At first glance, Il Mercato Café& Wine Shop looks like a neighborhood restaurant. At first bite, patrons know it's much more. The small storefront, from husband-and-wife team of sommelier Michael Lynch and chef Emily Finne, serves delightful dishes like duck leg confit, house-made tagliatelle and olive oil-poached shrimp with quinoa at bargain prices. The menu changes weekly and there are daily specials, so even regulars find something new. End your meal with house-made gelato and other scrumptious desserts.
At first glance, Il Mercato Café & Wine Shop looks like a neighborhood restaurant. At first bite, patrons know it's much more.
This shoe box-size storefront in the alcove of a Hallandale Beach shopping plaza is serving dishes like duck leg confit, house-made tagliatelle and olive oil-poached shrimp with quinoa. And everything is under $20.
Sommelier Michael Lynch and chef Emily Finne Lynch, a husband-wife team, opened the cozy, brick-walled café nearly three months ago. An unfinished, industrial ceiling and granite-top bar add a contemporary accent to the 36-seater (with another 25 seats outside).
The Lynches' motto -- ``eat global, dine local'' -- is a perfect fit. She was born in Colorado, grew up in Bavaria learning about Italian food from her Sicilian stepfather, spent summers in Norway and attended a French culinary school in New York. They both worked in Manhattan restaurants (she at Eleven Madison Park and Danube, he at Keens Steakhouse and The Odeon), and later at Miami Beach's Table 8.
The young, engaging staff provides warm and friendly service. Michael Lynch sets the tone out front, making patrons feel welcome and answering questions about his Euro-centric wine list of 85 varietals, mostly under $100. Beer drinkers can choose from a lineup of handcrafted brews.
The menu changes weekly and there a few daily specials, so even regulars find something new.
We skipped the assorted bread basket ($2) for starters including spaetzle. The crispy, pan-fried German noodles are delicious with Gruyere, scallions and a dusting of paprika. Fried pork belly makes a tasty carnita, tucked into a soft tortilla with frisée, cilantro, avocado and a drizzle of sour cream.
The crunchy roasted beet salad was another hit, with creamy goat cheese crumbles and frisée in a perky vinaigrette. Fennel is refreshing in an arugula salad, though the tomatoes were pale.
Pastas and entrees can be ordered as a full or half portion, which is great for sharing -- and for your wallet. Most pastas are house-made, including light, silky ravioli filled with butternut squash, topped with chopped pecans and Parmesan and set in a golden brown butter sauce.
We loved the salmon entree because it was so moist and flavorful and also for its simply wonderful side of barley and butternut squash in a ginger-spiked mushroom sauce with slices of shiitakes.
One of our favorite dishes is the grilled hangar steak. The meat is buttery tender, well-seasoned and nicely charred, perfectly cooked to a rosy-centered medium rare. We had the half portion for $12, which brought four good-size slices (a full portion is about 12 ounces) served with a rich green peppercorn-Gorgonzola sauce, pan-fried Yukon gold potatoes and grilled zucchini.
Emily Lynch's stepfather, who now lives in South Florida, makes the gelato (plus a few Italian dishes). We loved the ultra-creamy banana version. Lynch's desserts include scrumptious zwetschgendatschi, a Bavarian-style plum tart topped with almond streusel.
Whatever your neighborhood, sweet Il Mercato is worth the drive.
