty but not as bad as the fish. In any case it was a boring dish.

As I already wrote--the best thing we had was the homemade tiramisu and the coffee.

[adegiulio]

Dolce Bistro, 77 Walnut Street, Montclair has “Inventive Mediterranean Cuisine” written on their menu. This confused us as some of their appetizers include spicy tuna roll, Philadelphia roll, and shrimp tempura roll. We didn’t try any of these Japanese dishes but can tell you that the best thing we had was the homemade tiramisu and the coffee.

We shared an appetizer of zuppa di clams and mussels in a red sauce ($9) that contained 4 mussels and 5 clams in a ho-hum tomato sauce. The bread was not worth the carbs—disappointing since one of the best NJ Italian bakeries, Gina’s Pacificios, is two blocks away.

The tilipia oreganato was so salty that it was inedible. The waiter offered to replace it but I opted for the arugula, mozzarella, roasted pepper salad which was a cold salad served on a hot plate. The grilled boneless chicken with seasonal grilled vegetables was also salty but not as bad as the fish. In any case it was a boring dish.

As I already wrote--the best thing we had was the homemade tiramisu and the coffee.

Restaurants like this REALLY annoy me. Why in the world are they in business offering Mediterranean cuisine and serving sushi? Master your chosen cuisine first, then try something else. When a restaurant like this can't even make a decent Zuppa di Clams, what business do they have trying to make a sushi roll? And don't even get me started on the cold salad on a hot plate. Did the guy making the salad not feel the plate burning his hand off?? I'm sure it came down to them not caring....I got a tuna carpaccio on a warm plate once at Mignon....It took me ten minutes to find a server to send it back.

Don't these restaurants care? Is there any surprise that most restaurants fail, and fail miserably. I almost get a guilty pleasure at seeing a lousy restauranteur go out of business. If they just took a few minutes to chill their plates or be faithful to their cuisine, it probably wouldn't have happened...

Anthony

[tommy]

Don't these restaurants care? Is there any surprise that most restaurants fail, and fail miserably. I almost get a guilty pleasure at seeing a lousy restauranteur go out of business. If they just took a few minutes to chill their plates or be faithful to their cuisine, it probably wouldn't have happened...

you said something there.

i'm convinced that a good amount of restaurants open because they want to go under. i mean, they seem to do everything the best possible way in order to guarantee failure.

[Rosie]

I asked the hostess why they were serving sushi. She told me that they were a bistro and in Italy bistros serve sushi. ??????

[tommy]

I asked the hostess why they were serving sushi. She told me that they were a bistro and in Italy bistros serve sushi. ??????

it just keeps getting better.

[Rosie]

In all fairness there are only 3 sushi dishes as appetizers: spicy tuna roll; Philadelphia roll; and shrimp tempura roll.

[tommy]

In all fairness there are only 3 sushi dishes as appetizers: spicy tuna roll; Philadelphia roll; and shrimp tempura roll.

if they were serving crudo it would make a bit more sense.

but i applaud any restaurant serving decent raw fish. i just wish they'd get their story straight on why they're doing it. i wouldn't even mind "because they chef likes rolls". or, "in italy, there is something similar often refered to as 'crudo' and we just kind of expanded that idea because we wanted to."

[Rosie]

However, would you order pasta in a sushi restaurant? And I'm not talking about udon.

[tommy]

However, would you order pasta in a sushi restaurant? And I'm not talking about udon.

i dunno, but i make both pretty well. and i know fascino will be busting out some out-of-character food in a few weeks on a sunday. if i knew the restaurant, and felt like a roll with my pasta, i might. demand will fix any issues with that. but i don't have any reason to doubt that the kitchen can't make both well.

i do, however, take issue with the explanation, which, to me, is indicative of a level of cluelessness or misinformation with which i'm not completely comfortable.

Edited May 11, 2004 by tommy (log)