|
Caffé
Il Cipresso has been around for a long time –
about 12 years – but just recently it came
under new management. We never went there before,
so we don't know if the restaurant has improved
or just maintained a high quality of food and
service. |
Caffe
Il Cipresso
130 Middlesex Road,
Tyngsborough, Mass.
1-978-649-3128.
Food: ****
Service: ****
Value: ***
CUISINE: Tuscan Italian.
Prices: $5.75-$15, with an
average price of $10.
Hours: Closed Sunday-Tuesday, 11 a.m.-2
p.m. for lunch
Wednesday-Friday, 4-9 p.m. for dinner Wednesday-Friday
and noon-9 p.m. Saturday.
Handicapped Accessible: Yes.
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes.
Alcohol: Yes.
DRESS: Casual to business.
WOULD WE GO BACK? Yes.
***** = Perfect
**** = Excellent
*** = Good
** = Fair
* = Poor
Overall rating is not necessarily an average
of Food, Service and Value ratings. |
|
This
is really a charmer in a strip mall on picturesque
Middlesex Turnpike, just over the border from
Nashua. |
Il Cipresso,
which means the cypress, bills itself as having
authentic Tuscan cuisine. From what we could tell
by our lunch, which is practically the same as
the dinner menu, it has earned its bragging rights. |
With the exception
of metal bistro seats, which we found a tad uncomfortable,
we adored the authentic trattoria atmosphere of
Cipresso. Its small, marble-top cafe tables, the
terracotta tile floors and the warm Tuscan colors
on the wall could very well be in Boston's North
End, or Italy, for that matter. |
| Our waitress was incredibly
friendly and accommodating to everyone in her station.
|
| She was prompt
in bringing Mr. Table for Two his ample glass
of house chianti ($5.45) and Mrs. Table for Two's
excellent deep-bodied iced coffee ($2), as well
as our appetizer – a small Antipasto Tuscano
($6.75). |
| This was really
the perfect starter. It was small enough not to
destroy our appetite but enough to stimulate our
taste buds for the meal about to come. There were
some rolled Italian cold cuts – prosciutto,
etc. There were also several thick slices of a
sharp pecorino, three or four lovely, homemade
sundried tomatoes (hence the Tuscano part of the
salad), a few disappointing canned black olives
(there should have been some large pit-in green
Italian olives) and marinated mushrooms over fresh
romaine with a light olive oil dressing. |
It was served with a basket
of sliced garlic bread. We love when garlic bread
is served at an Italian restaurant without extra
charge. |
| This was a late lunch, so we ordered
lunch items that were also on the dinner menu. |
Mrs. Table for Two chose
the Lasagna Toscana ($9). All the pasta at Cipresso
is homemade. In fact, you can buy homemade lasagna
sheets, spaghetti, rotini, cavatelli, penne, linguine
and tagliatelle for $4 a pound, as well as gnocchi
($5.25) and ravioli ($6) to cook at home. And,
yes, the restaurant also sells its homemade sauces
– seven varieties including cacciatore ($5
a pint) and pesto ($10 a pint), just to name a
few. |
Back to the lasagna.
The homemade pasta made a huge difference in this
dish. It was arguably the best homemade lasagna
Mrs. Table for Two has ever tasted. She was served
a brick-sized serving of layered pasta with an
amazing bechamel and rich, savory meat sauce topped
with melted mozzarella and grated parmigiano reggiano.
This was heaven in a casserole dish. Mrs. Table
for Two thought she might taste just a little
and bring the rest home for dinner. But she could
not stop eating this dish until it was all gone. |
| There is also a non-meat, or Napoletana,
version of this dish. |
Mr. Table for
Two – as always – headed for the ocean
with his choice of Mari e Monti ($15) fresh shrimp,
scallops, prosciutto and mushrooms over homemade
spaghetti with a simple but magnificent tomato
sauce. |
This was a hearty,
gorgeous dish, but we both felt the rather hard
and thick pieces of ham were a bit superfluous
and actually added too much salt to the natural
brine of the seafood. And one more picky thing.
Mr. Table for Two doesn't like when the shrimp
are left shell on in a mixed dish. It means digging
through tomato sauce with your fingers to peel.
That being said, Mr. Table for Two finished every
bite, as well. |
While thoroughly
enjoying our meal, we had the opportunity to ogle
other diners' choices. We're already planning
our dishes for our next visit. The restaurant's
lunchtime panini looked particularly yummy. Next
time we're trying the Panino con Mozzarella e
Pomodoro ($6.75), a simple toasted sandwich made
with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, usually
drizzled with virgin olive oil. |
And it's been
ages since we've had chicken cacciatore, but Il
Cipresso's Pollo o Salsicce alla Cacciatore ($13.75)
sounds like a must-have version of this traditional
dish with its sliced chicken breast or sliced
sausage sauteed with onions, peppers, mushroom
and tomatoes. |
| But for this
day, dessert was still to come. Il Cipresso imports
its desserts from the North End. The tiaramisu,
profiteroles (cream puffs) and cannoli, of course,
were begging to be consumed with a glass of dessert
wine. FYI: The restaurant offers a free appetizer
with a purchase of a bottle of wine with your
meal. The wine selection is small but appealing
and range from a bottle of Bolla Merlot ($21)
to a $95 bottle of Bolla Amarone. |
| We chose the cannoli ($2.50), which
was perfection. |
Like
we said, we don't know what Caffé Il Cipresso
was like under the previous ownership, but we
like the way it is under the current restaurateur. |
