A rest-oh-rant
By Ellen Leahy
Several weeks ago in Armory Square, I saw the for sale sign on MOVINO. I felt very sad. MOVINO was so exciting when it first opened. It was a woodburning pizza joint that also featured great sandwiches and salads. Upon opening there was fire, unusual-usual food and a missing person involved. The service concept was new and easy.
Unfortunately, the three talented chefs that came together – Steve Morrison, Vince Santarelli and Noah Cunningham – ultimately couldn’t hang together through the ordeal of ownership.
These men had all worked together at Pastabilities’ Restaurant, also in Armory Square (still), where Morrison was the head chef. They had eventually sold MOVINO to a new owner, who was now going out of business.
There is a lot more serendipity in independent restaurants than most people realize. I guess that is the ultimate beauty of the art form.
Mo’s Mission
Anyway, with thoughts of MOVINO perhaps truly gone forever, I ventured to Steve “Mo” Morrison’s The Mission on Columbus Circle for dinner on Thursday July 10. What I found was a hopping restaurant as the Symphony was doing a Beatles Tribute. No worry, as the wait wasn’t as long as the young engaging hostess had first thought – and the waitress was a breeze, with the kind of service that is fun and attentive and good too.
The Mission’s cuisine is pan american. The tortilla chips are homemade; the salsa isn’t cooked, which isn’t my favorite style as fresh tomatoes are so often not in shape for that kind of workout until the end of the summer; and then for just a couple of months. The Mission’s guacamole was simple, yet delicious, holding its delightful, almost creamy flavor with each dip.
The main attraction
For an entrée, I had sauteed red snapper that was encrusted with nuts – topped with plantains, more avocado (this time fresh fanned out pieces) and a lime butter sauce. All the flavor components were great on their own or together, so that many varying tastes could be created and enjoyed. Coconut rice and sautéed summer vegetables accompanied the fish. I could taste the sweet coconut meat in the rice.
Your basic side summer vegetable sauté that is offered up in most CNY restaurants was cooked perfectly making it an important component of the dinner rather than something of color on the plate.
I’ve been to The Mission before and something seemed to be missing. But now the place has been reinvigorated with the addition of Cathy Westlake as general manager. Mo’s talents in the kitchen are being matched by the performance in the front of the house under Westlake’s graceful eye. It was telling that neither of them happened to be on premise the evening I was there, yet the place was lively and running well. That’s good management!
If you don’t know The Mission, it is in the little red church across from the county court house, just down from the civic center on Columbus Circle - 304 E Onondaga St., in downtown Syracuse.
The building itself has a story all it’s own being the oldest church in the city. You can hear about The Mission’s history from the owner on marikagarcia.com/mission.html.
