Mickey’s Restaurant & Bar
cuisine: Mediterranean
entrées: $19 – $26
address: 2323 Whitney Avenue, Hamden
phone: (203) 288-4700
credit cards: All major
4 1/2 Stars… Special
I grew up in Hamden, and it wasn’t exactly restaurant paradise. It should have been, because the town was fairly prosperous. A great many Yale professors located there, as did my own father, a neurobiologist. Fortunately, Mom was a great cook, and Dad and I weren’t half bad, either. Hamden’s best restaurant in the 1970s was probably the Sanford Barn, which was located in a handsome mill now wasted on other commercial enterprises. I took my pretty first date to a Chinese restaurant in Hamden Plaza called Home Village (which recently became China Lantern). Afterward, I took her to see The Great Gatsby, a terrible move because no gawky high school kid could measure up to Robert Redford in his prime. Making matters worse, Susan was a year old for her grade due to the setback of living in Mexico for a couple of years, while I was a year young for my grade due to living in England where first grade started at age five. I subsequently learned to take girls to horror movies, finding they usually preferred me to the monster or maniac du jour.
More recently, the Hamden restaurant scene has improved considerably with Sonobana (formerly Hama), a top-flight Japanese restaurant, Colonial Tymes (formerly Colonial House), Ristorante Luce (formerly Raffaello’s), and the Playwright Pub (formerly Country Club), which in my opinion serves better fare than its New Haven sibling or the original Stamford location. A handful of other ethnic eateries—Mexican, Colombian, Jamaican, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean—have filled in the gaps. Despite such improvements, most Hamdenites quickly laid claim to Taste as the best restaurant in town, disregarding the fact that it’s situated on the east side of Whitney Avenue, which on that stretch is technically North Haven.
Given this less than stellar history, it was with some skepticism almost two years ago that I greeted the news that a terrific upstart had taken up residence in the little row of shops diagonally across from the Hamden Town Hall. Restaurants had come and gone in that location, and none of them had been especially distinguished. But the rumors proved true. Despite a name that sounded Disney-esque or like an Irish bar, Mickey’s was putting out food that, in my opinion, eclipsed all local competition and would have ranked among the top four or five eateries in New Haven, which of course has an embarrassment of culinary riches.
It turned out I had already partaken of Mickey’s food without realizing it. Previously, chef-owner Mickey Josephs owned the restaurant Rosemary & Sage in Old Saybrook, at which I once stopped and enjoyed a terrific meal. But Rosemary & Sage didn’t last much past my visit, because a young woman (the driver’s gender is irrelevant, of course) ran her car into the restaurant after hours at such a rate of speed that it passed completely through the restaurant and out the back. I can only imagine poor Mickey surveying the exit wound the next morning. Miraculously, the woman wasn’t seriously injured, but the car and the restaurant (which eventually reopened under new ownership as Nancy’s Rosemary & Sage) fared considerably less well.
Mickey is blessed with the kind of buoyant personality that could find the silver lining in a funnel cloud. His staff love him, and have told me that nothing is more entertaining than listening to him cracking jokes while cooking. I’m a big believer that management sets the tone of a restaurant through its own behavior and personality. Mickey’s staff is courteous, knowledgeable, professional, quick to pitch in and help each other and, most of all, happy. If you visit the restaurant as often as I do, you wind up knowing most of the staff on a first-name basis: Erin, Liz, Morgan, her kid brother Ryan, Claudia, and so on. The interior is modern but warm. Live music is frequently available on Fridays and Saturdays. Hamden has enjoyed neighborhood restaurants before, but none where one had to sacrifice so little in quality for conviviality.
Forced to characterize the cuisine, I would call it Contemporary American/Mediterranean. I’m not one to award the Mediterranean label easily, certainly not to every Italian-American restaurant with delusions of sophistication. I reserve the label Mediterranean for restaurants that offer dishes from multiple Mediterranean countries. On Mickey’s seasonal menus, one will find the expected nod to Italy that seems obligatory in this state, but one may also find a Greek salad, a Spanish paella, a Moroccan-spiced fish or an Israeli appetizer.
