Americano

Bratenahl's Americano is tucked away in the One Bratenahl Place residential tower, with a guarded gate and gorgeous views of the lake and downtown Cleveland. Many may not even know that this restaurant exists, and is open to the public. I became aware of them through the food events that I plan for area non-profits, but hadn't been there to dine...yet.

At a charity event last September, I won a gift card to Americano in a dining basket that I bid on. So, I was more than ready to check them out first-hand on Saturday night. We met two other friends there, and were seated right away for our 7:30PM reservation. We settled in with bread and drinks, and started to look at the menu. It was difficult for all of us to choose. I always take that as a good sign.

"R" and I decided to share the Fresh Sweet Corn and Ricotta Ravioli with spinach and mushrooms in a light cream sauce ($10).

Please note that this is only a half portion shown above. They knew we were sharing the dish, and split the plate with no extra charge. There was a lot of filling in the ravioli, and the light cream sauce and sweetness of the corn complimented the smooth ricotta well. It was good, but I think more spinach and mushrooms would have given the dish more depth in flavor.

I ordered a scallop special, that included a corn polenta, diced vegetables and chickpeas, slaw, and a zesty pesto drizzled around the edge of the plate.

For $27, I thought that four large scallops and the amount of polenta and vegetables was a very fair price. Overall, I loved the flavor and textures in this dish-- particularly the pesto and sweet Ohio corn. However, the addition of the chickpeas started to bother me about halfway through the dish. It was an odd texture for this type of dish, and a little heavy-handed in quantity.

We all seemed to really enjoy our entrees (salmon, mac and cheese, and steak), and a sweet treat of their Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream helped finish off the meal. Overall, the food was very good in my opinion. However, our service was not. At least the bread supply was kept up, and our water glasses were never empty very long. But for our second round of drinks, I actually had to call out to our server as she scanned our table and then kept on walking past. She was quite absent throughout the meal, and at one point two other servers were taking orders and helping our table. It became confusing, and somehow we were still neglected with three people chipping in. A busy night is not the excuse here, because while there were several other diners-- the restaurant was never at full capacity while we were there. It was odd. "R" actually labeled it the worst service he's ever experienced. At least the good company and good food kept me distracted most of the time! Also, I appreciated that host and co-owner, Cole, did stop by our table a few times to check in on us. This was prior to long lags in service, or we would have mentioned it.

Would I go again? I think so. The food is all that matters at the end of the day, and it was very good.

Americano
One Bratenahl Place
Bratenahl, OH 44108
216-541-3900