First and possibly last look at Il Forno Classico

I want you all to know, that I am generally a positive person. That being said, I would have expected my first review for How We Roll to be positive. So let me just say this - the wine was great! Here is our experience at Il Forno Classico

Since I am fairly new to the area, my friend took me to a place off the beaten path nestled in a strip mall. When he first said we are headed to an Italian restaurant in a Strip Mall, I immediately cringed at the thought of a high traffic area with nothing to look at but highway. However, I was utterly impressed by the lush surroundings once we reached the restaurant on Sunrise Blvd.

Tucked away, Il Forno Classico and Wine bar showed promise. On arrival, we noticed that no one was utilizing the outside seating despite the beautiful evening and equally beautiful sunset. The Host immediately greeted us and began walking us into the dining room before even asking if we wanted to sit outside. I only mention that because for a fleeting moment I thought about enjoying the patio. We were offered a booth which neither one of us really enjoy and after craning our heads and noticing seats at the bar we inquired if there was a full menu served there. Since both of us are bar rats, we were pleased that the answer was yes, and it took us only a second to "belly up".

The wine list at Il Forno Classico proved to be extensive with a vast Cabernet section; I was also delighted to see an array of Italian wines being offered as well as a mix of interesting whites and reds. Unfortunately, this is where our evening started to veer off course. With a wine list this extensive, it would have been appropriate for the bartender to offer his suggestions and recommendations, especially since there is a small tasting and sales room off to the side; however, we were left to fend for ourselves. Thankfully we can both navigate a wine list, but for those who have not yet opened the wine love box, such a list can seem a bit forceful and daunting.

We decided to order a bottle of the 2005 Shafer Relentless, a blend of Syrah and Petite Sirah grapes grown on ridge tops and foothills along the Vaca Mountains in Napa. This big black berry fruited wine with meatiness and long tannins was something I hadn't enjoyed in awhile.

The actual serving of the wine was also a little off. After properly decanting the wine, the bartender poured each of us a full glass. In my opinion, it would have been better if he would have only poured about half a glass, and left the rest to decant further.

The food menu at Il Forno Classico was your typical Italian-American fare, boasting such items as calamari, sausage cannelloni, Caesar salads, tomato and mozzarella salads, entrees of pasta, veal and chicken each served both parmesan and picatta style. (While we were not offered a dessert menu, I would suspect tiramisu being the highlight.)

I will skip the details of the bread/ balsamic/ butter incident, but suffice it to say, our bartender/waiter’s tip started to seriously decrease when he ignored us, and then admittedly forgot that we had asked for butter.

Just after finally receiving our long lost pats of butter, our sausage cannelloni appetizer arrived. We found it to be overloaded with a bland tomato sauce and what tasted like sausages from a can of Chef Boyardee. My cohort and I started to wonder if the "B" team was working this Monday night shift.

Our dinner of Veal Parmigiana and Butternut Squash arrived shortly thereafter. Now being a hockey fan, I was really excited about the Red Wings win the night before, but I don’t think the kitchen should have celebrated the win by serving hockey pucks in lieu of the veal. To put it kindly, it was burnt to a crisp. After once again hunting down our bartender/waiter (who had totally violated the "2 minutes 2 bites" rule generally applied in restaurants) we sent the veal back.

Round 2 of the veal turned out to be fork tender (as I think veal should be) but it was still covered with the same bland tomato sauce that was used with the cannelloni.

While eating, we noticed Il Forno boasted a wine tasting featuring the wines of Sbragia this Thursday. We have had a chance to visit this amazing vineyard with a gorgeous deck and talk with one of the jovial owners so we asked if the winery's owners or winemakers would be in attendance. Though Il Forno Classico's food had not impressed, getting a chance to talk with a winery owner/maker is always a treat. However, we were told the restaurant itself puts on the tastings mainly because wineries will bring in other wines not offered in the store and the point of their tasting is to sell wine from their store.

We weren't offered dessert, or even an espresso. We instead took the last of our Relentless and headed to their wine room to see what was in the collection. Had our bartender or a tasting room employee come over and offered a little insight, I'm sure we wouldn't have been hard pressed for a sale. Wine bars can be such a fun and exciting way to try, experience, and learn wine, but once again we were disappointed.

In summary, perhaps we just experienced an “off” night. However, I think it will be long time before we go back and try Il Forno Classico again.