OK... I've thought about this for a while... let's get to it.
Hedy & Talia Trovato are Chefs/Co-Owners of this brand-new establishment. They are certainly not new to the restaurant business as they operated the original Coppia in Chesterland for three years. This new location has all the makings of a marvelous fine dining experience. But they do have some "rethinking" to do.
The new location at the Lost Nation Airport in Willoughby, Ohio is an interesting restart. The facility is all new and quite attractive.
Parking is close and easy; just a short walk to what appears to be the front door (or what should be). As you approach the double glass doors you see a nicely appointed, very spacious foyer. Curiously, you are confronted by a sign pointing you to go around the front of the building to enter the restaurant. As you do so, you approach the front patio. Which is quite large and nicely appointed. There is a gate to enter, however there is no handle on the outside. You have to reach over to the inside of the gate to unlatch it. The handle is a bit awkward and catches you off guard at first making it a bit difficult. Once you get through the gate you are faced with two doors. One leads into the kitchen. The other is the entrance to the restaurant. Thus far the signage is a bit meager.
Upon entering the establishment we were immediately greeted by a very pleasant lady with a big smile. She checked our reservation and promptly seated us... at a table directly behind her 5 feet from the front door where she stood 2 feet behind me the entire evening. Fortunately she was an extremely pleasant woman that smiled and laughed easily. I just found our location a bit odd... and crowded. It also became obvious very quickly, as a wind blew up my back every time the door opened, that this situation would become intolerable as winter approached. The current layout is going to require everyone in the dining room to wear their winter coats throughout their meal. Again, I refer to the double doors into the foyer that is positioned perfectly to be the correct entrance to this establishment (at least that's what the architect thought).
Well, very quickly after we were seated a nice gentleman approached and introduced himself as Chris, our server for the evening. He asked what type of water we preferred and proceeded to pour. He explained the menu and took our drink orders. The wine list is a bit sparce. There were no Italian wines by the glass (odd for an Italian leaning restaurant). But I did find a nice "Cab Franc" that was quite pleasant. Upon his return Chris answered several questions easily and efficiently. And we began to order. I had a desire for lamb and the only place I found it was in the appetizer section. I asked if there was something he could do to turn that into an entre' for me. He said it should be no problem to combine two orders and that should be sufficient. I was pleased and asked him to proceed.
Our meal began to come out and it looked wonderful. The presentation of every dish was artistry. The Fried Eggplant with Whipped Feta and Pickled Farm Peppers was excellent. It had a crispy crunch on the outside and the inside was creamy and full of flavor. The wrong appetizer came out for me first try but they quickly recovered and brought me my "Lost in Palermo" with Marinated Tomato, Lemon Ricotta, Balsamic, Basil, Herb Focaccia. Again, marvelous presentation and fabulous flavors. The entree's began to arrive and were just as impressive. Fine dining is every bit as much a visual experience as it is smell and taste. All the food hit all the right notes. The Blackened Wild Caught Grouper, Eloté Orzo, Corn Crema was excellent. The Boneless Pork Chop, Tomato - Bacon Jam, Golden Polenta was amazing. My lamb lollipops were beautiful and prepared perfectly. There were six of them and they were one bite each... perfect. It was a bit strange that they showed up on two separate plates as two separate appetizers rather than combining it all on one plate as the entree' I requested. It did crowd the table a bit. But that did not take away from the quality of the food... marvelous.
After dinner we ordered coffee and dessert. Curiously, we were informed they did not have coffee. Only espresso or cappuccino... odd? The cappuccino was fine so we ordered that. Note: In Italy they never drink cappuccino after noontime. It is strictly a morning beverage. But that's ok, we're American, we're in America and it tasted great... all is well. For dessert I ordered the "Field & Frost, Whipped Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Blueberry Granita... nicely done. My brother ordered the Chocolate Tart, Campfire Smoked Crèmeux, Graham Crumble... ditto!
Like I said, they have some rethinking to do but it's got good bones, great kitchen, excellent staff. Give them a little time and it's an easy 5 stars. Definitely give it a try and see what you think. read more