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Written by Rick Karlin
Oct 20, 2010
Ever since seeing the movie "Moonstruck," I've yearned to live in an Italian neighborhood. I'm envious of River Westeners who live near Centro Café. The neighborhood isn't Italian, but they have the most important part of my dream: a cozy trattoria. Since the folks running Centro Café aren't pretentious, they don't call it a trattoria.
The café, owned by Pat Moore and Peg Karpfinger, resides in a storefront purchased in 2003. The space shines with the loving care that was given to its several-year restoration. The friendly service, spectacular food and reasonable prices have made it a dining destination for folks in the neighborhood and throughout the Milwaukee metro area.
We visited on one of the last warm evenings of fall without a reservation and were able to snag a table on a busy Saturday night. True, we did have to scrunch four people around a two-top sidewalk table, but as soon as the food arrived we didn't much care that the table was crowded.
Our friendly and well-informed server was one reason we had such a good time. Ruthie was friendly and jovial without being intrusive - not an easy feat. But the primary reason for our contentment was the food.
The Caesar was perfectly dressed with a light coating of freshly made dressing caressing each leaf of romaine. Freshly shaved parmesan and a few home-made croutons completed the dish. I would have appreciated a few anchovies as well, but other than that it was perfect. At $4 for the smaller dish (which was a generous portion), it was a steal, even by Centro Café's economical standards. The soup offering on the night of our visit was a vegan roasted eggplant purée. It proved to be fragrant, pleasantly spicy and rich enough that even a carnivore wouldn't miss the meat. Again the low cost was an unbelievable $3.50 a cup or $5 a bowl (which could easily serve as a meal).
Entrées are equally delicious and well-priced. Pasta dishes start at $7 a serving, with none going for more than $12. The portion sizes were generous without being overly large. If you have a hefty appetite, you won't go away hungry, and lighter eaters will have enough leftover for another meal. Additionally, any pasta dish can be made with gluten-free pasta, as gluten intolerance seems to be the 21st-century version of the peanut allergy.
Farfalle a la giardiniera paired bow-tie pasta with asparagus, carrots, red pepper, mushroom and basil. The happy marriage managed to be light and satisfying at the same time. Plump and airy gnocchi offered a sizable portion of potato dumplings, roasted red pepper and spinach in a white wine sauce. The day's pasta special featured tender pasta and fresh salmon bathed in a creamy tomato-based sauce reminiscent of Campbell's cream of tomato soup (and that's a good thing).
The spaghetti di frutte di mare tempted me with its promise of calamari, scallops and shrimp in tomato white wine sauce. This was the one disappointing dish of the evening. The shrimp were plentiful, but small and overcooked. I would have preferred fewer, larger shrimp. The calamari and scallops were chopped so small as to be unidentifiable. The sauce, similar to the one on the pasta dish, masked the seafood flavor.
Not that you'll need them to complete your meal, but the contorni (vegetable side dishes) are remarkably cheap, $2 or less, and perfectly prepared. There is a nice selection of exceptionally well-priced house wines available by the glass or bottle ($5 to $9 a glass, $22 to $30 a bottle) and some high-end options by the bottle. I can't wait to go back and enjoy the mom and pop hospitality and scrumptious food again. If I'm lucky Cher will walk by, her wig flowing in the wind, kicking an empty can down the middle of Center Street.
