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Dining review: Timpone's Restaurant, an Italian jewel

WHETHER IT'S LUNCH or dinnertime, Timpone's Restaurant has a great selection of dishes for you to choose from. If you have some big bucks to drop, that is.

Entering the first floor of the Urbana restaurant, my family and I were greeted by a pristine and shiny bar (see photo below). At first, I thought that this was the restaurant itself, until I realized that Timpone’s was a restaurant, not a bar. Seeing the carpeted stairs, we decided to go upstairs.

Upon entering the dining area on the second floor, we were greeted by a maître d' who seated us promptly. Within a minute, we were each equipped with a menu and a glass of water.

Looking around, I saw that we were in one of three rooms — one hosted a private party, one had elegantly arranged tables and lights, and the last one was more dimly lit with a wine theme. Indeed, there was a wall of plaques from boxes of imported wines and a room in the back with a huge selection of wine. Though we were seated in that room, my younger brother and I were still not allowed to drink alcohol.

All three rooms were populated by adults dressed either formally or semiformally — suits and dresses were the norm. Only one party of college students dressed casually, sporting T-shirts and hoodies. There was no music in the background, but the quiet chatter of the patrons was more than enough to make me feel at home, had my talkative brother been less excited.

Looking down the list of salads, appetizers, pastas, pizzas, and specials, I was amazed by the number of exotic ingredients and dishes. Red Snapper Meuniere? Grilled Mahi Mahi? Spinach Tagliatelle? Venison Ragu?

Ten minutes later, I ordered the house salad, the “fritto misto,” and the grilled filet mignon. After our orders were taken, we were presented with a plate of fresh bread and spiced olive oil. Breaking off a piece and dipping it into the olive oil, I felt my taste buds pleasantly stimulated by the richness of the spices, which were neither too spicy nor too bland.

Soon, our server returned with the house salad and fritto misto. The presentation of the salad was visually appealing (see photo below), with the herb vinaigrette drizzled over halved tomatoes, sliced carrots, diced cucumbers, chopped green beans, and other colorful field greens.

Munching on a forkful of spinach, I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of the dressing. There was a tang of sourness mixed with just enough sweetness to balance out the taste. It was raw veggies at their best.

Next up was the fritto misto (see photo below). At a first glance, the dish looked like a bunch of extremely thin and curly French fries, drizzled with a white sauce and garnished with a lemon slice. Chunks of shrimp, scallops, calamari, and zucchini were sprinkled throughout the artistic jumble — deep fat fried.

Cleverly maneuvering my fork, I finally managed to pick up a few strands of batter-coated onions. The taste was quite reminiscent of onion rings, or onion-flavored French fries. The pieces were oilier than French fries, but the flavors of the original ingredients could still be discerned so that I didn’t feel too guilty for indulging my taste buds.

My most highly anticipated dish of the evening was the filet mignon (see photo below). It arrived about 10 minutes after the appetizers, along with the other main dishes. There was a large chunk of slightly charred meat underneath a white cheese sauce as the centerpiece — the filet. Underneath it was a brown sauce and thinly sliced eggplants, disguised amongst the colors. On the left and the right, there were two piles of cooked green beans. Two halves of two small potatoes were on the other sides of the filet, skin and all. Quite a well balanced meal.

A few moments later, I took up the extra-serrated knife and sawed off a mouth-sized section. Trying out the medium-cooked beef by itself, I found it was a bit bland and chewy. However, once dipped into the brown sauce and topped with the cheese, the filet mignon became much more than just plain meat. The flavors were richly spiced and were composed of just the right amount of the proper ingredients, leaving my taste buds wanting more.

Polishing off the rest of my dish, including the fresh and delectable beans and potatoes, I was quite satisfied with my meal. Well, minus the extremely salty eggplant at the bottom, which I don’t think I was supposed to eat.

At long last came the dessert — strawberry ice cream with sugar cookies. I was quite surprised when I discovered that I could still fit in some ice cream, given that there was quite a lot of filet mignon. Obligated to try out the pale pink scoops garnished with a sprig of fresh mint, I smeared a cookie with the ice cream. The mix was quite delightful and, though a bit too overpoweringly sweet, left me with a taste in my mouth that I would not soon forget.

The beauty of the meal? For about $25 per person, you can really treat a friend of yours to a luxurious dinner hard to find elsewhere in Champaign-Urbana.

Oh, keep it up, ABC (女儿的名字）

You've got a future in restaurant reviewing ahead of you - this was (in some significant ways) better than our local paper's reviewer. And thanks to your parents for making this review possible. And the pictures of the dishes were an interesting addition - although they also make it clear why food companies spend so much for food stylists - nothing looks as perfect in real-life photography as the stuff they set up for advertisements.

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Dining review: Timpone's Restaurant, an Italian jewel

Oh, keep it up, ABC (女儿的名字）