Carley's Ristorante - Downtown Harrisburg

Overall Rating: Good Food, Mediocre Service
Highlight: Yummy Gnocchi
Lowlight: Over-fried Olives and Disconnected Server
Veggie Note: A handful of vegetarian dishes occur on the menu, but they are not listed as such so you have to read carefully and be able to translate some Italian ingredients

On a Sunday night a lot of downtown restaurants are closed, so we were happy to find an opportunity here for dinner with a visiting out of town friend.

Carley’s Ristorante is a trendy downtown Italian restaurant with a diverse menu and ample wine list. It was not too busy here considering the limited number of choices on a Sunday night. This was also day one of the first ever restaurant week in Harrisburg. We perused the special menu for the event, but no vegetarian choices were available so we ordered from the standard dinner menu. We had to decide between a few nice sounding appetizers and entrees. Luckily there were three of us so we could sample several and share.

We had the following:

Complimentary:

• Crusty Italian Bread – after we ordered our dinner we were brought a basket of warm crusty bread. It was flaky on the outside and soft and delicious in the middle. There was a bottle of olive oil on our table which was absolutely delicious, no bulk food, low-quality taste here at all.

Appetizer:

• Olive Ripieni – described in the menu as stuffed olives (cheese and pepper) with a garlic aioli dipping sauce, these olives came to our table breaded and deep fried, which was a surprise to us. I like fried olives, so we didn’t have a big problem with this, but it should definitely be mentioned in the description here. These olives were also overcooked; the breading was tough and dry. If you cut them open and pulled the olives out, they were still slightly moist inside. The aioli was very mild, missing a distinct garlic flavor, and could have passed for ordinary mayonnaise (which is fair considering that’s essentially what it is). The family size was plenty for the three of us.

Entrees:

• Ravioli di Ricotta al Burro e Salvia – Cheese ravioli with butter sage sauce, was tender fresh pasta with a light filling. The butter sauce had some sort of flavor added, maybe a vinegar, that was slightly strong and overpowering. There were fresh tomatoes added as well, not described on the menu. As we were finishing our meal, I noticed other servers offering freshly grated cheese to their customers, ours did not offer us that and this dish definitely would have benefitted from the addition.
• Risotto alla Millanese– The way this risotto is described on the menu, it definitely gives you the idea that it will be delightfully accompanied by olives, capers, tomatoes, basil, etc… but it was really just risotto with a minimal amount of the additions. It was still good risotto, but again not quite the way it was described in the menu.
• Gnocchi Putanesca – The highlight entrée from these three, these gnocchi were fabulously tender and the putanesca had plenty of kalamata olives and capers mixed in. This dish was a definite A+. Note that this is not the gnocchi dish listed on the online menu (at the time this was written).

Dessert:

• Amaretto Macaroons – four macaroons were served on a plate with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and caramel. The macaroons were good, a little saltier than would be expected and definitely cold in the center like they had been frozen. Four was plenty to share among two people, too bad we didn’t do that. We ended up leaving two behind (we would have liked to have taken them home but our server forgot that we asked for box and was too busy to come back to help us much once we had our check in hand, too bad)
• Zuppa Inglese - a trifle of chocolate and vanilla mousse with a mascarpone layer on top. This was a delicious treat and very well made. It was rich and heavy and could have been shared as well (although two of us each finished our own without too much effort).

Just a few other notes:

Our server, right from the start, apologized for his service, saying he was “shaky tonight.” He seemed rushed every time he came to check on us, sometimes not even stopping moving as we made requests, asked questions, etc… Most of the servers seemed to be on the ball here though so I wouldn’t call it an all-around problem at Carley’s.

A nice wine list and martini menu was presented to us without request. We ordered a bottle of wine, Italian pinot grigio, to suit our meal. It would have been nice to see a few local selections here, but they did not exist.

This restaurant is very lovely decorated and “live” piano music accompanied our meal (it was player piano).

There is a nice looking baked tomato dish listed on the online menu which was not on the current menu at the restaurant. Be prepared for the menu to be different when you get there as well.

Final Thoughts: It was really nice for three of us to order three different vegetarian meals without having to ask for any substitutions, special requests, etc. It would have been so much better if our service was a little more with it, but I would recommend this as a good downtown vegetarian choice.

Cafe Fresco - Downtown Harrisburg

Overall Rating: Good
Highlight: Clever Appetizers
Lowlight: Servers have a hard time hearing over the loud music
Veggie Note: No indication on the menu of whether or not the dishes are vegetarian, but the ingredients are listed well and there are lots of choices.

We joined some co-workers here for happy hour on Martini Monday.

Café Fresco is an upscale “urban” restaurant that specializes in clever dishes with trendy ingredients. It’s a bit schizophrenic in that the casual lunch atmosphere changes dramatically to a more fancy setting once dinner starts. Our co-workers were already seated when we arrived, tables were filling up fast. Our waitress seemed to be in a hurry to handle all of her tables, and when we hesitated to choose or drinks as soon as she came to the table-side, she immediately walked away without really conferring with us about needing more time to decide. We were all served water right away, however. Our server was very nice, but was clearly having a hard time hearing us over the volume of the music playing in the restaurant.

We had the following:

Complimentary:

• Nothing complimentary served here

Appetizer:

• Almond Roasted Goat Cheese – a round of goat cheese was roasted with almonds to a lovely soft and warm finish and served in a warmed dish with very-caramelized onions and roasted tomatoes. We really enjoyed this dish with the accompanying fresh crostinis, which were quickly refilled for us when we ran out.

