Happily splurging for lunch at Solaia in Englewood

The whole Branzino or sea bass I enjoyed at Solaia, a fine-dining Italian restaurant in Englewood, hid a big surprise.

Fat Beef Short Ribs were boneless and bathed in a red-wine sauce.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We walked into Solaia a little after noon today, but the dining room of the Englewood restaurant was empty.

The man behind the bar assured me lunch was being served and told us to pick any table.

The next surprise was the lunch menu, which was filled with prices you see at dinner elsewhere, with entrees priced from $22 to $32.

I had purchased a Living Social voucher for $15 that entitled me to $30 worth of food, and doing so for two people at Solaia suddenly didn't seem like a good idea.

But the beautiful, well-prepared food won us over, and the entrees were generous, allowing us to take home leftovers.

I've eaten a lot of whole branzino, a farmed sea bass from Europe, but the fish on Solaia's lunch menu is absolutely tops ($25).

The fish was perfectly grilled in an open kitchen at the back of the dining room -- with a crispy tail -- and topped with artichokes, olives, tomato and caramelized garlic. 

Fresh juice from a half lemon on the plate was all it needed.

But the big surprise was that it had been deboned, the first time I've ever had a whole fish that was as easy to eat as a fillet. Delicious.

My wife's Beef Short Ribs, also boneless and covered in a red-wine sauce, were fork tender ($28).

We started by sharing a well-prepared Caesar Salad ($10). My only complaint: It was skimpy.

A half-portion of the Caesar Salad with freshly ground black pepper.

Don't go for the service

Eventually, other lunch customers showed up, but only a half-dozen tables were occupied, and one man ate at the bar.

Still, service was casual, and our waiter never recited the day's specials to us.

We chose a bright table for four in the window, and I always get a kick out of how the busboy rushes over to remove extra place settings, including cloth napkins and glasses.

The bartender was very accommodating when I couldn't find the waiter. He packed up our leftovers and three fat slices of dark, crusty olive bread, marking the cover of each container with the contents.

Our check totaled $37.41 with tax, plus the $15 I had paid for the voucher, and I tipped 15% on the full value of the food, which was $63.

That's a splurge for lunch, but the whole branzino is so good I might go back someday and pay full price.

Update

I put my leftover fish in the refrigerator at home and forgot about it for a few days.

When I opened the Solaia container, I was surprised and disappointed the bartender didn't give me the head of the fish with its delectable "cheeks" and other morsels.

What he did give me was as good as I remembered.

In the dining room, dark wood, paintings and beautiful wall sconces.

Both dining rooms at Solaia have bars, and the one not in use at lunch today is decorated with a mural, above. Singer Tony Bennett's son once ran a recording studio just up the street from Solaia.

I soaked crusts of the raisin and olive bread in a good olive oil, but my wife ate three whole slices with butter.

Solaia, 22 N. Brunt St., Englewood; 201-871-7155. Valet parking available.

Web site: When you want to splurge

Postscript

On today's visit to Englewood, I saw many changes in the food scene I described in a post two years ago:

On two sides of the food tracks in Englewood

  

If you're going to Italy, stay here

Keys turned in to the central lost and found office for the Milan subway system.

Eight days after my passport, driver's license, cash, and credit and ATM cards were stolen on the subway in Milan, I reluctantly left Venice and drove to Gallarate, a bustling commercial center near the international airport. 

I picked Gallarate for my last three nights in Italy because I didn't want to spend any more time in Milan.

Gallarate was perfect for day trips to Italy's lake country, where I had a bountiful lunch of antipasti and fish from Lake Maggiore in a town called Angera. 

I also had great dinners at the Galaxy Grill in Gallarate, where I was served a wood-roasted whole branzino, and Compagnia delle Cozze or The Mussel Company, which offered an unusual lasagna in a fish sauce, warm fish salad with potatoes and olives, and coal-oven vegetable pizza. (See earlier posts.)

My room at the Hotel Astoria was twice the size and half the price of the postage stamp I occupied at Best Western Hotel Galles on Piazza Lima in Milan. Best of all, the desk staff in Gallarate was everything the Hotel Galles staff wasn't.

I parked my Alfa Romeo 159 turbo-diesel in front of the hotel, rolled my suitcase inside and gave my name and passport to Massimiliano, who confirmed my reservation. Then, I asked him to call the lost and found in Milan to see if any of my valuables had been found. I also gave him the number of the Fiat Center in Milan, where I had to return the car. He said he would call the lost and found right away.

About an hour later, I pulled up to the Fiat Center and learned that the desk clerk from the hotel in Gallarate was on the phone with a Fiat employee, telling him that my small, black-leather bag, my passport, my credit cards and everything else had been turned in to lost and found.

But when I took the phone, Massimiliano said I had to get to the office in about 35 minutes, before it closed at 4 p.m. for the weekend, or I would have to wait until Monday to retrieve everything. (I was supposed to catch an early flight home that Monday.) He gave me the address and Fiat called me a cab.

The driver didn't speak that much English, but I gave him the address and used his cellphone to call Massimiliano, who explained the urgency of the situation to him. He plunged into rush-hour traffic and took advantage of the tram-taxi-bus lanes in Milan to gain time. 

Meanwhile, Massimiliano called lost and found employees to tell them we were trying to get there before closing time. We made it. I had to wait 15 minutes while forms were filled out for me to sign, I paid a small fee and my small, leather bag and its contents were handed to me. The thief took $300 in cash and discarded the rest.

Then the tax driver took me to a train station for the return trip to Gallarate, where I checked into the hotel, showered and changed for my fish-and-roasted-vegetable dinner and a celebratory glass of wine.