Café Continental, Cities Best Iltalian Restaurant?

Samara Kalk
Wisconsin State Journal

Last week I ended a review of Tutto Pasta Cucina Italiana by saying that it serves neither the best nor the worst Italian food in town. That prompted an e-mail from a reader asking for the names of two or three Italian restaurants that are better. My list included Lombardino's on Old University Avenue, although it is overpriced. I am also fond of the Greenbush on Regent Street, especially late at night. Then there's my weakness for Paisan's Porta salads and pesto pizza.

Cafe Continental, across King Street from Tutto Pasta, may, in fact, be Madison's best Italian restaurant. But in a number of past visits, I always left with ambivalent feelings.

Two superb pasta dishes we had on a recent visit, though, left me with a much more positive experience at Cafe Continental. The Pappardelle con Funghi ($12) could have used more mushrooms and eggplant, but the tomato sauce was light and garden fresh. Better was the Penne Mediteraneo ($11) with sun-dried tomato sauce, Kalamata olives, feta and Parmesan. The penne was soft, almost pillowy, and the ingredients blended for a wonderful, distinct flavor. Both pastas were served on deep plates and looked beautiful.

On a subsequent visit we tried two house specialties: the Mushroom Ragout on Grilled Polenta ($13) and the Grilled Duck Breast ($19). Like the mushroom pasta dish, the ragout could have used more of the namesake portobellos and creminis. The stew featured potato chunks, red pepper, sweet onion, and a curry-colored reduced cream sauce that was subtle and soothing. Three stalks of asparagus on the side could have used more steaming.

The duck was a little too enthusiastically charred but still perfectly pink inside. About a dozen thick slices were arranged around a scoop of garlic mashed potatoes that could have used more garlic, and fried spinach that was more addictive than potato chips.

As a starter, we ordered Goat Cheese & Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Prosciutto Pillows ($8), which sat on a bed of baby spinach dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette. Because two "pillows" come in an order, the waiter asked if he should have them divided onto two plates. In effect, we each had our own huge salad, where the main attraction was so rich and wonderful that it deserved to be parceled out among the fresh spinach leaves instead of choked down at once.

A Saturday lunch visit proved that Cafe Continental turns out a nice, simple Margherita pizza ($6.99). It featured a crispy crust, fresh basil and tomato, but could have used a sharper mozzarella.

Brunch items are served -- conveniently -- until 3 p.m., and all four Benedict selections looked promising. There's a crab cakes Benedict, an applewood smoked bacon Benedict, artichoke heart Benedict and grilled pork and apple Benedict. There's also a number of alluring frittatas and French toast choices. The Frangelican Toast ($6.99) was a fine treat, but the Frangelico Liqueur supposedly used in the batter did not stand out.

Our brunch was made more enjoyable since we were seated at one of the four tables in the front instead of in the main area of the narrow restaurant, where diners often become part of what can seem like one long banquet table. At the other extreme, the back room feels rather isolated.

On an earlier visit, I was excited to find on the menu a wilted spinach salad with smoked trout. I hoped it would be similar to a version the Opera House was serving at the time. But Cafe Continental's rendition was nothing like my favorite salad. The salad, not worth the trouble of chewing, has disappeared from the menu.

On another visit, a 14-year-old at my table ordered the Chicken Caesar Sandwich ($9.50). My niece, a self-described Caesar salad fanatic, took one bite and left it alone for the rest of the meal. Chalking it up to teenage girl syndrome, I took a bite only to find a slice of chicken so thin and pathetic that if it didn't have grill marks it could have passed as a condiment. The meat was also comically dry and didn't come close to stretching across the large "Euro" roll. And the only Caesar dressing involved may have been on the lettuce, which was also in short supply.

Cafe Continental has won fans since it opened in the summer of 1998 because of its tasteful ambience, nearly flawless service and convenient hours. It also has a wide-ranging menu where everything sounds good, and the house bread is outstanding.

But the main reason behind the restaurant's success is that it is owned by Nick Schiavo and his parents, longtime restaurateurs Tony and Rose Marie Schiavo. The Schiavos ran Antonio's on South Park Street for 29 years. Antonio's was solid, straightforward affair, while Cafe Continental is more dramatic.

Tony Schiavo traces his roots to Sicily, but his family has been in Madison for years -- his grandparents were born here.

"Uptown is a lot of fun," Tony said.

"You've got to change with the times."