E.L.A.

I went here last Saturday night for dinner. A friend told me about it, and it turned out I had several friends who had been there, new about it, etc.

Very good food, good atmosphere, and a nice place. Nicely decorated, some tables almost a bit romantic. Nice layout, good size, table windows, small room on one side, nice upstairs, and so on. It was crowded as there were two shows that night which had Montclair hopping...thus, no parking! LOL. I found a spot in the lot closest to the restaurant (actually, the spot appeared after $10 appeared from my pocket, LOL).

Acappello was booked solid. They were turning people away.

So, they started us off with a nice basket of crust bread, as well as two pieces of bruschetta, which was surrounded by lightly fried slices of zucchini. We had a few appetizers, and I'll specifically speak to the Shrimp Gorgonzola. The shrimp were good sized, butterflied, but the so called gorgonzola sauce was not what I expected -- it was much better, and excellent! It was a rich, creamy, and very flavorful sauce, but not heavy or too thick, and certainly not an overwhelming or over-powering gorgonzola flavor. It wasn't one of those "cheesey" sauces you'd expect. We also had the portobello mushroom appetizer, also good.

One of the specials that night was a filet mignon and veal meatballs over linguine -- and the meatballs were excellent. There wasn't that much linguine, but the focal point was the meatballs, and they were big -- flavorful, soft, and had a very good taste. I was glad the sauce was not overpowering and didn't oversaturate or drown the linguine or the meatballs. The amount and flavor of the sauce was just perfect. You could really taste the flavor and the seasoning. This dish was executed perfectly. There was also a scallop special which was also very good,

After asking a few friends, I had heard a lot of good things about Acappello, and from what I gather a few of the bumps in the road, here and there, were regarding service. Well, last Saturday night the place was packed, and as I said, they had to turn people away. They had a manager-type person walking throughout the restaurant, making sure all was going smooth, and he jumped in when he had to. He stopped by a few times, made sure everything was being taken care of, etc. I can see a few minor service issues, here and there perhaps when the place is packed, but not a major problem. The staff seems a bit young, but that's OK -- just make sure they know their job, do a good job, etc. But everyone I personally know who has gone there, liked the food and liked the place.

My take -- very good food and I would go back without question. I enjoyed it. It was a nice change of pace, new place, good Italian food place to go. Is it Lunello, E&V, or Savini? No, it's not supposed to be. I enjoyed it.