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Mia's needs to turn it up

By Howard M. Snyder hsnyder@herald-leader.com

A couple of months ago, I was driving down South Upper Street and noticed that Mia's had closed. I wasn't sure whether it had gone out of business or moved. A few weeks later, I was on West Short Street and noticed that Mia's was ­opening in the same building where Anna Belle's used to be.

The building that had been home to Keller Florist forever was rehabbed just in time for the new courthouse development across North Limestone Street. The corner location is stunning and has all the possibilities to be a great restaurant/bar. With the big, gushing fountain just across the street, it's a great spot to see and be seen on a hot summer night.

But Mia's seems to be ­tending to its bar patrons more than its food, at least it seems to me. When we went there earlier this week, without fail the kitchen forgot to finish the dishes we ordered.

It wasn't anything too complicated — the artichoke soufflé ($6), a mix of chopped artichoke hearts, spinach, garlic and Parmesan cheese in a gratin and served with slices of untoasted French bread. Unfortunately, someone in the kitchen forgot to run the artichoke dip under the broiler or put it in a microwave. This mix was served at room temperature. It was tasty but would have benefited greatly from a zap or two.

My dining companion just wanted two unadorned hamburgers ($7) ... dieting, you know. But the patties were so thin, they served two for each burger, ­making it four. Anyway, they didn't seem to be made fresh. And they weren't served piping hot, just warmed over.

My entrée was one of the specials, tropical chicken with mango risotto ($16). It sounded yummy, and it was. However, the same cooking technique (or lack thereof) occurred again. The risotto and chopped mango were served at room temperature. The chicken breast, which had been poached, was placed on the risotto. It had some heat (more than the risotto, but barely) and was topped with a nice tomato salsa.

We enjoyed two glasses of ­Rutherford cabernet sauvignon from California ($9 each), which was fabulously rich.

The dessert I got, however, was pretty middlin'. I ordered devil's food cake ($5.50), but it was a heavy, slightly old-tasting brownielike lump that had been drizzled with chocolate syrup and squirted with sweet whipped cream. It all went down badly with probably the weakest cup of coffee I've ever had. I could read the menu through my glass cup.

To me, it was kind of expensive for cold food. Dinner for two, including two glasses of wine and tax but not tip, was $71.06.