Trattoria il Centro (closed)

[metro]

Well folks, Im back and the site looks even better!! Anyhow the Oyster bar is making preparations to open up very soon in Automobile Alley. There is also another new restaurant planning to open up somewhere in the CBD but I am not sure where. It is upscale italian called Trattoria il Centro. Does anyone know where it is going or do I have to find out again?

[BDP]

Is that the one at the Montgomery?

[Luke]

Yes, I believe that is the name of the upcoming restaurant at The Montgomery.

[John]

Well folks, Im back and the site looks even better!! Anyhow the Oyster bar is making preparations to open up very soon in Automobile Alley. There is also another new restaurant planning to open up somewhere in the CBD but I am not sure where. It is upscale italian called Trattoria il Centro. Does anyone know where it is going or do I have to find out again?

I hope the hurricane won't hurt the Oyster Bar's opening, like today's story in the Oklahoman about Pearl's difficulty in aquiring Gulf oysters.

[TStheThird]

I am excited about this new Italian restaurant. Interestingly enough, I have eaten at Trattoria il Centro, but not this one of course. I do find it a little strange that an upscale restaurant would use trattoria, but oh well...

[fromdust]

I am excited about this new Italian restaurant. Interestingly enough, I have eaten at Trattoria il Centro, but not this one of course. I do find it a little strange that an upscale restaurant would use trattoria, but oh well...

what is or what does "trattoria" mean?

[TStheThird]

It means restaurant, but in Italy, a trattoria is usually considered to be of a lesser quality than a ristorante. That is why I found it a little strange that they would use it in the name of an upscale restaurant.

[jbrown84]

Haha. Probably because to most Oklahomans, it just sounds very italian and every other italian restaurant uses ristorante. Most don't know any better around here.

[floater]

Nice to see the Arts District developing action of its own. Now how about some personal art galleries on Main Street! Or on Walker around Legacy Summitt!! Or arts&crafts/record/used book/antique stores?

[metro]

Here's the latest:

Italian restaurant opens for business

Trattoria il Centro, a 7,800- square-foot "urban Italian eatery" on the first floor of The Montgomery, 500 W Main St., will open today for the first time for lunch and dinner.
The restaurant features a wood-burning pizza oven and "bright tiles, supple leathers and impeccable service," the owners said.

Checks will range from $8 to $15 per person for lunch and $12 to $22 for dinner. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

[BDP]

Sounds very affordable. Anyone hear if it's any good, yet?

[TStheThird]

Pricing is definantly in the mold of a trattoria. I hope that the wood burning oven pizza is good. It is all about the quality of the cheese.

Any news on their wine selection? I hope they have some good Italian reds.

[ptwobjb]

I ate there last weekend during a "trial run". Food was excellent. Didn't get to see the whole wine list though as they were still sorting things out.

It's on the first floor of the Montgomery. I would suggest stopping by and checking it out when you get the chance.

[ksearls]

I have eaten at Trattoria Il Centro at the Montgomery twice this week and it has been awesome! They now have reasonably priced daily lunch specials that are wonderful. The food comes out quickly and the service is great. All those that I have dined with have also been pleased with their meals. Have not had dessert but saw them and they are beautiful. I have to go back at dinner and try the butternut squash gnocci with the brown butter and sage sauce YUMMMMM!

Great spot for a Downtown lunch!

Kim

[escan]

We're trying it today and then touring their events center....thinking of hosting an event there....think it would be neat to pull people downtown instead of the "same old" country club thing.

[Midtowner]

What are the lunch prices like there?

[escan]

Anywhere from $7 for a (wonderful) pizza to $15 or so for great pasta.

[tenorman]

Anybody been there for dinner? Any comments, critiques?

[downtownguy]

Very tasty, good atmosphere, great service... but you're looking at a minimum of $15 to $20 for a meal.

[metro]

The atmosphere is very chic!! Its defintely got a mod european hip bar/restaurant type feel. Nice urban artwork displayed. A value for the money, comparable to Nonna's only different cuisine and cheaper prices.

[metro]

Prices are reasonable and the food is superb!! Definetely a bang for your buck and the atmosphere is much hipper, trendier than Nonna's in Bricktown without the touristy hassle. Definetely an up and coming local hot spot!

