New Italian vs. Old School: Who Rules?

Welcome to our journey of Italy around Detroit. We decided to start our reviews comparing two very different restaurants. Not for the comparison but to set the parameters of our judging continuum. The newest restaurant in Metro Detroit, Aurora, in West Bloomfield, and the oldest Italian restaurant in Detroit, Amore da Roma formerly known as The Roma Cafe. We are not putting these together to be an actual comparison, but to set the end points of our continuum. New school Italian with emphasis on trendy or modern atmosphere and chef inspired dishes vs. old school Nona’s basement, old family recipes that felt like your grandmother and Aunt cooked all day in the kitchen.

New School Italian @ Aurora

Let’s bring in the new…Aurora, a new restaurant by Prime Concepts Detroit (who also opened the new restaurant Sexy Steak in Detroit which happens to be our next stop), is a sight for the eyes, pallet, and stomach. From the moment you walk in, to the white lit-up weeping trees, to the murals on the walls, the ambience grabs you and you realize that you are about to have an experience. The hope is that the food is as good as the ambience.

Julie, Dan, and Pamela were the crew on this mission. We were seated in the front of the restaurant under one of the mystical weeping willow trees and were promptly greeted by our friendly waiter, Christian. He was helpful and charming, assisting our choice of the house Chianti. The house Chianti, was a 2021 San Felice, and did not disappoint. It was a smooth Chianti, on the lighter side than a typical Classico, but nicely flavored. During dinner, we ordered a second bottle, which was a richer 2020 Castillo Di Meleto Chianti Classico. (We proceeded to toss back a couple of bottles of said red - Dan’s version)

The menu offered several mouth-watering Anitpasto choices that we can not wait to come back and try. Because calamari is our soft spot, we ordered the Fritos Misto. This dish was crispy fried calamari, with shrimp, zucchini, peppadew peppers, and ammoglio (the fancy word for a tomato based sauce). We have a tendency to order calamari at almost every establishment we go. So we have a large basis for comparison. This was a great dish. The combination of the shrimp, calamari, peppers, and zucchini were the perfect ratio. Dan does not even like zucchini and he felt compelled to tell the waiter that he surprisingly liked it. (He made us swear to not tell anyone he ate squash). We ate the dish so fast that we forgot to take a picture of it to share. Overall, it was a good start.

For our entrees, Julie ordered the Paccheri Norcina, which was an Italian fennel sausage, with a palomino sauce, parmigiano reggiano, and white truffle oil. She felt that the dish was flavorful. She described that the sausage was savory and the pasta was pillowy with the right amount of delicious Palomino sauce and cheese.

Dan ordered the Pollo Parmigiana which was a lightly breaded organic chicken, topped with havarti, tomatoes, and parmigiano cheese with a side of pasta. Dan’s remark was, “Don’t tell my mother, but this was better than hers.”

I ordered, (if you read the earlier blog on how we started you might guess), the Fettuccine Alfredo with the house Italian sausage added. This dish was house made with cream, butter, parmigiano and reggiano cheese. The sauce was creamy and delectable. The added Italian sausage was the right amount of spicy to liven up the pasta. This was not a typical option for the Alfredo, yet together they were meant to be. Was it as good as Luigi di Roma in Deerfield Beach, Florida? Almost. But I throughly enjoyed this Alfredo and was already looking forward to the left-overs before they were even boxed up.

On to desert…We ordered the house made Tiramisu. We all grabbed a spoon and shared one portion. It was the best Tiramisu we had in a while (this is about our 8th Italian restaurant that we have tried in the last year, the reason why we blog). It was a thin crust of lady fingers, on the top and bottom, with rich cream, espresso, drizzled in ribbons of chocolate and topped with three strawberry slices. The perfect amount of airy creamy sweet deliciousness. “On the scale of 1-10, it was a 14”-Dan.

