Bricco - Italian, Harrisburg Style

I hit Bricco for dinner the other night. Apparently they have a partnership with the local culinary school. And, honestly, you could sort of tell. Lots of good ideas that were not executed so well. With almost every dish there were good things, and, unfortunately, there were not so good things. Except the dessert. It was adorable! The restaurant itself was really nice. Great layout, lots of space, nice bar and awesome chef's table. The prices were reasonable, and the portion sizes were very large.

Here's what I had:
Caponata
Salted roasted beets with goat cheese and pistachios
Pappardelle with duck and pancetta
Risotto with beef short ribs and mushrooms
Adorable mascarpone cheesecake square

And...here are my thoughts on the food:
The caponata was very sweet. Not what I was expecting, but good on the crostini it was served with.

The salted roasted beets were a miss. The combination of beets+goat cheese+pistachios just didn't work. The beets were, as beets are prone to be, very sweet. But the goat cheese didn't really do anything to off set that. And the pistachios were added on whole (at the most slightly chopped), which meant that you would occasionally get a pistachio, but it wasn't evenly distributed. So. eh. This dish didn't really work for me.

The pappardelle was rather interesting. I was really excited about this dish, but as it turns out, I just don't think pappardelle was the right pasta for the sauce. The sauce was hearty, and a penne would have probably been a better pair. Pappardelle are wide noodles. The sauce was also a little too salty. I think the chef underestimated the salt factor of the pancetta. But, man, this was close to being a delicious sauce. And they were generous with the duck and pancetta. So, if this dish was made by a culinary school student, then they're getting close!

I'm starting to wonder if I've gotten sensitive to salt. Because I had a soup at another local restaurant a few weeks ago, and sent it back based on the fact that it was way too salty (in fairness my friend sent hers back, too). I just said the last dish was salty, and, finally, I thought that the major failing of this dish was that it was a bit too salty. But, as far as risottos go, this was otherwise very good. The texture was creamy, the dish was hearty, and the short ribs were cooked perfectly. So, aside from the fact that I thought they'd gone just a touch heavy on the salt, this was a good effort.

Finally, just a little note on the dessert. They had two dessert menus. One for full size desserts, and another that featured what I'd describe as tapas-style desserts. And those little desserts were the perfect size and price, not to mention the fact that the one I ordered was delicious!

So, while I wouldn't say this restaurant is the best Italian I've ever had (I'm lookin' at you, Perbacco) I'll certainly go back and try other things.