Publication Date: Friday Feb 12, 1999

Restaurant Review: Let's do lunch

Freddie Maddalena is quick to tell the story.

About 10 years ago, an itinerant artist moseyed through town, fell in love with a waitress and decided to immortalize her on the wall of Cafe Fino. Unfortunately, the artist's muse dumped him a couple of weeks before the masterpiece was finished, and the artist, disconsolate, skipped town. Left behind was the painting, with unfinished, penciled-in arms. She's spooky, really--a kind of art deco-inspired mighty Isis or effeminate Icharus with gilded wings and faint, transparent arms.

All of Cafe Fino, Maddalena's little piano bar cafe next door to his fancier namesake restaurant, is done up with this kooky, art deco touch. Geometric crystal wall sconces and a huge, spaceship-like chandelier illuminate the place. At the entrance, kitty-corner from the piano, is the mural of a huge woman (think Jane Fonda in "Barbarella," only deco) rising up out of a small group of Russian wolfhounds. The coffered ceiling is painted with a sky that, moving from one end of the room to the other, changes from morning to night.

Cafe Fino is all about high style, which is why the lunch prices are such a treat. Where else downtown can you sit in elegant surroundings and eat a $5 pizza that could easily feed two? At night, the prices go up to accommodate the live piano music (Nancy Gilliland and other local faves). But at lunch, you get the same attentive service, quiet setting and romantic ambience at a fraction of the price.

On a recent lunch visit, we started with a plate of complimentary bruschetta. Fino's version consists of thick rusks of bread, rubbed with garlic and olive oil and topped with diced tomato, red onion and curls of fresh basil and parmesan. Even in February, they managed to find tomatoes that taste like tomatoes for these hearty, messy snacks.

Fried calamari ($5) brought a big tangle of mostly rings, a few tentacles, lightly coated in a cornmeal-style batter. A little ramekin of marinara sauce inspired very little conversation, although it did have a little cayenne kick on the finish. A big squeeze of lemon seemed the better accompaniment.

For the cheese enthusiast, there's clearly the pizza route, but the house French onion soup ($5) shouldn't be ignored. A savory, thyme-scented broth is tucked beneath a thick round of toasted bread weighted down by a mantle of gruyere cheese. For $5, the pizza Margarita is one of the best bargains around, but with one caveat: Eat it fast, because the marinara and rounds of sliced tomato have a tendency to throw liquid, resulting in a little sogginess in the crust if you dawdle.

A handful of pastas ($5-$8) looked inviting, but we passed over them in favor of the panini (Italian sandwiches) and more substantial entrees. The chicken Florentine ($8) is a real deal, with a whole chicken breast topped with sauteed spinach and cheese and ladled with a zingy beurre blanc. The rest of the plate was taken up with an incongruous but delicious scoop of saffron jasmine rice and a pile of crisp green and waxed beans. If you manage to eat the whole thing, you probably shouldn't operate heavy machinery for a few hours.

The turkey burger ($6) edged out the veal scaloppini sandwich ($7) for best panini. The veal suffered from too much crusty baguette and would be improved by a dollop of aioli, marinara or something a bit more Italian than plain mayo. The turkey burger is given panache by a few crumbles of cheese and a pile of juicy roasted green peppers. Both sandwiches come with fries, which at Fino are first rate.

Probably only diehard sweet-tooths will feel compelled to order dessert after dispatching a whole lunch. Most of the desserts are equal in price to the lunch entrees (I suppose the dessert menu is priced the same at dinner). A chocolate mousse ($5.95) was a large piped blob of dark chocolate mousse hiding under another piped blob of white chocolate mousse--tasty, but not quite as nuanced in flavor as the ultrarich hazelnut chocolate gelato ($5.50).

Maddalena next door may rank higher for romance and ambience, but it certainly can't claim a $5 pizza, nor does it have the ghostly Isis mural, waiting forever in vain for flesh-and-blood arms to be complete.

Cafe Fino , 544 Emerson St., Palo Alto, 326-6082

Hours: Lunch Tuesday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; dinner Monday-Friday 5:30-10 p.m., Saturday 5:30-11 p.m.; piano bar classics Monday-Saturday evening

Atmosphere: The deco fantasy murals, long wooden bar and early movie posters give the intimate cafe an anachronistic appeal.

Highlights: Inexpensive lunch prices make the straight-ahead Italian classics a real bargain. Reservations - not necessary for lunch Credit cards - yes Parking - street Full bar - yes Takeout - yes Banquet - no Wheelchair access - yes Non-smoking - yes Highchairs - no Outdoor seating - no 

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