Corso 32 - Divine Italian (Number 30 of Edmonton 30 in 30)

The hallmark of a top restaurant is when their appeal moves outside of their home market and into the collective consciousness of the global food community. For many years now a collection of top Edmonton restaurants always seemed to include a small Italian shop on Jasper Avenue; a small shop that served upscale and progressive Italian cuisine; a small shop that, lovingly, became notoriously difficult to procure a reservation; a small shop by the name of Corso 32. You can imagine my shock when a chef in Winnipeg, upon realizing I came from Edmonton, demanded if I had ever eaten at Corso and who, after finding out I had, raved for seemingly an hour about the incredible food here. International gravitas indeed.

On the corner of 103rd and Jasper Avenue, Corso 32 is an easy gem to miss. Located on the bottom floor of a two story building, there is nary any signage that welcomes one to the restaurant. Instead the large red painted letters on the outside window serve as the only advertisement of the restaurant. A different story unwinds, however, when you step inside and are greeted by the handsome oak wooden tables, dim and romantic lighting and the welcoming staff that beckon you towards your table. The menu is simple, small but forceful. As you read, the richness and weight of each dish can be felt with each description weaving a tapestry of excitement in your taste buds. The chefs take a combination of exotic luxurious ingredients and local farm raised produce with Italian techniques to create a decadent menu that is both extravagant and functional.

Our table had a collective gasp when we dove into the Egg Yolk Gnudo and saw the gorgeous yellow yolk seemingly out of the pasta. The gnudo had a surprisingly delicate flavour with creaminess of the egg yolk working well with the saltiness of the ricotta. The base of baby swiss chard elevated the dish by adding freshness, colour and a slight bitterness that rounded out this excellent appetizer.

The initial bite of the Speck had a surprisingly sharp flavour from freshly shaved horseradish and while strong, it helped to elevate the smoky fatty aroma of the cured pork. Balance is further achieved by the sweet and crisp pink lady apple slices. While the first nibble was sharp, we became tolerant of the horseradish in each subsequent bite and quickly appreciated the balance of flavours here.

Our favourite pasta was the Cavetelli with pork and funnel sausage finished with salty Pecorino cheese. Each loving bite of tender pasta had the perfect mixture of aromatic tomato-ey sauce, fatty sausage and salty cheese. My favourite component though was the addition of Broccoli Rabe as they provided a delightful crunch of bitterness that contrasted the other flavours well.

Special of the day was an Agnolotti Cacio Pepe. A simple filled pasta with beef and vegetables, it is finished with salt, pepper and a black truffle pecorino moliterno. The aroma of the truffle was paramount and while it was a strong aromatic presence it did not overpower the flavour of the dish. Actually it was the interplay between salty cheese and grainy black pepper that stood out in this dish.

One of our dining companions went with the Cornish Game Hen "Al Mattone". The hen was extroadinarily tender with a crisp sweet and slightly bitter exterior encapsulating tender sweet flesh on the inside. The key here was the sauce, a brown butter and sage jus that worked well with the squash and apple panzanella to compliment the intentionally muted flavours of the chicken.

Our only disappointment of the day was the  Garganelli. The al dente pasta was tossed in a traditional Ragu and finished with fresh Parmigiano ... and that's it. Well I appreciated the depth of the tomato flavour in the ragu and the sharpness of the cheese, this overall felt muted and underscored by the rest of our dishes.

This divine Vanilla Panna Cotta features the silky smooth custard on a bed of pistachios and grappa, a grape based liquor. The combination of smooth egg-y custard works well with the fruity liquor but it is the interplay of textures between the panna cotta and crisp pistachios that elevate this dish to greatness. Delicious!

Similarly the Gelato Affogato was divine. Finished with a herbal Amaro liquor, each bite had a nice mixture of smooth cool cream with sharp bitter liquor and coffee flavour. A small dish but packing tons of flavour.

This Chocolate Torta is featured in Avenue Magazine as the best dessert of 2015. The cake has a dense and rich chocolate aroma and flavour that is counteracted by the salty, crispy and bitter hazelnuts. The hazelnuts, slightly toasted, are a genius addition as it provides an excellent balance to the luxurious velvety chocolate.

Definitely saving the best for last, Corso 32 is deserving of every accolade it has been afforded to date. Stylized and progressive, this is Italian cuisine at its best and Edmontononians should be proud to have such an luxurious and impressive restaurant in their backdoor. Corso 32 takes the best of Italian techniques and transforms humble local ingredients into works of art; and it is truly this process that makes this restaurant one of the best I have ever dined at in the world.