The last two categories reveal Mickey’s roots, for Mickey, like his father, is Israeli, but his mother is Moroccan. And for those who have a greater passion for and curiosity about those cuisines than can be satisfied by a stray dish here or there, Mickey offers Israeli dinners ($35 per person) on the third Thursday of every month. Reservations must be made no later than Tuesday. These are not restaurant-styled dinners but real home-cooked family meals. Don’t be surprised if you wind up with enough leftovers for a couple of more meals, and don’t be surprised if a Moroccan dish or two makes it into the lineup. After all, mother knows best.
Mickey’s features a terrific international lineup of wines ($22-$575), including 14 half-bottles and 17 wines by the glass ($5.50-$8). Unlike most fine restaurants west of the Connecticut river, Mickey’s doesn’t gouge its customers. Normally, when seeking a red, I economize with the Mad Dogs & Englishmen ($24), a Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast “best buy” from the up-and-coming wine region of Jumilla. I maintain the wines of Spain provide better bang for the buck than those of just about any other country.
But for review purposes, I couldn’t resist trying the Israeli offerings, especially since I had been pleasantly surprised by Israeli wines before. So we began with a smooth, oaky, 2000 Yarden “Katzrin” Chardonnay, Golan Heights ($44) and graduated to a silky 2000 Yarden Merlot, Golan Heights ($44) blended with a little Cabernet Sauvignon, both of which were certified Kosher and Kosher for Passover. Gone are the days when the Kosher wine apt to be served at bar and bat mitzvahs was American-made Manischewitz sweet concord wine, which a Jewish friend unfondly remembers as tasting like cough syrup.
Of course, Rabbi Avraham D. Oyerbach could certify the wine, but it was my job to certify the food. I, too, have very high standards. Complicating the task slightly was one dining companion, who was abstaining from red meat, sweets and alcohol, and wouldn’t re-Lent. Well, each to his own. I applaud anyone with discipline because God knows I haven’t any.
We began by tasting all four soups (see what I mean?), two of which were regular menu mainstays and two of which were specials. But all of them turned out to be special. Mickey’s pasta e fagiole ($6), and I’m not normally a big fan, was quite nice, featuring kidney as well as white beans, ditalini pasta, a neutral meat stock and that pleasurable texture that comes from puréed or cooked-down beans. The spinach soup ($7) was a riot of flavor, with garlic-infused spinach in a tomato broth (plus an option to have it Portuguese-style with a poached egg that one can break, releasing the yolk into the broth).
The specials were also big hits. New England clam chowder ($7) almost owed more to the tiny state of Rhode Island than the ever-so-much-larger state of Connecticut, given that it was clearer and cleaner than most. Mickey doesn’t like to thicken his chowder with a roux or mashed potato, just with disintegrating potato. The lusty seafood broth was laden with clam, highly flavored with bacon and absolutely delicious. Nary a drop lingered in our cups. Still, the winner, if this were a competition, would have been the rich, creamy, perfectly seasoned, Jerusalem artichoke soup ($7) from which wafted the heavenly scents of Reggiano Parmigiano and truffle.
Although Mickey’s doesn’t have a display, its raw bar offerings are quite good. We couldn’t resist freshly shucked littleneck clams ($1.50 apiece), Connecticut bluepoint oysters ($2.50 apiece) or shrimp cocktail ($2.95 apiece). Accompanied by a cocktail sauce with just the right horseradish bite, the shrimp were plump and snappily fresh, the dainty littlenecks delicious, and as for the bluepoints, is there a better oyster anywhere?
It was a logical segue from raw bar items to cooked seafood starters. Clams casino ($9), with finely chopped bell pepper, a thick square of bacon and a delightful sauce, were advertised as “simply the best around,” and the statement wasn’t mere puffery. A jumbo lump crab and salmon cake ($10) had the flavor and complexity, compared to simple mild-mannered crabmeat, to stand up to a zesty black-bean-and-cilantro sauce. (Periodically, Mickey’s offers great regular crab cakes and a lovely crabmeat-and-mango salad.) Finally, Prince Edward Island mussels ($10) were “kicked up a notch” with chorizo, long Italian hot peppers, black beans, tomato, cilantro, white wine, garlic and the best, most garlicky, grilled ciabatta you’ll ever encounter. I wanted to beg for more.
