By Marty Rosen
Special to the Courier-Journal
I love sitting in Le Gallo Rosso Bistro 1325 — it has by far the highest coziness quotient of any restaurant I've come across in recent years.
The dining area (formerly home to the Butterfly Garden Cafe) is deceptively tiny, because of the way the space is divvied up into nooks.
 Betty's Deep Dish Lasagna is a bubbling mesa of tender noodles, melting ricotta, vigorous red sauce, and well-flavored beef, veal and pork. Photo by Michael Clevenger, The Courier-Journal |
And finally there are the mix-and-match table settings, the gold, maroon and green tablecloths, and the slightly schlocky soundtrack — how often do you get to hear "Unchained Melody" in Italian? And how often do you want to?
The atmosphere is a nearly perfect replica of a diminutive French cafe, but the cuisine is Italian-American of the best sort — simple, direct, lovingly executed. And if service is sometimes a bit uncoordinated (I once witnessed folks almost begging to pay their bill), there's no faulting the familial warmth that pervades the place.
One night, 11 of us started a birthday celebration with artful heaps of antipasto: bright, paper-thin prosciutto, capicola, salami, and pepperoni; fine textured rounds of fresh mozzarella, mellow black olives, warm bread and dishes of olive oil for dipping ($12). A platter could satisfy four people (or leave two with enough leftovers for a true Italian breakfast the next morning).
Another starter, Poor Man's Caviar ($7), made a nice addition to the growing local assortment of eggplant appetizers — this one a garlicky, fine-grained, pale green dip served with delightfully sturdy pita chips.
A couple of folks in our party made a meal by combining salads and a scallop appetizer. A gorgonzola, walnut and pear salad ($8), topped with walnuts and red onions, came with a fig vinaigrette so thick and rich that it could have been mistaken for a fig tapenade (an inspired idea, if you ask me, that ought to immediately gain widespread approval).
When the scallop fajitas ($8.95) arrived at the table, they were greeted by envious oohs, ahs and pledges: "I'll order that next time," I heard someone mutter — and it might have been me. Seared to perfection, the scallops were served sizzling hot in miniature cast-iron skillets on a bed of Spanish rice and peppers.
Even the Bistro salad ($4) that's included with pastas and entrees made a nice impression: a length-wise slice of English cucumber was suavely curled around a cluster of greens, pine nuts, grape tomatoes and feta.
As for the Italian dishes, owner Annette Saco, who grew up in Cleveland, says most of them are based on recipes she learned from her parents and grandparents — and they show all the hallmarks of fine home-cooking.
Lasagna ($13.95) rose like a vast, bubbling mesa of tender noodles, melting ricotta, vigorous red sauce and well-flavored beef, veal and pork.
Stuffed meatballs (with spaghetti) weren't so successful — the ground meat was too coarse by at least one pass through the grinder, and the stuffing of fresh mozzarella was dry and rubbery. But the sauce had the tangy aromas of wine and balsamic vinegar.
Other dinner options include fettuccini dressed in a deft alfredo ($12.95) or with wild mushrooms and gorgonzola ($13.25); cappelini in a sauce of tomatoes, garlic and basil ($11.95) or chicken marsala ($15.95) or a rib-eye ($17).
From the Sunday breakfast menu, I urge you to consider Luigi's Favorite — scrambled eggs with Italian sausage, peppers, onions, very fine home fries and toast ($4.95).
For reasons that I cannot fathom, that Italian sausage doesn't show up on the dinner menu. It should.
And the homemade desserts will reward your indulgence: I haven't yet tried the cannoli, but it's said that the name of mascarpone cheese derives from a phrase that means "better than good." Trust me: The tiramisu cake, which uses mascarpone, is better than good. It's spectacular.
Freelance restaurant critic Marty Rosen's review appears on Saturdays. You can e-mail him at cjdining@gmail.com
Le Gallo Rosso
1325 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY
502-473-0015
Rating: 3 stars
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