My favorite question at every diner is, “would you order it again?” The food was everything that we expected it to be. The appetizer was notable. The pasta was cooked to perfection, the sauce flavorful, and the meat tender. We all felt that this restaurant is a worthy new addition to repeat on our playlist. We all agreed that we would order any of the dishes we received again. Overall, Aurora is a new trendy restaurant that should not be missed! “If you don’t go there, you’re stupid” - Dan.

Old School Italian Amore da Roma

After visiting the newest Italian restaurant, it made sense to visit the oldest in Detroit. This outing was just Dan and Pam. Julie was not able to join us and expressed her disappointment. Our next stop…Amore da Roma which is located right by Eastern Market in Downtown Detroit. The Roma Cafe building was built by the Marazza Family in 1888. It served the venders and farmers of Eastern Market back in the day before it officially became the Roma Cafe in 1890. In 2017, the Executive Chef, Guy Pelino, reimagined the Roma Cafe and reopened it as Amore da Roma, keeping the traditions of the old. Walking through the door, it felt like stepping back in time and captured the feel of the older times. The feeling it gave made me feel like I was stepping into my grandmother’s house posing as a restaurant.

However, my grandmother’s house did not have the size, tables, or bar, but the feeling was family, comfortable, and old school. The ambiance suggested that we were about to experience family inspired Italian. We sat in the upper area in a small table squeezed off to the side. Inspiring feelings of being banished to the kids table, but in a good way. The bread basket delivered was fresh, warm, like a typical white bread with butter that was a staple always found on my grandma's table. We decided to skip the calamari, which was unusual for us, and instead ordered the Italian Saganaki which is Italian sausage, aged provolone, roasted garlic, basil, and pepper seed broiled in a cast iron skillet until gooey.

This dish was maybe the best of the entire meal. The cheese was soft, stringy, with bits of peppery Italian sausage riddle throughout and a strong hint of fresh basil in the lingering oil. This was definitely an go to dish to order again. “I could have just ate that for the whole meal and been as happy as a clam”- Dan. The next choice was soup or house salad. We decided to get one of each. Dan ordered the red pepper soup and I the house salad.

The soup was fresh, definitely homemade, and earns our recommendation to order the house soup. “A bread dipping, red pepper extravaganza” - Dan. The house salad was chopped, with tomatoes, egg, chick peas, and a vinegary house dressing topped with grated parmesan and a hint of pepper. The salad was different and tangy.

For the entrees we decided to try a variety of dishes. We ordered the spaghetti and meatballs, seafood pasta, and one of the specials, beef tenderloin, mushrooms, and tomatoes in a marsala wine sauce over pappardelle pasta. The spaghetti and meatballs tasted home style. You cold taste the quality of the meat used in the meatball with the familiar hint of veal in a nice meat sauce. The flavor of the meat was the star without a lot of seasoning taking away from it. The seafood alfredo was nice and creamy with an herb flavor to it. The pasta was adorned with shrimp, bay scallops, and rings of calamari. The shrimp was nicely cooked, the scallops soft, but the calamari were a little overdone. But overall a nice tasting dish. The favorite of the three dishes was the beef tenderloin special. The flavors really came together in this dish. The tenderloin was tender, the mushrooms held the marsala wine sauce, and the thick ribbons of pasta held the dish together.

Next up, the waiter, Tommy, suggested several in-house made desserts. Although we thought we just could not eat another bite, we certainly could not pass up housemade dessert. The last but not the least course, and maybe our favorite, we ordered one Tiramisu and one Black Cherry Cheesecake. The Tiramisu was light and had a chocolaty crust. The cheesecake was very rich cherry with a nice firm texture.

Whether you are up for the modern ambience of Aurora, or the family feel of Amore da Roma, each brought their own vibe and we ended up having two very different experiences. Each worthy in their own lane. This is the continuum we will be using to review other Italian restaurants for our trip of Italy around Detroit. We will share not only the quality of the food you can expect to have, but also the type of experience you will expect to receive. We hope you join us.