Rustica introduces itself as the home of “Rustic European Cuisine,” citing influences from France, Italy and Spain. Open only for dinner and located in the Kalamazoo Mall, the small restaurant certainly displays a simple decor. The dining area is set up to exude a sense of intimacy, with low lighting, beige walls, and candles on every table. The walls are hung with several paintings of European country homes and dark metal light fixtures. Quiet, instrumental music plays in the background, making it necessary to talk in hushed voices so as not to be over heard by the next couple sitting only about a foot away.
The atmosphere is somewhat disrupted by the close quarters in which the tables are squeezed. It could be due to the large kitchen that takes up about a third of the dining area. It is quite entertaining to watch the food being prepared but slightly awkward to be so close to the high-paced action of the kitchen in an otherwise calm and intimate setting. A small bar hidden away in the back corner of the restaurant also confuses the atmosphere to a certain degree.
Rustica’s fourteen tables are normally packed, and as they do not take reservations it would be wise to participate in their call-ahead policy, or arrive promptly at 5 pm when they open. The wait staff is helpful and knowledgeable, especially with regards to the wine list that covers the entire reverse of the menu. The clientele consists primarily of middle-aged, upper-middle class regulars, who the owner sits with in turn, chatting about business and family. It seems that these are guests of honor and everyone else is simply a guest. The wait staff also seemed to follow this mantra, why waste time at a table when there will be better tips at another?
The menu at Rustica is quite limited, with a number of appetizers but only four pasta dishes and eight main courses. Appetizers range from about $6 for a bowl of chicken soup to $13 for the Prince Edward Island Mussels. The mussels are served in a large crockery dish and are quite numerous, plenty to share with the entire table. Each mussel was soft and the sauce that came with it was not enough to overpower the unique taste of the product itself. Several of them even smelled like the ocean, a sign of their freshness.
Main courses at Rustica range from $17, for one of the four vegetarian pasta dishes, to $22 for the Seared Salmon and Diver Scallop. The salmon dish came on a large bed of cannellini beans and a tomato-based sauce. The salmon was well executed, with a bit of a crunch on the outside and softness on the inside, but the overall flavor was not satisfying. The whole thing tasted of salt, with no punch of sweetness in the salmon to provide a counter balance. The amount of beans made it seem more like a chili than a fish dish, and it became difficult to stomach all of the starch towards the end. The scallop that the salmon was paired with had the texture of a big gummy candy and had very little taste, as though it was unseasoned.
One of their well-known dishes, the Grilled Duck Breast, was slightly better. The duck itself was a bit stringy but full of flavorful fat and a pleasing dark color. The duck was paired with a helping of barley with pomegranate seeds intermingled. The pomegranates provided both a pleasing visual contrast and also a burst of freshness to the otherwise heavy meal.
To finish off the meal, there is an array dessert for under $10 and several coffee drinks. The red velvet cake was presented in a very charming manner, a round cake with little dots of chocolate and vanilla icing on top. Unfortunately, the icing turned out to be very high in oil content and the cake very low in moisture. The only saving grace of this dessert were the warm preserved plums that, when eaten with a bite of cake, added the moisture necessary to swallow it down. A better choice would be the Tiramisu, which had several towering layers of espresso soaked ladyfingers and Kahlua mousse. The alcohol flavor definitely made a strong appearance, but this could perhaps be positive for those diners under 21.
The best dessert, and possibly the best dish on the entire menu, is the Callebaut Chocolate Brownie. Served with a scoop of the “gelato of the day,” the brownie is served warm and presumably only half cooked. It is more of a half-pudding, half-brownie, with a sweet chocolate ganache seeping into the fresh brownie. This is a must have dish at Rustica and not one likely to be shared once it’s tasted.
Overall, this is not a place college students will want to go to on a regular basis, a meal for two can easily run about $80, including tip. The high quality fresh ingredients and unique meal options make this a location to visit. With a college budget in mind, this could be a great place to schmooze your parents or take someone out on a nice date.
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