Put Old World Italian together with Farm to Table and you get Cento Ristorante in Madison, WI

 

One of the recently named best chefs in America, Chef Michael Pruett, has put Old World Italian together with Farm to Table at Cento Ristorante in Madison, WI. Pair that with Sommelier Caitlin Suemnicht’s remarkable wine list and you’ve got a winner!

After perusing their wine list, we selected a 2008 bottle of Il Fauno di Arcanum, a 94 pt wine with a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese and Petit Verdot. It was an absolutely delicious Tuscan wine with a smooth velvety richness and ripe aromas of cherry and blackberry. 

To go along with our wine, we began with one of their Bruschetta offerings, adorned with porchetta, arugula, fennel and pecorino. The artisan bread was delicious and made a firm support for the toppings allowing multiple flavors in every bite. A great starter!

Being a fan of wood fired anything and having a pizza oven of my own, I had to try their Pizze to see how it measured up. I selected their sweet Italian sausage, bocconcini, broccoli rapini, tomato sauce, garlic and chili flake version. I have to say it was pretty good overall. The crust had great flavor and texture although it was a bit thick for my liking. The toppings lacked a bit in flavor and that may have been a result of the crust to topping ratio being a bit off.

On to the Primi course. Black Tagliatelle with lobster, prawns, clams, mussels, peas, uni sauce and fresh horseradish. (Uni (oo-nee) is the Japanese name for the edible part of the Sea Urchin.) This dish was a grand slam and I could have eaten a large plate of it all by myself. I don’t know how to properly describe this dish other than to say it was just a little bit of heaven! 

Our Secondi course was Cedar-Roasted Arctic Char with roasted vegetables, lemon and tarragon oil. I thought it was divine. What made the greatest impression on me, however, was the diverse selection of vegetables and how perfectly they were prepared. So many restaurants treat the vegetable as an after thought and it amounts to an item that is left untouched and unwanted on the plate. These vegetables, however were so delicious that again, I felt I would have been happy with a large bowl of them as a meal!

For our Contorni course, we selected Glazed Carrots with orange and fresh herbs. Tender with a nice citrus flavor, they were a perfect accompaniment to our meal.

We had a terrific server attending to our every need and several visits from the manager to ensure that things were perfect. It was a wonderful experience and a great find in Madison, worth multiple visits!