The various incarnations of the Italian restaurant at 8811 Waltham Woods Road in Parkville has played a role in our lives (however small) over the past 17 years. The Minx and I first went there in 1998 on one of our early dates. We were in the area on a Saturday night poking around for a place to eat that didn't have a 30 minute wait or golden arches outside. The place, called Milano's at the time, seemed serviceable enough if a bit old fashioned with its formica table tops trimmed in shiny chrome. The food was also straight forward red sauce Italian. I don't recall exactly what the Minx or I ate, but I remember feeling pretty satisfied with it and, given my infatuation with my new love, the company was far more important anyway.
Fast forward a decade or so and we were now a boring married couple on a pilgrimage to BJ's to buy vast quantities of paper towels, toothpaste, and toilet paper. While driving through that part of Parkville, we usually stopped at El Salto for dinner, but neither of us was in the mood for Mexican, so we decided to give the old Italian restaurant across the street another try. This time it was called Pasticcio's and the decor had been modernized quite a bit. Looking more like a comfortable family restaurant with wood floors and cream colored walls, the menu still reflected the same kind of cuisine we experienced many years earlier. We still liked it, though, and the service was quite good.
Recently, we learned that the restaurant had changed to Remo's of N.Y. so we decided to give them another try. The decor has been slightly altered to pay reference to the "N.Y." in the name with pictures of New York Italian neighborhoods on the walls along with street signs bearing the names of familiar New York locations. The wait staff seemed to be largely the same, which was a good sign since the service was not something in need of change.
The menu also tries to pull in the New York Italian theme with dishes like Angel Hair Times Square, Calamari Badabing!, and Shrimp Sinatra. Despite the hokey names, the dishes show a level of inventiveness not available in the previous incarnation. I was curious about the Salmon Limocello and Mussels Fra Diavila, but since we didn't have much time, I decided to see how they could handle an Italian classic: Chicken Parmigiana.
As it turns out, they handled it quite well. The twin pieces of chicken breast were moist and tender, and I liked the fact that the parmigiana was lightly broiled on top, The accompanying angle hair pasta was not overcooked (a common problem I find with such a thin pasta), and the sauce was quite tasty.
Posted on Minxeats.com.