Prato just opened last week, I heard about it on the Twitter of a local food writer, Rona Gindin. @ronagindin
Prato is from by the same people who own Luma just down the street, it took over the space formerly occupied by Ann Taylor, right next to Kilwin's Chocolate Shop.
The interior is strikingly beautiful with lots of dark wood color and an open ceiling, well decorated with a huge beautiful bar on the left and lots of booth seating along the right wall. In the back area there is an open kitchen with some tables that would be pleasant to sit at and watch them prepare the food. Between the bar and the kitchen is a wood burning oven where they prepare the pizzas.
The staff uniforms are plaid button up shirts, I guess they are going for a farmhouse type look with that.
The menu changes a few times a week.
It's still early and they have some kinks to work out so don't expect everything to be perfect, if you are highly strung you may want to wait a few months until they get on their feet and are running smooth.
The staff were all great, from the managers to the servers. The manager visited our table regularly to check how our courses were.
We started off with the House Cured Lonzino($9) which is similar to prosciutto, very thinly sliced over Frisse type lettuce, it was decent.
I tried a bite of the Duck Bolognese Tagliatelle Pasta, is not really my thing but it tasted pretty good. You can order a half($9) or full($16) order of pasta, the full wasn't huge.
Next I ordered the Waterkist(a local tomato grower) Heirloom Tomato Salad($12). It was described by the waiter as Caprese style but it came out over Frisee and a few other somewhat bitter lettuces and one piece of Mozarella. The tomatoes were very tasty as were the 2 croutons on the salad, those were delicious but I would have preferred a few more. The menu mentioned a Gorgonzola dulce, which I assumed was a dressing. It wasn't a very obvious flavor on the vegetables but afterwards I was able to get some of the flavor of the sauce/dressing on some bread dipped in the sauce left on the bottom of the dish.
The bread they served was a delicious Foccacia, they weren't very generous with the amount of bread but don't be afraid to ask for more.
For my main course I had the Porchetta which was similar to a baked pork tenderloin sliced in large pieces. It was mixed with some wonderful earthy roasted root vegetables. The broth it sat in was light but had a great flavor. Also mixed in were Farro which resemble Barley. Upon first look I did not expect to love this dish as much as I did, but once I ate it, I really loved it.
I finished with Olive Oil Gelato, which just tasted like vanilla bean ice cream. I couldn't taste the oil flavor at all.
There were a few other items that looked really interesting:
Roasted Butternut Squash with Mozzarella, Pistachio and Red Onions.
Roast Pumpkin Soup
Grilled Hanger Steak with Gorgonzola Polenta and Salsa Verde
After they smooth everything out this will be a truly great place to eat, it has a wonderful atmosphere and played a lot of mild 80's music. Glasses of wine were $7-12. Appetizers were about $10-12, Main courses were about $18-24.
124 N Park Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789 Google Map
Neighborhood: Winter Park
Prato is from by the same people who own Luma just down the street, it took over the space formerly occupied by Ann Taylor, right next to Kilwin's Chocolate Shop.
The interior is strikingly beautiful with lots of dark wood color and an open ceiling, well decorated with a huge beautiful bar on the left and lots of booth seating along the right wall. In the back area there is an open kitchen with some tables that would be pleasant to sit at and watch them prepare the food. Between the bar and the kitchen is a wood burning oven where they prepare the pizzas.
The staff uniforms are plaid button up shirts, I guess they are going for a farmhouse type look with that.
The menu changes a few times a week.
It's still early and they have some kinks to work out so don't expect everything to be perfect, if you are highly strung you may want to wait a few months until they get on their feet and are running smooth.
The staff were all great, from the managers to the servers. The manager visited our table regularly to check how our courses were.
We started off with the House Cured Lonzino($9) which is similar to prosciutto, very thinly sliced over Frisse type lettuce, it was decent.
 |
| Lonzino |
I tried a bite of the Duck Bolognese Tagliatelle Pasta, is not really my thing but it tasted pretty good. You can order a half($9) or full($16) order of pasta, the full wasn't huge.
Next I ordered the Waterkist(a local tomato grower) Heirloom Tomato Salad($12). It was described by the waiter as Caprese style but it came out over Frisee and a few other somewhat bitter lettuces and one piece of Mozarella. The tomatoes were very tasty as were the 2 croutons on the salad, those were delicious but I would have preferred a few more. The menu mentioned a Gorgonzola dulce, which I assumed was a dressing. It wasn't a very obvious flavor on the vegetables but afterwards I was able to get some of the flavor of the sauce/dressing on some bread dipped in the sauce left on the bottom of the dish.
The bread they served was a delicious Foccacia, they weren't very generous with the amount of bread but don't be afraid to ask for more.
For my main course I had the Porchetta which was similar to a baked pork tenderloin sliced in large pieces. It was mixed with some wonderful earthy roasted root vegetables. The broth it sat in was light but had a great flavor. Also mixed in were Farro which resemble Barley. Upon first look I did not expect to love this dish as much as I did, but once I ate it, I really loved it.
I finished with Olive Oil Gelato, which just tasted like vanilla bean ice cream. I couldn't taste the oil flavor at all.
There were a few other items that looked really interesting:
Roasted Butternut Squash with Mozzarella, Pistachio and Red Onions.
Roast Pumpkin Soup
Grilled Hanger Steak with Gorgonzola Polenta and Salsa Verde
After they smooth everything out this will be a truly great place to eat, it has a wonderful atmosphere and played a lot of mild 80's music. Glasses of wine were $7-12. Appetizers were about $10-12, Main courses were about $18-24.
124 N Park Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789 Google Map
Neighborhood: Winter Park
Dinner Mon-Sat: 5:30pm-11pm Sun: 5:30pm-10pm
Menu:
Menu:
These dishes sound super-creative and delicious! I'm putting Prato to my wish list. The crab bruchetta and ricotta and herb triangoli are calling my name! Thank you for the thorough review. :)
ReplyDeleteHave been wondering! Thanks for the review!
ReplyDelete