Madeline: A Dinner Party Where Children Are Invited

Madeline Migliorini stands behind the bar at Cafe Madeline as she presumably would stand behind her own home's kitchen counter while entertaining family and friends. She's hospitable and proud; a homemaker of sorts with a maternalistic charm. She coddles her patrons' children as they wait for their parents to take their last sip of wine and pay the bill. The children, too, are comfortable with her.

Children flit across the mimetic terra cotta floors and their inquisitions bounce off of the earth-toned stucco walls for all to hear; Ms. Migliorini tenderly answers them, gently reminding them that it's best to speak softly. There is no mistake, this is a family restaurant.

Dining here feels as if you are a guest in her home. There is a hardwood paneled bar, black and gold streaked marble table tops, new-age candelabras fastened to the walls. With the capering children, I almost imagine seeing Legos and toy cars scattered on the floor.

The kitchen door swings open with an exiting waitress; from the dining room Ms. Migliorini calls out to inform the cooks that table one is ready for their entrees. It's that casual.

Entrees are brought out to my table, and with them I find myself slightly confused. The price tags on some of the dishes mirror some from Fairfield's finer restaurants; the quality of food, however, does not.

Inferior ingredients spotted:  frozen spinach; parmesan cheese that can probably be found in a cylindrical shaker on a Shaw's Supermarket shelf; and pre-shredded mozzarella, the packaged kind for the pizzas. At times it feels  like a grandiose Pizza Center, though they don't purport to be.

There is mozzarella dredged in panko bread crumbs, deep fried until the cheese seeps forth; a trail of oil smudges the plate from the slightly pinguid crust. A pool of marinara that could pass for Prego surrounds the molten cheese with pulpy zucchini and onions, a caponata of sorts.

Some of the dishes try to give Cafe Madeline an epicurean edge. There is smoked prosciutto, sliced thickly, draped over fig preserve smeared foccacia toasts. With its cursive drizzling of balsamic reduction and a daub of slightly sweet ricotta cheese, it pretends to be something greater than it is in reality. The toasts are awkward, neither crispy nor soft; they come across stale. It's like a teenager who trades in his elastic cuffed sweat pants for a pair of Abercrombie jeans in hopes to transcend his true identity. Cafe Madeline's identity is not one meant to sate gourmets.

But what Cafe Madeline can sate is a hunger for simplistic comfort food. There is a filet of salmon; moist yet rustic, aromatic of garlic and cloaked with a roasted pepper, artichoke heart and spinach miscellany. It's humbly prepared, something you might find in a working class Puglian family's home (minus the authentic Italian mama touch.)

Thin crust pizza comes lathered with pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, cubes of chicken,  a smattering of spinach. And though the crust is slightly crisper, lighter than your average pizza joint's, the concept remains the same.

Perhaps Ms. Migliorini feels she can levy higher prices because either A) for some reason people are willing to pay it; or B) a complementary salad comes with the entree, thus believing it to be a bargain. No, it can't be the latter; the salad is simply shredded, slightly bruised lettuce with a few chunks of roma tomato. Not worthy enough to exact $25 for an entree.

Inside there are only eight tables; on the outside patio there are only a handful more. No matter the day, only two cooks toil over the two-burner stove. On the weekends there are three or four waiters; on most weeknights, there are just two.

With the condensed staff, a slightly longer wait between courses sometimes occurs. But customers don't seem to mind, just as they wouldn't mind if they were eating in Ms. Migliorini's own home. They are content exchanging words with her as they wait. Here, "How is your mother?" is an acceptable conversation piece.

It's not that I am bashing Cafe Madeline's homey disposition or the food. It's a matter of me defining what this restaurant stands for: family over food, prices over quality.

Maybe you'll go pay Cafe Madeline a visit, contemplate my review and argue that Cafe Madeline is actually perfectly suited for the cost. And if you do, at least debate it over a few scoops of their homemade hazelnut gelato. Creamy and graceful, a hazelnut essence so vivid you wonder where the hazelnut pieces are hiding. That is one thing that cannot be argued.

Cafe Madeline

1603 Post Rd, Fairfield, CT;  (203) 259-5800

ATMOSPHERE Like eating at a family dinner party, children included; casual, warming.

SOUND LEVEL About what you would expect from a small, confined room with the occasional child calling out to his brothers and sisters.

RECOMMENDED DISHES Salmon; chicken pizza; hazelnut gelato.

WINE LIST A standard selection for a standard family restaurant.

PRICE RANGE Appetizers and small plates, $5 to $11;  salads, $13 to $15; burgers and pizzas, $12 to $14; entrees, $23 to $25.

HOURS Lunch, Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 3 p.m.; Dinner, Tuesday through Friday, 5 p.m. to 9:30 pm; Saturday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

RESERVATIONS Reservations are acquired by calling 203-259-5800.

CREDIT CARDS All major cards.