To help those seeking advice on a new place to grab some dinner on the weekend, may I suggest one that is part of the Augusto Conte's arsenal of restaurants located in between his Uptown establishments (Coco Osteria & Luce) and his Southpark babies (Il Posto Osteria & Toscana)...A relatively new venture located in the Providence Plaza Shopping Center (Corner of Providence Rd and Sharon Amity) is MezzaNotte Brick Oven.
Since my wife's store, The Pink Hanger, is located in this same shopping center (shameless advertisement but I can't help it) we find ourselves at MezzaNotte quite often and typically snuggle up to the bar for 1 or 5 drinks before getting seated for a gluttonous evening of carb overload. We recently visited the restaurant with another couple and I figured I would give you my take on the restaurant (now, for full disclosure, I know Augusto so this is not a completely objective review but for all those that are slowly eating into their savings this year and have tighter purse strings...I still think this place is a great meal for the price).
While the food is really good and I will get into some specifics a little later, there are some shortcoming with the feel of the place unfortunately. For instance, the chosen colors, particularly the stained glass when you first walk in and some of the tile selections around the bar, reminds me of what my parents bathroom probably looked like back in 1974. And the music...now I am all about music in restaurants and the lack of music at most Charlotte restaurants is one of my biggest complaints but holy sh!t...I feel like I am in some horrible Italian discothèque ....it may be on purpose but for me this is a big miss but it's almost worth the visit just to hear what I am talking about.
When you dine here, I would highly advise you ask to sit outside since the front dining room is lacking a bit of ambiance and typically has a ton of kids playing with their food. That is of course unless you have kids and then I beg you to keep the outside sacred grounds and sit in the front dining room. If outdoor seating is full, the next best thing (I am talking about those without kids) is the bar area where there are 6 to 7 tables and seems to have a better vibe than the front room.
So back to what we ordered last Saturday and some of my recommendations for food. Like in typical gracious Italian host fashion, we received a complimentary bruschetta that was very tasty (cherry tomatoes with garlic and olive oil with a balsamic reduction drizzle). Not unlike every other time we go there, the four of us ended up ordering way to much food consisting of a family style Farfalle con Pollo which is awesome and I would highly recommend, an individual order of the Rigatoni Buttera (short tube pasta with sausage and peas in a creamy tomato sauce) which was good but I have had better at Augusto's other restaurants, a Vegetariano Panini with a side of surprisingly good french fries and a Diavola Pizza made with mozzarella, hot sopressata and hot peppers (I might even take two of these next time just to be even more of a fat ass). Other dishes that I have had in prior visits that should be on the list include the Gnocchi alla Sorrentina and the Maccheroni all Norma for pasta dishes, the Pizza Lasagna and the simple Margherita for pizzas and the Paillard di Pollo salad. The paninis are very new to the menu so have only tried the vegetarian one but based on the looks of the others, it doesn't seem like you could go wrong with any of them.
Any if you really want to make the experience complete, ask to be seated in John's section...he is the one who used to play Igon in Ghostbusters...dead ringer and I'm not kidding (and I love the hint of an Italian accent as he pronounces some of the items on the menu). Buono Appetito! RATING: 3 and a bite BURGERS (out of 4 BURGER SCALE)
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I happen to know everything there is to know about maple syrup! I love maple syrup. I love maple syrup on pancakes. I love it on pizza...Now as hilarious as this last statement is from Jeremy Grey, better known as Vince Vaughn in the movie "Wedding Crashers" it is definitely food for thought or shall I say toppings for thought. I had the pleasure of going to Mezzanotte last night with a very posh couple who frequent this joint. It just so happened to be pouring down rain and we all came in cold and wet. Our waiter who by name goes by John, but I wanted to call him Emilio (the servant who is "very, very sneaky" from that Movie Mr. Deeds) was very knowledgeable, gracious and took care of our every food & drink need. His very, very sneaky ways never had my wine glass empty and I never saw him coming, whether it was to take our order, serve the food or top me off.
The toppings that were up for discussion that night, was of course what do we want on our pizza, with 2 non-red meat eaters and one carnivore we thought this was going to be difficult. However, this was not the case we simply ordered a delightful bowtie pasta with chicken, red peppers and spinach all in a white sauce, then ordered 2 other pizzas to be split family style between the 3 of us. Our toppings of choice were made for us already on the menu: the Margarita pizza, simple but yet so cheesy and divine and a Veggie pizza. Now this is where I began to question what I like on my pizza. The veggie pizza came with 2 mushrooms Portobello and shitake, squash, zucchini, red peppers and of course the glorious cheese and red sauce. The cheese alone that they put on this pizza is mouth watering, oozey gooey awesomeness!
Between my never empty glass of pinot noir, white bow ties and that glorious cheese I enjoyed myself and forgot that disco inferno was bumping in the background :o) A toast to MezzaNotte I definitely would come back!
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