Retooled eatery hard to Swallow

This is what I hope will turn out to be the story of "The Little Restaurant That Could" - a 2009 version of the children's story that is a metaphor for the American Dream.

Swallow is the former Northern Liberties bistro that in late December reinvented itself in the economic downturn.

Owners Jason and Cindy Caminos wisely saw that they had to retool in order to pull themselves up over the mountain.

I call their concept a "mac-eria." Essentially it is a pizzeria based on macaroni and cheese. Pick from their flavor combinations or build your own with additions from their cheese, meat, and vegetable options.

The house specialty, and probably deservedly so, is the Mexican ($8.50 small; $12.25 large). This is a blend of cheddar and pepper jack cheeses with chicken breast, jalapenos, sautéed onions and cilantro.

However, the cilantro was undetectable and there was a problem with uniformity throughout the dish.

The Casserole ($8.50 small; $12.25 large) is a nod to the tuna and vegetable dish of the '70s that was probably in every picnic basket en route to the beach. And, like then, it's OK. Best a dish for nostalgia.

The Greek ($7 small; $10 large) is a nice mix of feta cheese, Monterey jack, gyro meat, kalamata olives and spinach. I would have enjoyed a little more feta in the mix.

Our favorite was the Create a Combo, of course, because it was ours.

Asiago, Parmesan, ham and spinach. Delicious.

Consistency in the kitchen was a problem when Swallow was a bistro and it is echoed here as well.

If you are going to do variations on one dish, then it has to be well executed.

My biggest complaint is that none of the elements in the dishes were cut uniformly or with any sense of proportion. For example, in the Mexican huge chunks of fresh jalapeno didn't even get warm, much less cooked.

And who wants to eat a chunk of raw jalapeno? Yet, that same quantity minced so that each bite of the dish had a reasonable amount would have been delicious.

This rookie cooking error was echoed throughout each version of mac and cheese. The Greek would have been improved by smaller pieces of gyro and olives and The Casserole's mushrooms overwhelmed the tuna and peas.

If you are a baked mac and cheese lover, you are out of luck.

You could order a topping of dry bread crumbs, but that is hardly the same as the crusty bits of the baked casserole beloved by many devotees of the dish.

In Swallow's defense, when I mentioned this to Jason Caminos he pointed out the practicality of their kitchen setup that has the elements of the dish (béchamel sauce, cheese, cooked elbows and other additions) assembled separately to prepare the dish to order.

But, think you can, Little Restaurant, think you can.

Baked mac and cheese served in small, colorful gratin dishes rather than the current oversized white pasta bowls could be preassembled and baked to order. Instead of huge portions of one taste, why not offer a sampler with several small servings?

And while we're at it, put some creativity into garnishing the dishes so you are not looking at a sea of elbow macaroni and cheese. Also, why not offer a few other pasta shapes just to mix it up?

These self-imposed limitations make it feel as if the kitchen has given up rather than retooled.

The restaurant's décor is definitely leftover from Swallow's days as an upscale bistro. Apparently the dark purple maroon wallpaper and plastic faux crystal chandeliers are a nod to the block's former reputation for hosting houses of prostitution.

But the ambiance is oddly out of sync with the new retro comfort food theme, and even the empty mirror frames straight out of the "Friends" sitcom apartment don't really fit.

Whitewashing the walls and moving to a décor that is more like a neighborhood casual dining place is a hard way to go when you had a dream and hope it can still be realized. But, resolving the incongruity of the space with the concept is necessary to make it work.

All that said, I am really rooting for the Caminos. They are exactly what the city needs - young professionals with passion, entrepreneurial drive and a desire to be part of the fabric of the neighborhood. And given my conversation with Jason Camino, they seem willing to tweak whatever needs fixing to make this work.

There are changes coming for the summer menu that should be tantalizing. And, trying out a fun neighborhood place where you can eat plenty for less than $10 is hardly a risk - even if you wonder whether the engine will make it up the mountain. *