And so I finish up my thirty Edmonton blog posts in thirty days. I would be remiss if I did not comment also on my wonderful friends and family that have dined and supported me through this process and who have shaped and transformed who I am. I am exceedingly impressed by the variety and quality of Edmonton's food scene and cannot wait to return to see what new restaurants and flavours have arisen.

A Bear-y Special Visit: Bonfire Bistro

After spending the entire day outside at Festival du Voyageur, we felt the need to warm our hearts with a proper supper. The Bonfire Bistro, offering Sicilian style wood-fired pizzas, has consistently been one of the highly rated restaurants on Urbanspoon. In fact there is a pediatric co-resident who swears by one of their delicious pizzas. Thus it was a no-brainer while perusing for restaurants and we quickly packed our things to go the Bonfire Bistro.

Aptly placed on Corydon Avenue, Bonfire Bistro is a modest establishment on the outside. We initially had some problems finding the place, as the green and yellow sign did not stand out in the night sky. In fact I felt the signage and exterior of the restaurant could use some updating, featuring a tacky combination of neon and billboard signage.

It is a completely different story when you arrive inside. Handsomely decorated, the restaurant is a vast space with bright lighting, smart oak tables and comfortable seating. You cannot help but marvel at the wood fired oven, the centerpiece of the restaurant, nor at the chalk written boards showcasing the specials of the day.

In need to fulfill our vegetable intake of the day, we started with a Caprese Salad for the three of us. Handsomely presented, the salad combines arugula, tomatoes, red onion and bocconcini cheese all served in a nice balsamic reduction. We enjoyed the interplay of the smooth cheese and the beefy tomatoes with the slightly sweet and sour balsamic dressing. Not over dressed, Bonfire Bistro does well to showcase each ingredient in the salad.

A special of the day was the Hot & Sour Soup. Served with Prawn and Fish dumplings, this was well needed after spending the entire day in the cold. The broth was a highlight here: rustic, aromatic and full of fish and shrimp flavour. Add on top of that deliciously firm and tender "dumplings" (they were more like fish balls) and finished with a host of vegetables, this dish was excellent. Only area of criticism was the sharp sliced radish which was a unnecessary contrast to the smooth flavours in the rest of the dish.

Wild Mushroom & Maple Bacon Pizza, a simple sounding pizza with fantastic results. A trifecta of mushrooms (porcini, portobello and oyster) are paired with maple bacon and finished with blue cheese. I loved the interplay of the flavours here: the fatty bacon, the meaty mushrooms and a hint of roasted garlic in the sauce.. I applaud Bonfire for using blue cheese here as it was strong and aromatic enough to maintain its flavour beside the bacon and mushrooms.

One of our group ordered the pizza special of the night, Smoked Arctic Char Pizza. I initially had some concern that the char might be lost here, but Bonfire does well to showcase the smoked fish by pairing it with lighter ingredients: arugula, mozzarella and goat cheese. I appreciated the shaved pickled beets on top which added a bright, crisp, sour and sweet component to the dish. Overall well done!

Look at this gorgeous Gnocchi with Braised Boneless Beef Short Rib. Wonderfully presented, the tender gnocchi is flooded by a demi glace cream sauce with wild mushrooms, peas and red onion. The star was the perfectly tender short rib, a modest portion too, which added a rich proteinatous component to the dish. Only gripe was the runny-ness of the sauce which did not envelop and soak into the gnocchi as much as we had hoped.

To finish off we had the Apple & Pear Crumble with Ice Cream. A nice finisher with tender and soft fruit paired with a crumble and topped with ice cream. A great way to end a delicious meal, I especially enjoyed the lightness of the ice cream with the tender fruit.

Bonfire Bistro was dynamite. Featuring Sicilian style pizzas, incredible mains and great specials, it runs highly on my list of go-to places in Winnipeg. While pricey, this certainly is not somewhere one can frequent too regularly, but it does offer fantastic food and great service for those looking for an excuse for upscale Italian fare.

De Luca's - Cooking Demonstration

Life imitating art. On an almost daily basis, as I am running around Winnipeg trying new restaurants, I find myself wondering just how this chef was able to infuse such incredible flavour, how they were able to transform ingredient X to Y, or how they can eloquently weave a story through their different courses. The same curiosity that moved me to start a food blog has also transformed me into a home chef. Although it seems that my dining out adventures are excessive, there are some ... infrequent ... times when I do like to stay home and cook. Therefore I was thrilled when my residency association hosted a cooking demonstration at De Luca's.

