Devour Downtown 2010: Dunaway's Palazzo Ossigeno

For our second Devour Downtown foray for the summer 2010 season, my husband and I chose Dunaway's Palazzo Ossigeno.  It has one of the most expensive regular menus I've seen in Indy, so the $30 per person special event pricing made it more enticing. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera, so I don't have pictures for you, but I felt I had to write about this experience.

Decor:

The rooftop on this place is fantastic, and while the inside has some charming spots, the building is starting to look worse for the wear. There are water stains, and buckling dry wall areas. I even noticed dust and accumulated spider webs on the walls. I have to admit, for a restaurant of this price range, I expected a little nicer. Granted, we were sitting on the second floor which seemed to be a little more "cafeteria-like" than other parts of the restaurant.

Service:

The service actually started out pretty well, but after about the third course, things started to go really weird. For one, the young lady that was serving us started complaining (loudly!) about the other patrons of the restaurant to the people in the booth next to us. She said something like, "It's like this is some people's first visit to a restaurant" and lots of other not-so-flattering things. I understand getting peeved off and having crappy experiences, but your job is to be a waitress. AND Dunaway's is supposed to be a nice place, you should not be dogging the restaurant guests to other tables! Bad, bad, bad. After that, she just seemed frazzled and distracted. It was very awkward.

Food:

I loved most of what I had (caprese salad, house salad, and goat cheese manicotti), but I didn't like the blueberry crisp. Interestingly, at the beginning of the evening, the waitress told us it was warm with a scoop of vanilla gelato on top. When we got it was room temperature, with a sea of melted white foamy stuff on top. When we asked the waitress what that was (even though I would bet my house it was melted vanilla gelato), she said, "Uhmmm, uh, that's, uh, creme anglais." I'm sorry, but I know what creme anglais looks like and tastes like and for a good cook, creme anglais in not the most difficult thing to make. That was NOT creme anglais. The chef even came out to ask us about it. I explained it tasted off. He said he was surprised cause everyone else raved about them. However, he sent out two pistachio creme brulees.  That was nice and they were awesome.

Another not so happy thing: The waitress asked if we wanted any coffee with our dessert, so I asked for a decaf coffee. It came with no spoon and no cream. When I asked for it, she said, with a look of near-despair on her face, "Yeah, but I'll have to go downstairs to get it." Okay. Fine. Go downstairs to get it. It did finally come, but I thought that was odd. At this point, I'm feeling more like I'm at some bad diner rather than a fine dining establishment.

Pricing:

Even with Devour Downtown pricing, we ended up paying $103 (including tip) for our dinner. Granted, I had a $12 cocktail and my husband had a $10 glass of wine. Based on the service, I wouldn't say this was reasonable at all.

Verdict: Never again. I actually attempted to go to Dunaway's for Devour Downtown last year as well. There were 6 of us and we treated poorly. It was as if they were humoring the Devour Downtown guests and didn't really care about them. I don't like giving scathing reviews, but Dunaway's deserves no better.

Devour Downtown 2010: Bella Vita Restaurant

I love the summer Devour Downtown event in Indianapolis. It gives me an opportunity to try restaurants I normally wouldn't for much less money than during the rest of the year. During this event, downtown restaurants offer special menus and pricing (such as 2-for-$30 and a 3-course-meal for $30 per person) so that patrons can try their restaurants. I've participated for at least the past three years. Check out the restaurants and menus being offered this year at the official website: Devour Downtown.

On the first day of the event this year, my husband and I went to Bella Vita. He had researched the menus and chose a location which had a variety of vegetarian options but was also a place we haven't been to yet. He chose Bella Vita which is located at Circle Center Mall in downtown Indianpolis. Here's the link to Bella Vita at Circle Center.

Decor:

I found the decor and interior of Bella Vita to be very nice, plenty of tables and booth space, a large, clean open-fire oven and prep area, bubbling but unobtrusive water features, and soft lighting made for a lovely ambiance.

Service:

Unfortunately, on the Monday night that we attended, there were not many patrons, but it led to us getting plenty of attention. When we entered the restaurant, the hostess was very pleasant and seemed genuinely excited to see us. In years past, I have had the experience of not being treated that well when the staff finds we are at a restaurant for the Devour Downtown promotions. Thankfully, this was not the case at Bella Vita. The table service was great and we really felt taken care of.

Food:

Bella Vita, if you haven't guessed by now, is a finer Italian restaurant. The Devour Downtown menu provides three courses from a pre-set menu which can be seen here: an appetizer to share, an entree for each person, and a shared gelato dessert (it was either caramel or chocolate on the day we went).

Surprisingly, our meals also came with bread and flavored olive-oil and salads.

The appetizer we chose was the Bruschetta alla Bella:

There were originally five of those, but they so delicious I didn't think of taking a picture until there was only one left. The tomatoes were fresh, there was an ample amount of garlic and seasoning, and the bread was perfectly toasted. Sill soft, but crispy on the edges. DELISH.

For my entree, I ordered the Penne Meditteranean which featured penne with kalamata olives, pine nuts, tomatoes, feta, and spinach:

It was tasty and fresh, but a little tangy for me. I admit, I am not the biggest fan of feta so that's more an issue with me, not the dish. It was well-prepared and the pasta was perfectly al dente.

My husband ordered the Eggplant Parmigiana:

I am not going to lie: I ate half of my husband's dinner. I loved this dish. The sauce was lovely, the eggplant well-made, not overly fried or greasy, and as you can see, there's enough cheese for a batallion of mice. My cousin has a rule about cheese: "If you don't put enough cheese, no one will like you." Bella Vita did not break that rule!

The eggplant parm also came with a side, and while I can't remember all of them, we ordered the garlic mashed potatoes that were sublime. I am sorry I didn't have more. I could only manage a couple bites 'cause I was too busy demolishing my husband's dinner.

The gelato we had for dessert (caramel) was good, not great, but not bad. My husband ate most of it so he may have a different opinion!

Pricing:

The pricing for our meal for 2 for $30, but my husband got wine, I got a diet soda, and with tip, we ended up paying about $56.  I enjoyed everything and Bella Vita seemed a little nicer than the norm, so I thought it was fair.

Verdict:

A win. I was pleased and will definitely keep them in mind for future downtown dinners. I would give them a 4 out of 5.