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La Luna Ristorante
168 North Main Street, Branford (203-483-9995). Open noon-10 p.m. Mon-Thurs, noon-11 p.m. Fri-Sat, 2-10 p.m. Sun.
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Business New Haven
3/23/1998
By: Angelina Anderman
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La Luna, which opened at the end of last year, is a culinary League of Nations.
The menu is classically Italian. But the three owners include one Greek (John Sousoulas), one Latino (Edgar Ortiz) and one Italian (Jerry Melo) who have allied to do a fine job redesigning the large space which once housed the Gaslight and the Gold Coast restaurants.
La Luna is divided into a spacious bar/lounge which features weekend entertainment and a 120-seat restaurant, plus a smaller section for 50 which can be used for private functions.
We had a recent early lunch in the cavernous room which started to fill up as we finished, so we could easily imagine how it looks on a busy weekend evening.
The place is impeccably clean and well laid-out with gleaming white tablecloths and pink napkins, which matched the décor of pink and maroon trim. A large mural spans one wall and the ceiling sports lots of lazily turning fans. A major feature is an expanse of brass-backed chairs.
We started lunch with a large bottle of San Pellegrino ($4.25), a small bowl of green olives and a basket of white Italian bread. Our energetic waitress, Shelley (who by the end of the meal recognized us from a previous venue), offered plenty of helpful advice, which was welcome, as the menu is daunting.
We settled on a plate of grilled calamari and shrimp ($9.75) to share. A fortuitous choice. The pieces of calamari were large - not little rubbery rings - and tasted mesquite-grilled with delicious, smoky overtones. With two extra large, equally tasty shrimp, they sat on a bed of diced tomatoes and red onions.
Two of our entrées came with a house salad, which turned out to be among the best we have encountered (we generally dislike house salads on principle). The small plate was filled with red leaf, radicchio, endive, tomato and black olives and arrived at room temperature with attractive dressings.
From the daily specials we selected thinly sliced London broil over Caesar salad ($8.25), which was also perfectly cooked with a pink center although the salad had a little too much dressing. Vitello Saltimbocca ($8.75) was our next choice: It was tender with plenty of mushrooms and a hint of tangy prosciutto. Instead of the roasted potatoes which normally accompany this dish, Shelley offered a substitution of mixed vegetables which arrived perfectly
al dente.
Our last selection was Pollo Juliano: sautéed chicken breast topped with prosciutto, fresh tomatoes, melted mozzarella and asparagus in a sherry sauce ($7.95). This also came with roasted potatoes, and this time we did eat them. The entire dish was filling and delicious.
Naturally, the menu offers all kinds of pasta, fish and many more meat and chicken possibilities too numerous to mention, with lunch prices along the above lines. The same menu is served at dinner: larger portions for larger prices. All our dishes were cooked to order and it's easy to see that chef/owner Edgar Ortiz with his brother Gennaro run a professional kitchen, monitoring both presentation and quality very carefully.
Desserts such as almond torte, Boston cheese cake, tiramisu, tartuffos or assorted imported sorbettos average $4. Rather expensive cappuccino is $3.25, espresso is $2.25 and regular coffee is $1.25.
An interesting wine list offers glasses from $3.50 for house wine or $4 for the La Luna special Mezzacorona label. Bottles start at $14 and rise to $40 for assorted Californian and Italian labels.
The lounge and bar, which accommodate the last three smokers left in Connecticut, have blue walls and that omnipresent bar feature: plenty of TV screen hovering overhead. There is also a dance floor and the weekend entertainment is definitely recognizable.
La Luna is obviously a happening place at night and its demure daytime demeanor and better-than-average food make it an excellent “serious business discussion over lunch” venue conveniently close to New Haven with good service and ample parking.
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