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On a brutally hot summer day last year, my family and I stopped in at Caffé Carmen, Second Street and Moyamensing Avenue, for a cold drink. At that time, the charming spot offered homemade gelato, cold drinks, coffee and pastries. I later discovered Caffé Carmen had been turned into a full-service restaurant.
Dining "al fresco" is one of my favorite pastimes, especially when the air is balmy and the humidity low. Caffe Carmen is a BYOB, so we toted along a crisp Orvietto. Several tables with San Pellegrino umbrellas were set up outside and Mom, Edward and I settled in.
I got a kick out of the water tumblers etched with cancan dancers and plates featuring the Eiffel Tower, even though Caffé Carmen is an Italian restaurant.
Diners receive a delicious complimentary white bean appetizer, enriched with olive oil, and olive bread.
The soup of the day ($6) was minestrone. There are many recipes for Italian vegetable soup and they vary from region to region. Caffé Carmen’s was green, not a tomato in sight, made with onions, celery and green, white and kidney beans. It arrived piping hot and needed a good sprinkling of salt and pepper.
The antipasto for two ($16) could easily serve three. The ingredients, all immaculately fresh and prettily arranged on the plate, consisted of imported Proscuitto di Parma; marvelous mortadella; two of the best homemade grilled baby artichokes I have ever tasted; some thinly sliced grilled eggplant and zucchini; several rounds of fresh, creamy mozzarella; roasted peppers; and fragrant basil leaves.
A house salad comes with dinner. The romaine had seen better days and the pale tomatoes tasted like cardboard. A few pieces of carrot and cooked onion, which was hot, were included. The dressing tasted more of oil and lacked a complimentary acid, such as vinegar or lemon juice.
Arancini, or Sicilian rice balls, are among my favorite hot antipasti and fared better than the salad. They are usually formed into the size of a golf ball, but Caffé Carmen’s ($4.50) was quite large. It was golden brown on the outside and stuffed with fresh mozzarella. We agreed the rice was nicely seasoned and had fun passing it around the table.
For our entrées, Mom selected gnocchi marinara ($15), Edward ordered chicken cutlets ($12), a mainstay of the Italian-American home dinner, and I was curious about the "pollo al Mediterraneo" ($15.95).
The gnocchi arrived nice and hot in a deep soup bowl. These Italian potato dumplings have become popular within the past 10 years or so. When carefully done, they are light, fluffy and melt in your mouth. These were somewhere in between and the marinara sauce was on the sweet side.
The chicken cutlets consisted of two boneless breast halves, properly pounded, coated in breadcrumbs and fried to a golden brown. Although tasty, they were a little greasy. Edward said his spaghetti with marinara was cooked fine and arrived hot.
My dinner was not up to par. It contained two grilled chicken breast halves, topped with pepper and other spices, roasted peppers, slightly salty green olives and grilled onions. Unfortunately, it was overcooked. The spaghetti that came with it was undercooked and cold. Pasta "al dente" is the order of the day in Italian cucina, but mine was almost raw.
During our visit, a group of regulars were enjoying coffee and a family of three was dining inside the restaurant. We enjoyed watching the happenings on Moyamensing, particularly the neighbors walking their dogs, and chatted with the group of regulars.
I had to try some of the homemade gelati because a friend told me it was the best he ever tasted. He was right: a good scoop of pistachio was $3 and was homemade, rich and creamy, bursting with the flavor of pistachio nuts.
Our dinner was uneven, but a number of courses were delicious. Caffé Carmen is a friendly neighborhood restaurant and, once the kinks are worked out, the entrées should be as fine as the gelato and antipasto for two.
Two tips of the toque to Caffé Carmen.
Caffé Carmen
2015 E. Moyamensing Ave.
215-218-0771
Credit cards accepted
