The beautiful people have a new hangout

Review By: Miriam Bowers Abbott, The Other Paper

There should be some kind of warning about these things. Cameron Mitchell’s new Martini Modern Italian (the renovated version of the old Martini Italian Bistro) markets itself as several things.

The joint is more modern now? Fine. The food is Italian? Lovely.

But no place in that new moniker does it warn you about the guests—and they’re really something.

These days, most of Cameron Mitchell’s places seem designed for the everyman. That’s why the eateries are so darn popular.

But, for some reason, this project has attracted a crowd of guests that the average restaurateur would kill for: It’s the beautiful people. Perfectly groomed, with perfectly tailored suits and perfect Italian shoes, they’re well-heeled in every sense of the word.

Apparently, they even have enough money left after shopping to swamp the bar and form a shoulder-to-shoulder barricade of beauty that’s breathtaking when you first enter.

Once you get around the bar-side barricade, however, the dining area is less crowded (and less overwhelming).

The starters seem pretty standard: Beef Carpaccio, Tuna Tartar, Calamari. But one classic combination, asparagus and prosciutto, takes on new life in the Bruschetta offering ($9). It has the appeal of all things that combine the elements of cured meat, cheese (a not-too-aggressive Taleggio) and bread.

The salad department feels a little more interesting. First off, the Heirloom Beet Salad ($8) highlights all that is likable about beets: a bright palate (to which pistachios contribute) and a mild sweetness. More reasons to rejoice: The beet flavor trumps any barnyard accents contributed by the goat-cheese dressing.

Salads with sweet elements were popular for a while, but the Martini Salad ($7) might be signaling the demise of that trend. The team of greens, pine nuts, tomatoes and gorgonzola dressing is undeniably savory, and undeniably delicious.

There’s also something really good about Martini’s pasta. If the Gnocchi Bolognese ($14) isn’t particularly potato-y, it is particularly tender. The tuber taste was missed, but achieving tenderness in the gnocchi department is quite a feat—at most places, the little nubs make for tough chewing. The flavor in this version comes mostly from the meat sauce, a soft, homogenous combination of ground beef, veal and wild boar. Something about it feels vaguely like the famous three-meat CMR meatloaf.

The biggest source of dining fun so far has been the Chicken Carbonara ($15). The menu lists the pasta as “cresti,” and according to Google, that’s a real genre—it refers to curved tubes with big, rooster-style crests. Sure enough, that’s what’s on the plate along with shards of chicken and asparagus and bacon. It doesn’t look like there’s much sauce there, but there’s enough creamy stuff to make every blessed tube worth consuming.

The menu also makes a significant commitment to more formal meat dishes.

In the classic department would be the Osso Bucco ($27), with long-cooked meat and wintery root vegetables. With polenta, it feels like comfort cooking for the slightly ritzy eater.

On the edgier side of the meat department would be the Veal Martini ($24), which is not as odd as it sounds. It’s almost junk food, with flattened fried veal paired up with prosciutto and a little sauce/gravy.

The Martini Modern Italian is decidedly upscale in a market that’s been rewarding downscale eateries for about a year, but it seems to be catching on. Maybe Cameron knows something we don’t.