Italian Restaurant Cozy Setting, Homemade Food

Resembling a gigantic confection, a dessert truffle ridged and etched, is distinctly separate from surrounding corporate complexes off the wide traffic patterns of Route 202. 

Plenty of parking is available around the circumference of the restaurant, and inside, it is an escape from the environment into an unexpectedly intimate, quaint enclosure.

Low ceilings impart a sense of coziness, and dim lighting show romanticism. Structural columns enhance the decor, while creatively segregating tables to add privacy, as oil paintings, mirrors and fresco-type art fill the interior. 

A full bar ensconced in the corner beckons, and wooden shutters, chairs and tables complete the setting. Needless to say, it's an excellent choice for dates and anniversary celebrations, along with quiet family gatherings.

Specials change on a daily basis, and the evening I went, oysters were on the menu.

The waiters are all dressed in full suits with ties and, aligning with their attire, provide formal courteous service. The rigidity of formality is interrupted at times, surprised and suddenly broken through by greetings, chatter, familiarity and connections with regular patrons who are informally dressed.      

From waiters to chefs, the entire staff originates from Albania, sharing familial relationships with each other since the restaurant opened 11 years ago, in 1999. A slight accent mellows their speech, resulting in an incense of European atmosphere dispersed from conversations with patrons. 

Diversity is a trademark of their intriguing backgrounds, and one waiter I spoke with is fluent in Albanian, Swedish and English, having immigrated to Sweden in his youth.

The menu displays the usual suspects—antipasti, zuppe, insalata, pasta, pollo, pesci, carni and dessert. Complimentary bread and olive oil launches the dining experience, and I added a glass of Chianti.        

The appetizer I selected, Calamari Fritti, is a plate of ring-shaped traditional calamari lightly fried and paired with either a spicy or sweet tomato sauce. It was fresh squid flesh, firm though not chewy, and provided an abundant mouthful. Pleasantly fried [doesn't spike the cholesterol] and caressed by the sweet tomato sauce, this dish introduced memories of the sea. 

Among the many veal courses offered, I chose Vitello alla Valdostana for my entree, which is veal scaloppini stuffed with ham, mozzarella and mushrooms, and accompanied by Gorgonzola cheese and a creamy brown sauce. It was thinly breaded on the outside biting into a thick swath of sweet, aromatic woods flavor that was generated from the combination of meats and mushrooms, leaving me feeling lost in a wild forest, amid smooth molten puddles of cheese. 

The green beans it came with were crispy, and the potatoes golden brown, crunchy and pure soft melt inside.

The meal gently resolved with the arrival of a dessert cart of multiple tiers, arching high and narrow, to titillate sweet lobes in the brain. I couldn't make a choice between the homemade carrot cake and tiramisu, so instead arranged with the accommodating waiter to have slices of both.

The carrot cake is a bumpy foray into rough territory. This, along with the tiramisu, share essential homemade qualities in their absence of a store-bought assembly-produced polished taste. 

Slightly rough around the edges, yet minus a stilted contrivance calibrated by machines, the taste indicates somewhat imperfect proportions, yet in exchange, there's authenticity.

Aside from its food, Cafe Emilia's involvement with the community extends to participation in fundraisers for local schools through the donation of gift certificates.

And a newly redesigned website attractively profiles the restaurant, permitting online reservations and virtual tours.