Sole Sapori

Update: Sole Sapori is closed.
In a word: Both average and in Mount Horeb.

The specs: #0601 
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Citysearch, Driftless Appetite, 77 Square, Trip Advisor; official web site,

Latest Sole Sapori news and reviews

JM ate the Americano pizza with a lemonade.
Nichole ate the spiedini with a Sicilian Sunrise.
The bill was $38, or $17/person, plus tip.
JM gave Sole Sapori a B; Nichole gave Sole Sapori a B- (see our grading rubric).

Sole Sapori on Main Street in Mount Horeb is in a romantic old building. It shares a long, stone-floored hallway with a tonsorial parlor, a small room for bike parking, and the glass deli case that doubles as wine storage. There are several dining rooms in the warren-like space. The one we ate in was painted muted rose with tall ceilings and lots of nooks and crannies that made it cozy.

We liked that dinner started with a basket of warm cheesy bread with caraway and anise. Nichole tried the "Sicilian sunrise" cocktail, an incongruous choice in more than one way. It was a pink mix of coconut rum, pomegranate liqueur and muddled orange, lemon, lime, and maraschino.

The cocktail's sweetness was a counterpoint to the salad. It had a more diverse blend of fresh greens than average but came with a side of dressing that was more than 2/3 oil. Good oil, but the vinegar, already trapped under the lipid blanket, was hard to reach and hardly detectable after stirring.

The margherita pizza with balsamic reduction looked interesting, but we took the Americano. Americans do like meat, and this one packed in bacon, ham, sausage, pepperoni. We added pineapple. The crust stood tall and had a welcome crustiness of character. The sauce was robust and the meats played well together. The verdict on this hearty pie was that it was about as good as comparable Rosati's, but as JM put it, for Rosati's he wouldn't feel the need to put on a nice shirt.

Midway through we realized what a meaty meal we were dealing with. The standard side for many dinners, including the spiedini, is a basic spaghetti with meat sauce. The sauce/noodle ratio favors the topping, which was awesome. The spiedini themselves, speared on toothpicks, were nubs of cheese wrapped in ham, then ground beef, glistening with grease on a thin blanket of bagged baby spinach leaves. These were indulgent but not as sophisiticated as Cafe Continental's.

Sole Sapori's quality and portions are fine, though nothing special.  It definitely feels like the closer you are to the place, the more likely you are to go there and the more likely you should be to go there. Which is to say, Sun Prairie residents, don't bother, you can find as good closer to you. But those in Fitch-rona should consider a trip out next time they want some standard or above-average Italian.

Comments

[Timmy]

Canned or fresh pineapple? With this most recent visit, we're on the verge of constituting a control sample here.