All I Know

Mia Francesca

Mia Francesca is one of the restaurants at the Renaissance at North Hills.  Navigating through North Hills to the Renaissance can require some patience, but there is a lot of parking back there if you don’t mind stroll, and valet parking if you don’t mind parting with $8.

Our party of eight was seated in the Room For Larger Parties, apparently, and I thought the experience was louder than it needed to be, but I confess to being sensitive to it. We had several appetizers:  the Meat and Cheese Board was a good value– lots of variety.  The Prosciutto e Rucola offered a fine creative balance and a generous portion.  The Calamari fritti did nothing to improve my opinion of calamari generally and did not seem to be the favorite of the table, either.  The Caprese salad was a complete success, with generous discs of velvety, fluffy fresh mozzarella matching the size of the tomato slice and complemented perfectly with olive oil and basil.

For entrees, I had Duck Risotto and ate every bite, however, there was so little duck that I doubt he much missed his contribution to the dish.  The butternut squash (I guess – it wasn’t very orange) was significantly al dente which I guess was purposeful, in order to add some textural variability.  The bites with a smidge more cheese were a treat.  The swiss chard was not discernable.

Spaghetti and Meatballs was reportedly middling.  The home pizza looked good (if unimaginative) from a distance and was reported to be good, as was the special beef tenderloin.  The prettiest dish was the Salmone Fresca, however my bite of the salmon was cooked to death.  The folks that ordered the salmon enjoyed it.

For desserts, I had the Salted Caramel Budino, in which light touches of caramel and candied peanuts arrived with a very generous portion of whipped cream.  The Baravarian cream was less evident, and the cookie crumbles did not add much, but I did enjoy it with espresso.  I found the dark chocolate and pistachio gelatos to be very fine.  The Tiramisu was hailed as a big success, and the special chocolate peppermint cake was a hit.  The outer shell of the creme brulee was reportedly over-torched.

Against all odds, it seems like every time I have business at the Renaissance they are accommodating a crowd with a rowdy/obnoxious element.  This feature made retrieving our car from the valet and adventure (?!), but we did survive.

Overall I enjoyed the space visually, and the food and service were adequate for the price.  The noise and the logistics will probably keep farther down ‘the list’ than some other destinations.

Rating: Three meatballs