Standing handsomely on Portage Avenue, De Luca's touts themselves as a specialty foods cooking school and restaurant. At their heart De Luca's is inspired by Italian cuisine and tries to instill Italian culture and food through its numerous cooking classes and demonstrations. I applaud establishments in trying to accommodate and foster new generations of gourmet chefs.

De Luca's demonstration that particular night was in their cooking studio. Nicely decorated, the basement was a combination of huge open kitchen with banquet style dining hall; this allowed you to view the chefs as they demonstrated each dish. I was slightly disappointed that they only chose to show small segments of each dish ... a dressing here, a sauce there. I would have much preferred they start each dish from scratch ala a cooking show. It seemed at times that De Luca's was more interested in showing off their cooking talent rather than actually teaching the participants anything worthwhile.

One of the major barriers of a home chef is the daunting task of starting from scratch using fresh ingredients and I wish De Luca's would have used that as the initial point of view for the cooking demo. Nevertheless onto the food itself!

Mixed Greens with Pears was the starter for the group. Served with cambozola, pecans and finished with their champagne vinaigrette, this was completely, utterly average. On one hand I enjoyed the textural contrasts of the pears, greens, pecans and smooth cheese. However, on the other I did not care for the vinaigrette. For all the pomp and circumstance De Luca's made in their vinaigrette, it was bland, monotonous, too citrus-y and inferior to anything at your local grocer.
 

Pasta with Vodka Sauce was the next course. Tender tortiglioni and back bacon are mixed in their house "vodka" cheese sauce and finished with fresh Parmesan. This was a highlight of the dish as they paired tender pasta with a nice cream sauce. The addition of bacon worked well to add more fattiness but also a hint of saltiness and crispness. Overall tasty and well done.

Our main was the Chicken with Spinach & Ricotta with a white wine sauce and served with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. This was a table-wide disappointment: tender chicken breasts were stuffed with a tasteless spinach and ricotta mixture, paired with a soup-y sauce and completely average vegetables. For all the spectacle and work they made of stuffing the chicken, it turned out to be laughably dull in flavour, so much that it forces the viewer to wonder if its even worth any effort at all to stuff the chicken breasts.

Chocolate Nutella Lava Cake was the dessert of the night. The best part of the meal, a small ramekin full of airy, chocolate-y cake with a nice tart blackberry. The cake was well cooked with the inside exquisitely moist and contrasting the almost crisp outside well.

Overall De Luca's made too much adieu about nothing. If you are to educate and show people how to cook, I cannot understand why they would showcase such average dishes. There were strokes of deliciousness in this meal (i.e. lava cake and the pasta) but for every positive, De Luca's gave just as many negatives. At the end of the night I left with no more cooking knowledge than prior and was largely disappointed in the purported "specialty food cooking school". Do yourself a favour, there are higher quality demos on YouTube.

Dine About Winnipeg 2015 - Amici

The recent spree of fine dining has been taking its toll on my wallet (and waistline). Stepping on the scale this morning revealed a modest weight gain, but a gain nonetheless. It was to be expected with the majority of high end restaurants disproportionately high on butter and low on vegetables. Nevertheless, when one of our co-residents wanted to celebrate their birthday, we had to go somewhere fancy. Their dining place of choice, Amici.

Amici is an interesting restaurant. Just off of Broadway street, Amici shares a location with its sister restaurant, Bombilini, with a shared kitchen and bathroom. Serving similar dishes, Amici is designed to be the fine dining fancy ballroom while Bombilini's has a modern lounge feel to it. It certainly does have an air of sophistication with handsomely dressed busboys, knowledgeable wait staff and elegant decor.

The menu of choice today was Dine About Winnipeg. Amici seems to the perfect type of restaurant for Dine About, as the main menu is rather prohibitively priced and although they tout fine ingredients and exquisite preparation, there needs to be some persuasion to attract diners. Amici serves modern Italian cuisine and offers a variety of classic and exciting Italian dishes.

I decided to order a Carpaccio off the main menu to start for the entire group. The service staff thoughtfully divided the dish into halves so the whole table would be able to have a bite. Razer thin slices of beef are topped with garlic, lime and lemon and served with pickled onions and toasted bread. I enjoyed the mix of flavours in the carpaccio and thought the citrus added much needed sweetness and tartness to the beef.

The starters included a Mussels, Tequila Lime Pepper Cream Sauce. A handsomely presented dish with a boatload of mussels in a pepper cream sauce. The shellfish were prepared well but was overpowered by the cream sauce. The peppers added a nice touch of colour to the dish but overall I felt the emphasis was too much on the sauce and less on the mussels.

