Kinks aside, this new Italian eatery shows great deal of promise
One night, Sister Bertrille and I were walking down the north side of ulica Swietokrzyska, marveling at how cosmopolitan it looked with all the construction scaffolding removed. We stumbled on some tall windows and peered in to find a newly redecorated interior of a modern-looking restaurant neither of us had seen before San Marzano.
Wooden chairs and shelves gave the large room an almost homey touch. In the back, wine bottles stood on display behind the counter, with books placed on other shelves. Leather couches formed a waiting area not far from the bar. A couple dozen marble tables sat between thick, square, structural columns, which broke up the room. On each table were wineglasses and orchids in a blue vase.
A few nicely dressed people occupied the otherwise sparsely populated room, enjoying their food. We took a gander at the menu to find it reasonably priced (starters: zl. 4.50-zl. 11.90; pizza: zl. 11.90-zl. 26.90; and pasta and insalata: zl. 9.50-zl. 22.90).
We stared again at the beautiful interior and thought we must be imagining this ... that we would walk away and the next time we returned we would look through the window to find yet another sklep spozywczy with fruit-juice-lined shelves.
We picked a Sunday night to go down and find out if it really was a mirage and invited Lucky to go with us. Anticipation got the better of us. We were so excited to try this place that when Superman called us on Saturday, we decided to take him along with us on that night, too.
The wonderful staff deduced at the door that our party spoke better English than po polsku. Saying "come this way," the host led us to a table and deposited menus, entirely in English with a company mission statement printed on the back. We were pleasantly surprised at our meal, and were eager to return the next night.
On Sunday, Sister Bertrille and I were a little late, and found Lucky already reclining in a seat.
"You guys, I am loving this already," he said taking a sip from a cappuccino. "I hope all the other restaurants in Warsaw take a hint, make the investment into running a fine establishment like this and push out some of the rundown crap in this town."
It was a pretty strong statement from somebody who hadn't eaten the food yet.
Our waitress was on us with efficiency and smiles. Wearing a white shirt with the company logo, a black apron and black pants, she waited patiently as we discussed the very short wine list, five reds and three whites. All Italian, full bottles ranged from zl. 36 for Montepulciano d' Abruzzo to zl. 58 for Chianti Sovrano. Most were available by half bottles and three by the glass (zl. 9-zl. 12).
We asked our waitress for Chianti, the perfect compliment to Italian food. Without asking for further clarification, she brought us the Sovrano the most expensive of the three Chiantis on the wine list.
This restaurant was still getting the wrinkles out of its system. At the time of our visit, though open, they had not yet had their "grand opening."
Despite that, our waitress returned with a beautiful bottle of wine, presented it to us, opened it and on assumption poured three glasses. Another minor faux pas.
After pouring the wine, our waitress patiently sat through our indecisiveness. We all chose the mixed side salad (zl. 11.90).
Sister Bertrille tried to get her mixed side salad with dressing on the side. On Saturday she tried and received a dry salad bez sosu. On Sunday she tried again through a series of gesticulations and was hopeful. All three salads arrived with the house dressing generously laid over the top. Sister Bertrille pointed out to our waitress that she had wanted the dressing on the side, and the girl smiled back as if to say, "I know." She seemed to indicate that the problem was in the kitchen.
The salads were good, though. The mission statement on the back of the menu promises fresh, quality ingredients and the lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes were all young and crispy. A good salad is hard to find in Warsaw, and this restaurant delivers what it promises.
For mains, Sister Bertrille chose the Pizza La Reine (zl. 16.50), with ham, olives, mushrooms, mozzarella and tomato. She was delighted with the juicy toppings over a perfect, thin crust. For the second night in a row, we noticed that the pizza was light on cheese. This makes the calorie counters, like the good sister, happy.
This was an exceptional pizza sauce spread over real pizza dough in sufficient quantity to taste the robust herbs and garlic therein.
Lucky was on the verge of having pizza when he heard me ordering the lasagna. He had to have it. His expectations were met or surpassed when the pasta dish arrived, fresh from the oven, sizzling in a ceramic dish.
"This lasagna is soooo good," he exclaimed. "It's so light and tasty. I love the sauce."
The relatively light lasagna left room for dessert. We decided to order one dessert and split it. It would have to be the tiramisu, which is the "state of the art" Italian dessert for this era.
We asked our kind waitress, "Dessert, prosze?" And she scurried off clutching her little black tray. When she came back with the menus, well, we had to change our decision and order three. Sister Bertrille could not live without the chocolate cake (zl. 7.50). Lucky absolutely had to try the cheesecake (zl. 6.50). And that left pity-poor-me with the tiramisu (zl. 9.50).
The desserts were outstanding, as fine as anything in town and less pricy than some. Lucky's cheesecake (zl. 6.50) was in the New York style, not the sernik you usually see. It was a generous slice surrounded on its plate with a star-shaped squirt of strawberry sauce. The good sister's chocolate cake was heated and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. My significantly sinful tiramisu was surrounded with sprinkled powdered chocolate. It was light and intoxicating.
The shortcomings of service appear to be only those of training, and since the grand opening had yet to occur, I assume they will be ironed out. San Marzano is not in the fine-dining category and not the kind of restaurant you would go to for revelations on the latest gourmet trends. But it serves very good food at a reasonable price, and will raise the standard of affordable restaurants in Warsaw. A pleasant dinner for three with wine and dessert cost zl. 180 ($43.90).
