Okay, first my standard disclaimer. My partner and I dine frequently at expensive, European-style restaurants in Jacksonville, Boston, New York, and London. We are quite accustomed to the more relaxed pace of a European meal. However at our first dinner last night at La Cena, we waited for over an hour just to get our check! Pauses between courses were routinely 30 minutes or more. A simple meal out with friends consumed more than 4 hours! The waitstaff seemed to be comatose.
The good? Well the food is generally excellent and the portion sizes are surprisingly large for a restaurant of this caliber. There are so many creative pasta dishes and traditional northern italian meat and fish dishes that any true fan of Italian cuisine will feel right at home. The main dining room is pretty and intimate, although the concrete walls and floor make for terrible accoustics and on our visit last night we had the misfortune to be seated next to a table of harpies who spent the entire four hour meal shrieking at each other at the top of their lungs -- even the waitstaff and the OWNER were appalled at their behavior.
For an appetizer, we split the veal carpaccio which was good (could've used more lemon juice and olive oil) and got a chance to sample some delicious garlicky escargot too. My main course was a spaghettini carbonara which was cold and congealed by the time it reached our table (2 hours after ordering it). My partner ordered the tortellini bolognese -- a rich ragu of veal and beef which suffered from far too much salt.
The wine list is excellent, with many mid-range options. The best deal may be the 'wine by the glass' which is actually a full 250 ml of your wine selection, almost enough for two full glasses!
more