But I had to practice some Aristotelian moderation (just a little) if I was going to survive the excesses of this review. Filled with focaccia bread crumbs, onion, capers, pine nuts, raisins and Reggiano Parmigiano, a stuffed artichoke heart ($9) was so meaty we wondered how big the original artichoke must have been? Mickey’s beef carpaccio ($11) featured bright purple-red petals of thinly sliced raw filet mignon outfitted with delicate fresh baby arugula and slices of Reggiano Parmigiano and dressed with a lovely truffle vinaigrette.
Mickey’s offers several pastas, some available in half-portions, and we relished our orecchiette baresi ($14/$19), the ear-shaped pasta coming with Italian hot sausage, broccoli rabe, hot pepper flakes, white wine and garlic. We declined an offer of grated cheese, which I am only likely to apply to a pasta in need of rescue. Risottos can be tricky, but Mickey’s has a great touch with them. I’m especially fond of an occasional special in which the richness of a Fontina and wild mushroom risotto ($20) is balanced by the acidity of wild berries.
Mickey’s always offers fresh salads ($6-$10) in appealing combinations, any of which can be turned into a meal with the addition of grilled or blackened chicken ($7), shrimp ($9), salmon ($10) or New York strip steak ($10). But that’s not my style. I’m inordinately fond of the Boston blues ($8 for Boston lettuce, grapes, crisp bacon and red onion in a bleu cheese dressing) and the Tuscan panzanella ($10 for Mozzarella, tomato, cucumber, pepper, red onion, kalamata olives, capers and fresh basil tossed with pieces of focaccia in a white balsamic vinaigrette), but it was time to try something new. Both the baby spinach ($8 for spinach leaves, smoked bacon, orange segments, goat cheese polenta croutons and almonds in a raspberry-Dijon vinaigrette) and the Morgan’s salad ($8 for baby arugula, Belgian endive, Granny Smith apple, candied walnut and Gorgonzola in a balsamic-honey vinaigrette) rewarded our willingness to experiment.
Ordinary eaters would have thrown in the towel long before the entrées, but we were trained professionals. Our legal team requires us to warn readers not attempt such stunts at home without proper supervision and a medical team standing by. Salmon Marrakesh ($19) featured a seven-spice-rubbed filet, toasted Israeli couscous, an eggplant tapénade and a refreshing Mediterranean salad of chopped tomato, cucumber, multi-color bell peppers, red onion, parsley, extra virgin olive oil and lemon. Barbecued braised beef short rib ($25) was tender as all get-out and escorted by a creamy Parmesan polenta and young asparagus.
As good as were these two regular menu items, it was the specials that really dazzled us. A simple unadorned grilled hanger steak ($24) was served with terrific truffle fries and sautéed spinach, and the steak couldn’t have been more flavorful or cooked more perfectly. Our favorite savory dish of the whole evening, however, was magnificent whole Idaho rainbow trout ($23), which was carefully deboned and skinned on one side in the kitchen, filled with a jumbo lump crabmeat stuffing and dressed with a beurre noisette. The fish came with a pile of perfect mashed potato and sautéed spinach.
Reveling in our excesses, we tried all six desserts on offer that evening. Although no cheesecake lover, I was able to enjoy a rum-raisin cheesecake ($8) that was lighter and drier than most, like a ricotta pie. Jasmine tea panna cotta ($8) wasn’t the lightest I ever had, but sported a creamy texture none of us could resist and came with chewy baklava.
The remaining four desserts were simply superlative. An espresso tiramisù ($8) awakened taste buds that had become inured to this ubiquitous standard. An apple tart ($8) featured a light pastry garnished with cinnamon gelato. Coconut crème brûlée ($8) came with pineapple carpaccio and coconut gelato. But I urge everyone to try the Grand Marnier molten chocolate cake ($8) with whichever gelato tickles his fancy. I have long argued that, of all the fruit flavors that go well with chocolate, orange is the clear winner. Here’s proof.
Not only is Mickey’s a great place to pick up a meal, but it also turns out to be a terrific party spot. The restaurant is expanding its back room to accommodate private parties of up to sixty-five people any day of the week. On Sundays, when Mickey’s is normally closed, the entire restaurant can be rented for larger parties.
Mickey’s fills a void in the Hamden dining scene, and would rank among the top restaurants in any town in Connecticut. Beyond its great food, however, it manages the right combination of ambiance and service to become a favorite neighborhood restaurant. It happens to be mine.