Datebook Diner: Cafe di Scala dishes up romance

Cappellacci con la Zucca on the plate at Cafe di Scala. (Credit: John Gaps III/The Register)

When it opened in 2005, Cafe di Scala's food was more inspired than your typical Italian-American dining, but not by much. Since then, the kitchen has become progressively and impressively more energetic and ambitious.

Ambience: A welcome shift from the huge, minimal and hard-edged hot spots cropping up. Soft lighting in the charming rooms of the old Sherman Hill mansion envelops diners in a warm, romantic glow; small, intimate tables entice couples to cozy up a bit.

The best: Splitting an order of the delicately sweet and infinitely tender squash-stuffed pasta makes a terrific way to kick off dinner; or try the flavor-layered crostini, with red pepper tapenade topped with goat cheese, then capers, and finally a balsamic reduction.

Few restaurants take chicken to this level; larded with Italian cheeses on the inside and swathed in Norwalk's own La Quercia Prosciutto on the outside, the humble bird rivals a beef filet. And yes, the beef tenderloin here is good, but pay attention to the fish specials - I enjoyed a succulent tuna dish recently.

Hats off to the details, too. Romano risotto sides the pork, sweet rosemary-polenta cakes flatter the beef, a black-and-white orzo dresses up a tuna special. Again and again, the kitchen passionately chooses terrific accompaniments for each entree.

The rest: We overheard our server boasting to another table that the marinara sauce on the cavetelli was the best in town; she told us the pasta itself was homemade. In spite of all that, it tasted surprisingly ordinary.

I hunted all over for a drop of sauce on the pork tenderloin (allegedly served with a cremini port reduction), but alas, all I could find were some lone mushrooms - certainly nothing to swirl a fork-full of meat through.

Service: Mostly expert, though a few ungracious moments surprised me. For example, when sharing the squash-stuffed pasta an appetizer, the server merely brought us another plate, making us divvy it up ourselves. For $18, the server should insist that the kitchen do that. Servers tried - twice - to whisk away my dinner plate before my companion was finished - a no-no especially at an intimate, date-worthy spot.

Stay for dessert? Stay on the beaten path with the tried-and-true tiramisu. As for the fig pine-nut tart, give me a less prefab tasting crust and toast the pine nuts, and this could be a contender.

Bottom line: A beautiful place to dine on some mostly refined and contemporary Italian food.