When a restaurant decides to be settled in a quiet street in a residential area, it is questionable whether if this choice was well thought out or not. However, this was done by Claudio Puglia, opening in 2010 a Romantica Caffè in Neuilly. An Italian restaurant that dares to move to a quiet place when its colleagues generally choose the busy boulevards, an Italian restaurant that dares to search for new customers, an Italian restaurant that dares to finally offer an authentic cuisine when we know it is so simple to propose fake ones.
At Neuilly, like in other Romantica Caffè, it is the authenticity which is the signature of the house. A simple Italian cuisine, tasty, that breaths honesty. It is not that usual. The day we went, we tasted a cheesecake, caramel pear and amaretti crumble, worthy of the best Italian restaurants… in New York! Homemade, of course. This dessert is one of the temporary suggestions proposed on the menu of Romantica Caffè restaurants among other classical desserts, as we can – also – enjoy ourself with a selection of the moment.
So among the great classics what else can we taste? Here, for example, an assortment of antipasti « as we like »: a nice plate of peeled tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, rocket salad, country ham and mozzarella which reconciles us with seasonal flavours. It is fresh and it is generous. Generous like semolina pasta served like linguine or rigatoni’s style. And, because the best way to test a restaurant is to choose a simple recipe, we wanted to taste the paste Nuova Norma: pasta cooked to perfection, tender and crisp at once, served with tomatoes, eggplant, pine nuts and scamorza, that is not forbidden to sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. As it should be in an Italian restaurant, worthy of its name, the place offers a wide variety of transalpine wines, specially selected by and for Claudio Puglia, the Chef of Romantica Caffès.
The simplicity and naturalness are also set up with the current decor that welcomes us. White stone walls decorated with wine bottles, chairs and comfortable seats make up a bright and soothing atmosphere. With a good quality service and a staff who are able to speak about the products they offer to us.
All this, can be perhaps considered banal but as everyone knows, it is always complicated to make it simple. It takes work, time, attention and desire to do well and to be constantly concerned about renewal. And, in this quiet Perronet street, even though, at only three minutes walk from Paris, the Romantica Caffè is always full of real Italian food lovers.
