William Lawrence celebrated his 83rd birthday yesterday, May 3, at the Italian Village in Milmont Park soon to be featured on an episode of the Food Network’s Restaurant Impossible.
Nancy, our waitress/bartender — she makes a great Manhattan cocktail, told us they expect it to air in late June or early July.
The dining room still had a smell of fresh paint. Nancy said that Robert Irvine was as big a jerk as he appears although he knows his stuff, and the entire makeover was really done in two days at cost of $10,000. She had praise for the young man who did the design and said it was his first show.
She pointed out some art above the reception desk that was basically made from a pizza box. It looked expensive. The rug was ripped up and discarded, the chairs were repainted — as is almost always done on the show — and the ends of old barrels were used to decorate a wall.
The menu, of course, was dramatically shortened. Nancy noted the old menu on the website cannot be changed until the show airs.
We met accordionist Al Dee although we did not get a chance to hear him play.
Almost all entrees were under $20. I had the chicken saltimbocca which was said to be one of Irvine’s additions. I enjoyed it.
The escarole soup, a tradition at the restaurant which opened in 1981, survived the makeover and was delicious. It comes with the entree.
Italian Village is a fun and affordable place and one will almost certainly be back.