[TStheThird]

What is the wine list like? That is the important question. I get pissed when I go to "Italian" restaurants in America and can only find one or two Italian reds on the menu. Sorry for the rant. I look forward to trying this restaurant soon.

[TStheThird]

The wine list is quite good, but high in price. If you enjoy some of the reds, know that you can buy them for about 60% less than the menu price. Also, remember that when dining out you pay for the environment. Drinking wine and enjoying great food downtown has some value. In the case of Trattoria il Centro, it was worth paying $55 for a $20 bottle of wine, at least for me. I also place a high value on drinking wine with food. To each his own...

I still struggle paying $20 for a bottle that I used to buy for 5 euros at the grocery store by my apartment in Bologna. Life goes on...

[Patrick]

Art district restaurant has urban flair

By Tricia Pemberton
Business Writer

It's a long way from New York, but for Howard Senter his new favorite restaurant -- Trattoria Il Centro at 500 W Main on the ground floor of upscale apartment building The Montgomery in Oklahoma City -- goes a long way toward bridging the gap.
"We have lived in New York, Miami, Atlanta. One of the factors to move into this building was the restaurant. I ate here every day for the first two weeks," Senter said.
Senter ordered the same pizza so often the staff added "The Howard" to the menu board. The pizza comes with everything except egg, artichoke and black olives, and every ingredient must be included on each slice, Senter said.
In addition to Senter's favorite pizza, Trattoria Il Centro has other wood-oven pizzas on the menu, including the quattro stagioni -- served with a sunny-side-up egg in original Italian fashion. The remainder of the menu is authentic Italian from the spiedini appetizer -- with the restaurant's handmade mozzarella -- to the linguini carbonara l'original, as well as veal, chicken, salmon and other seafood entrees. About 70 wines and numerous cocktails fill out the menu.
"The menu gives us a wonderful opportunity to educate our guests about the type of cuisine we serve. It's fun to teach pronunciations and get guests to experience new things," manager Cheryl Burkemper said.
The 200-seat eatery, open almost three months, includes room for about 40 patrons in its bar. A private banquet room with windows into the kitchen seats about 48.
In the bar, new cocktails are devised on a regular basis. On a recent weekday, the staff tried a concoction of Tuaca, lemon Jell-O and basil, deliberating the name of the new drink. Senter's wife has dubbed the bar's rendition of a cosmopolitan a "pietini."
And the decor is a splash of fun, with bright, bizarre murals painted by University of Central Oklahoma students and soda-pop colors, such as green apple, orange, cherry red and lemon.
Maggie Howell and chef Christine Dowd own the restaurant. The two also own Aunt Pitty Pat's Catering, taking over the longtime Oklahoma City-based business from Howell's father, Bob Howell, on his retirement.
Dowd trained as a chef in New York, and Burkemper said the two originally had plans to open an urban fine-dining restaurant in Chicago, but instead chose to come to Oklahoma City to take over the catering company. The two are also considering opening another upscale restaurant in the Park Harvey building -- another Gardner-Tanenbaum Group project -- Burkemper said.
Senter calls Trattoria Il Centro "the best kept secret in Oklahoma City."
City marketers are hoping the secret becomes another building block to development on the west side of Oklahoma City.
"I think we will eventually see other restaurants heading to the west side of Oklahoma City. It's kind of an untapped area, with the exception of the Museum Cafe, which does very well there," said Kim Searls, marketing director for Downtown OKC.
As it is, Searls said the restaurant is actually in the heart of the arts district -- surrounded by the Civic Center, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and the Stage Center Theater. In addition to the built-in clientele from the 56 leased apartments in the Montgomery, Searls said there's enough traffic on weeknights to make the restaurant a success.
"There's an event practically every night in Oklahoma City, whether it be a movie at the museum, a concert at the Civic Center, a Hornets, Blazers or Yard Dawgz game. People who haven't been downtown in several years would be pleasantly surprised at the amount of traffic down here," she said.

[The Old Downtown Guy]

I've been in three times so far; dinner twice and once just for drinks at the bar. I really like their menu and the nice variety. Both dinners, unfortunately, included one dish that was over-salted. On both occasions, I informed the manager on duty and my comments were well received. Other items were well prepared and presented. One think that I always appreciate is that every thing that should come to the table steaming hot has arrived that way, even the soup, which easily cools off if not taken from the kitchen immediatley after being dished up.

I plan to go back for lunch this week and will post my thoughts and opinions here.