Same-old, same-old doesn't always happen again and again. Someday somebody breaks the chain. Mickey's in Hamden is a case in point. Housed in a building with an inauspicious past (a procession of eateries too undistinguished to recount or even recall), Mickey's looks pretty much the same on the outside. Inside is a different story. Here good taste (visual and gustatory) makes the most of an interesting floor plan, which features stylish but comfortable booths arranged in a half circle around a lively bar, the dining crescent carpeted for sound control, the bar pulsing in the center like a friendly heart. The food comes close to being sensational.
The driving force behind this new dynamism is chef-owner Mickey Josephs, whose Israeli background adds depth, color and exotic accent notes to a genuinely eclectic cuisine. While there are Italian dishes and ingredients on the menu, Mickey's is definitely not just another Italian restaurant calling itself Mediterranean or New American. The intrigue is in the details-a soupçon of Israeli cous cous, a fluff of Moroccan carrot slaw, a timbale of baba ganoush (eggplant baked with chick peas and tahini).
Appetizers range from "Firecracker Point Judith calamari" tossed with cherry peppers so hot they explode in the mouth to a suave little salad of Bibb lettuce with gossamer-light blue cheese dressing. The latter au courant version of ye olde steak-house wedge of iceberg under a ton of Gorgonzola is characteristic and welcome. At Mickey's, appetizers do what they are supposed to do-intrigue the eye and prime the appetite for entrées to come.
For example, Connecticut oysters, freshly shucked, expertly fried and gloriously tasty, are served in oyster shells filled with chipotle-spiked sauce remoulade-take that, oysters Rockefeller! Sometimes the name gives only a hint of the complexity of the game. "Goat cheese tarte tatin," for example, is a delicious mélange of caramelized onions, oven-roasted tomatoes and warm-to-melting goat cheese on a delicate leaf of pastry.
An entrée of salmon medallions brings the Middle East back in focus. Rubbed with "seven spices" (ah, sweet mystery), the fish is served on Israeli cous cous and topped with carrot slaw, also spiced, this time with a bit of heat, a suggestion of cumin and a splash of something like vinegar. The salmon is North Atlantic, not wild Alaskan, so it's a little mushy, but the complex seasoning makes texture beside the point-and I feel like writing chef Josephs a thank-you note for creating a dish to revive our interest in a fish we find on every menu and feel almost obliged to eat because it's good for us.
Roasted rack of lamb would be wonderful but for the fact that it arrives overcooked for medium-rare. Again we love what comes with it: homemade spaetzle, sauce bordelaise and a tempura asparagus baton light and crunchy enough to do credit to the best Japanese chef.
An entrée of risotto with wild porcini mushrooms, fresh asparagus, Parmesan and white truffle oil is so fragrant it makes my head spin. It's simply the best risotto I've had outside Italy and perhaps the best I've had anywhere. Filet mignon, one of the least flavorful cuts of beef, is revved up with golden raisins, pine nuts, a film of melted Gorgonzola and a surprising sauce involving a balsamic honey reduction. Very Middle-East. Fork-tender, of course (isn't that why folks order it?), and unexpectedly delicious.
Dessert, anyone? Not needed, but we indulge. Chocolate soufflé turns out to be yet another fallen chocolate cake, but an alluring one with a hot, dark, liquid soul. Coconut crème brûlée is refreshingly garnished with mango sorbet and pineapple carpaccio (how ever do they shave this pesky fruit so thin?). Mickey's tarte tatin is yummier than French patisserie-more like Grand-mère's, with puff pastry topped by a whole baked apple, mushy but still chunky, caramelized and gooey. All desserts are house-made, including sorbets and gelatos in interesting flavors. The pistachio is studded with whole pistachio nuts-and no green coloring.
We end on a happy note: the check. The most expensive dinner entrée is $25. Salmon medallions are $18. A bar menu offers a whole pound of buffalo wings for $9 and sliced New York strip steak on ciabatta can be had for $19. Most pastas can be ordered in appetizer- or entrée-size portions, priced accordingly. Service is sprightly and helpful. When the attractive young woman who is serving us sees that we like to share, she skips cheerfully back and forth bringing us extra clean plates. She smiles a lot.
Mickey's would be a find anywhere. Lucky Hamden.
Mickey's Restaurant & Bar
2323 Whitney Ave., Hamden (203/288-4700)
Lunch daily 11:30 to 4. Dinner Sunday through Wednesday 5 to 9:30, Thursday through Saturday till 10:30. Wheelchair access. Major credit cards. Price range: appetizers $6 to $10, entrées $16 to $27, desserts $8.
Mickey's Group, LLC. 2006-2007 2323 Whitney Ave, Hamden, CT 06518, Tel: 203.288.4700 Fax: 203.288.4727
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