Entrees:

• Spinach Pizza – this individual sized crispy thin crust pizza came with a dollop of red sauce on it, as indicated on the menu, but worth mentioning since it is less-traditional for a spinach pizza. It was not overwhelmed with spinach and was overall very good.
  
• Pad Thai with Tofu – a very large portion of pad thai served in a big bowl with chopsticks. They did not skimp on the added tofu (a choice on the menu), which was nicely fried. The tofu could have used a little more flavor, especially since the peanut sauce in the pad thai itself was also very minimal. Overall, I really enjoyed this dish and had enough to bring a lunch-sized portion home with me. This dish was not spicy.

Just a few other notes:

Dinners are not served with a salad; you must order this for an additional cost. One of our dinner companions did order a salad, which the waitress did not deliver until she was reminded of it (by us) as she was serving our entrees.

We were there on Martini Monday, so of course we all ordered Martinis. They were all very good, however very pricey. The deal of the day was that they were all $5. A bargain considering they are typically $8-$10 each.

The Pad Thai with Tofu is the only vegetarian entrée on the menu, however there were several other pizza varieties and a portabella sandwich in addition to a few very clever appetizers we’d like to go back and try some time (edamame ravioli, an artisan cheese plate, etc…).

Final Thoughts: Similar to other trendy restaurants, there are a lot of up and coming meats that chefs love to incorporate into dishes, so vegetarian entrees are not featured here. The food all had a very fresh taste and appealing presentation. It’s definitely worth a visit some day, but probably not a regular vegetarian dinner spot (unless you really love pizza and pad thai).

Bricco - Downtown Harrisburg

Overall Rating: Very Good
Highlight: Can you say Cheese?!
Lowlight: Pricey
Veggie Note: Some vegetarian options are available and they are clearly marked on the menu.


While browsing online for a nice place to eat dinner, we stumbled upon this gourmet find.


Bricco is a Mediterranean style restaurant associated with the Olewine School of Culinary Arts at Harrisburg Area Community College. The decor is very trendy, clean and comfortable. The staff members are all friendly, professional and dressed tidy. You definitely want to dress nicely yourself for this experience. We made reservations online but didn't really need them, we were greeted and seated right away.


We had the following:

Complimentary:

• Fresh Baked Dill Bread with dipping oil - very tasty and warm

Anitpasti:

• Red Oak and Mache - this was a great combination of pistachio encrusted goat cheese, fried and placed on top of red leaf greens, a few delicate slices of melon and pickled lemon rind. We ordered just one that we were going to share from a single plate. The waiter suggested they split it onto two plates for us - there was no extra charge for this. The whole thing was great!


• Formaggi - Selection of 3 (We chose Pipe Dreams Formage Ashed, PA, Goat;
  Fougerus, French, Cow; Tumbleweed, 5 Spoke Creamery, PA, Raw Cow) - I'll spare you the details of each individual cheese and just tell you that this was a real treat for us. Cheese is definitely one of our weaknesses, and here is a great example of enjoying locally produced food, another ++ for us. The three cheeses were served on a board with a slice of fresh honeycomb, several fresh crostinins and a fig compote (or something like that). Fabulous! What a great combination of flavors and textures. My partner didn't really dig the fig.

Entrees:

• Cappellini d’Angelo - this pasta dish had lots of garlic, which my partner really enjoyed, especially when the tiny balls of fresh mozzarella rolled around and got covered in tiny minced bits of it. The basil leaves were extremely fresh and flavorful, from one of the tinier-leaved varities. All-in-all this dish was a winner.


• Risotto del Giorno - okay, I confess, the risotto of the day was lobster, but occasionally (very, very occasionally) I give in to a shellfish dish. The number of vegetarian entrees was limited, and I was not in the mood to make too many special requests, so I picked this dish out of my laziness and want to order straight off the menu. If you're a vegetarian or vegan, you probably can relate to tiring of always trying to adapt dishes when the choices are limited. Of course you probably don't resort to eating shellfish the way I do. Anyway, ignoring the lobster, the risotto was made very well and the dish was very fresh. I did add a little salt to suit my tastes.

Dessert:

• Frozen Strawberry Shortcake - strawberry basil sorbet served on a biscuit with a hard meringue topping. The sorbet was very yummy, but the biscuit was hard and difficult to break through with the spoon provided. The meringue was also hard to eat this way.


• Fried Coconut Sticky Rice - the rice was wrapped in a spring roll type wrapper and fried. It wasn't too sweet, which my partner was glad about, but it also wasn't very coconutty either. It was served with a tres leches cake which was very moist and rich. I liked it better than my partner, but she's not much of a milk person to begin with.

Just a few other notes:


Bricco has a great wine list, which included a few local wines, very nice. We ordered a bottle of wine and we were well attended to when our glasses needed refilling.


We asked our server if he was a culinary student and surprisingly he was not, and even more surprisingly he said most of the servers were not. They were all super great at their jobs!


Bricco, in combination with the Hilton, hosts culinary lessons for the public. The cost isn't cheap, but the topics are pretty compelling. We are considering attending a 2 hour class on local beer, local cheese and complimentary spicy dishes.


Final Thoughts: While there were not an exceptional number of vegetarian dishes on the menu, there are definitely enough for you to pay Bricco a visit. There were lots of cold dishes, side dishes, brick oven pizzas and more cheese that we want to go back to try. There is a bar here, so maybe someday we will go back for drinks and something small. Heaven knows we can not afford to regularly eat there they way we did tonight.