The other starter was Mixed Gourmet Greens served with mandarin oranges and almond crusted goat cheese. The deep fried cheese balls were the best part of the dish which added a sharpness and smoothness and elevated this past just a regular salad.

The main of choice was the New York Striploin Della Nonna. A large striploin cooked to your liking and topped with potatoes, mushrooms and bacon all wrapped together by a beef (?veal) sauce. This was marvelous. The generous portion of beef matched well with the starch and the fatty bacon, but it was the deep, full bodied and rich sauce that brought the entire dish together.

For my main I had the Arctic Char wrapped in Smoked Salmon. Served on the side with a red onion salad, this dish was simply average. The moderate portion of char was well cooked, but I did not enjoy the pairing with smoked salmon. The salmon while texturally a bit firmer and more flavourful seemed to overpower the char. Finally, the onion salad was a nice citrus-y fresh addition to the dish.

Side Vegetables (Brocollinin, roasted yams and beets) were served with every main course. I appreciate Amici for adding some vegetables to the dishes but thought it was smart to serve them on the side. Doing this allows you to showcase the main as a self contained dish without confusing the diner with additional vegetables. They themselves were nicely roasted and went especially well with the sauce in the striploin.

Espresso and Chocolate Panna Cotta was the dessert for everyone. A hint of espresso was present in the soft and smooth panna cotta. Topped with cream, chocolate shavings and strawberries this was a great way to finish a meal.

Overall Amici provided good Italian food. I was impressed by the decor and excellent service staff and feel they have the food to back up their claim of being fine dining. Although the prices on the normal menu are higher, the Dine About menu offered great value for the quality of the food. Amici is certainly an option for anyone looking for a classy night out.

Amazing Italian ... Little Maria's

Little Maria's Porchetta & Meatballs has been consistently on the top of Urbanspoon's talk of the town. Combining a unique story, charming decor and amazing food, it rocked up to the top of my wishlist of restaurants. Unfortunately they are open for somewhat limited hours which restricted my ability to dine there. Thus with a free Saturday I made it a mission to trek out to Little Maria's for lunch.

Located on the corner of Edmonton Street and Broadway, Little Maria's exudes a sense of coziness. The classy name-board and huge windows make window-dining (I may have made this term up) a necessity. The menu is simple and robust, highlighting bold Italian flavours.

In keeping with its name, I felt obligated to order the meatballs (and porchetta). An order of Naked Balls gives you the choice of three types (I got the classic beef & pork), a choice of six sauces (Bolognese for me) and a side of vegetables or pasta.

These meatballs were divine. Incredibly tender and moist, Little Maria's attempts to showcase simple and bold flavours that work well with one another. The tangy bolognese sauce and sharp Parmesan cheese completed this fantastic dish. 

The Porchetta sandwich consists of sliced oven roasted Italian pork with garlic sauteed spinach on a fresh Italian bun. This was amazing. The porchetta was incredibly tender, fatty and rich. It had the thick fattiness of country ham with the tender and subtle flavours of Italian prosciutto.

The garlic spinach in this dish add a simple but excellent contrast to the pork. The wonderfully crusty bun works well to keep all the ingredients inside without getting too soggy. Overall this was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had.

Little Maria's Porchetta and Meatballs is, by my estimation, the best Italian restaurant in Winnipeg. Not only does it serve incredible food, but the story behind the restaurant, a single father who moved away from haute cuisine to spend  time with and to provide for his daughter, and fun decor make it the entire package.

Call dinner - Sorrento's

Another night of call means another call dinner. Recently I have been going through a eating out phase where I have to deal with numerous cravings throughout the day that I cannot possibly make on my own. This was the exact situation last night on call. When my fellow resident asked if I wanted to order in food, I jumped at the opportunity. Looking at the local delivery site SkipTheDishes, we landed upon Sorrento's.

Two entrees resulted in this delectable bounty. I ordered the Grilled Chicken Breast Dinner while my co-resident ordered the Baked Penne Pasta.

The dinner includes a complimentary salad. Given the choice between house, Caesar or Feta; I went with the Feta Salad. A relatively large portion of greens, but overall average tasting. If anything, it was a good reminder to get some vegetables.

Part two of the dinner was either Rice Pilaf (or Mashed Potatoes) and Steamed Vegetables. The pilaf was quite nice with a good aroma and filled with lots of vegetables.

Part three was the Grilled Chicken Breast. The protein of the day was disappointing. Listed as "marinated in signature spices", it was a bland and dry offering. At least it was a healthy serving.

The Baked Penne that my co-resident dined on. A huge portion of pasta, cheese and tomato sauce. Overall, the dinner was a filling but unremarkable.