Café Emilia

This restaurant in Bridgewater has become immensely popular because of its attractive setting, pleasant and knowledgeable service, and its Italian cuisine.

By: Pat Tanner

   BRIDGEWATER — Café Emilia is an attractive Italian restaurant that has become immensely popular in the year and a half since it opened, despite the proximity of other worthy Italian restaurants along the same stretch of Route 202 in Bridgewater.
   In the space that had last been the Wild Mushroom, owners Joe Natale and Frank Cotroneo have created an attractive setting that seats 65 in two rooms, the larger of which contains a small, gleaming wood-and-glass bar in the rear. Walls are painted a mellow peach that combines with the room’s other accouterments to create a burnished charm that is equal parts sophistication and rusticity. These include handsome mottled-glass-and-wrought-iron wall sconces, wide-slatted wood shutters that serve as curtains, and quarry tile flooring that picks up the wood and peach tones of the room. The smaller room is even prettier and is a calm, quiet space when the main room is filled to capacity.
   Service is in the old-world mold of deferential, slightly formal male servers wearing tuxedoes. In the same tradition, they are also pleasant, knowledgeable, and attentive in a non-intrusive way. The downside of garnering a loyal following is, of course, that not only are Saturday night reservations hard to come by, but the place is jam-packed. With all the hard surfaces — as well as a low ceiling — the decibel level can soar.
   Regular patrons like the restaurant for the careful, upmarket way it handles such Italian restaurant warhorses as veal in Parmigiana, Marsala, and saltimbocca styles, its pasta fagioli, Caesar salad, and, of course, pastas.
   Linguine with clams ($13 lunch; $15 dinner), penne Arrabiata, and baked ziti with eggplant (each $11 or $14), attest to the classic leanings of the pasta selections. Diners can peruse the menu while feasting on complimentary crostini topped with chopped tomato and excellent country Italian bread made for dipping into the bowl of basil-flavored oil on each table.
   I’m always happy to encounter excellent versions of beloved, if not exactly exciting, dishes, and Café Emilia hit the mark on almost all we tried. One companion, a Café Emilia regular, went right for the homemade minestrone ($6), which he describes as the best he ever encountered. Others were drawn to two of the evening’s special appetizers: chicken ravioli with roasted red pepper sauce ($9), which could also be an entrée, and smoked salmon on potato pancakes ($12). Four tender ravioli, scalloped around the edges and stuffed with minced, moist white meat chicken were delectable with and without the sauce, which was a more refined version than commonly encountered.
   Another companion raved about his three small, flat, crisp-fried pancakes topped with first-rate smoked salmon. Refined is also how I would describe the smooth, pure white tartar-style sauce that accompanied this dish. Again, a fairly standard combination yielding an above average result.
   When it came to entrees I decided to go strictly traditional, ordering the grilled jumbo shrimp coated with bread crumbs ($17). Six large shrimp — I’m not sure I would label them jumbo — were very tasty indeed, but they seemed to be to be pan-fried in olive oil, not grilled. The bread crumb coating was a bit soggy, not what I had hoped for. This and most other non-pasta entrees came with flawless, vibrant green beans cooked a tad too al dente for my taste, but also with the best, richest mashed potatoes I’ve had in ages. Just like mom used to make, but without the lumps.
   Another special was the outstanding chicken rollatini ($18), six pinwheels of boneless breast, mozzarella and roasted red peppers. Each component was exemplary, and a thick, Marsala-like sauce finished the dish beautifully.
   The two regulars among us pulled long faces when they noticed their Café Emilia favorite, veal chops, was no longer on the menu. No problem though: the kitchen aims to please and was happy to produce two beautiful specimens, topped with sautéed red peppers, mushrooms and onions. At $28 each, this was by far the priciest dish here. The only flaw was that a request for medium-rare produced a thoroughly medium, albeit delicious, chop.
   To go with our meal we ordered a true bargain of a Bordeaux: a 1999 Pauillac for $35. This was one choice from a fine, extensive list that includes a number of bargains in all price ranges.
   Among desserts, only the cheesecake and crème brulee are made in house. The selection includes German chocolate cake, white chocolate and dark chocolate mousse cakes, orange sorbet, and profiteroles (two round cream puffs coated with melted chocolate). Since the kitchen had run out of cheesecake, I opted for the profiteroles ($6), which were a bit soggy but tasty indeed. A companion raved about the dark chocolate mousse cake ($6), lauding it for its excellent chocolate and for not being overly sweet.
   Espresso ($2) was exceptionally good, while regular decaf was exceptionally weak. By the end of the evening I was wishing that, like my lucky companions who live five minutes from Café Emilia, I could consider it my neighborhood Italian restaurant as well.
For directions to Café Emilia, click here.