Big Burrito’s newest restaurant in suburbs is destination worthy
From ribbons of mafaldine to spirals of gemelli, pasta is the star of the menu at Alta Via in O’Hara.
Half and full portions sit front- and- center on the menu at Big Burrito’s newest restaurant. It’s a stylish 90- seat dining room — with 40 at the bar — in what had been Donato’s for nearly a decade. The airy restaurant conjures the Italian Dolomites in the name: Italy at- large and Northern California in the menu. Having opened in March for dinner, Alta Via is preparing for lunch service by the end of the month.
Let’s talk about the space. Alta Via offers a roomy dining room with a mix of textures like board- and- batten, white brick accents, hardwood floors, leather seats and what looks like wrought- iron window panes. When it’s full, the room feels buzzy, but it’s not too loud. Seating is intimate with your companions and it’s likely that no one can hear your conversation from another table, but the space is not so big that you’d feel at sea. Over at the bar, the lighting is just right, and the chairs are cushy — though if you’re not particularly tall, it’s a bit of a struggle to take a seat. ( I’m too short for them but I like the room so much I don’t really care that the height makes me feel like a kid, feet dangling far from the floor.)
Back to those pastas, the mafaldine Bolognese is seasoned as if it could be meat — but it’s mushroom. And gemelli shows off lump crabmeat and sweet corn, layered with ever- so- thinly sliced zucchini, spiked with of- the- moment Calabrian chiles. Listen to the specials, too, and get the corzetti, pasta medallions speckled with almonds, layered with basil and restrained dollops of ricotta. Delicate and light and texturally pleasing, it was a favorite dish one night.
A menu on which vegetables also play a prominent role makes sense with head chef Ben Sloan at the helm. He was formerly at Big Burrito’s Kaya in the Strip, where he earned a name for himself with his compelling variations on the monthly vegetarian menu. Chef and president of Big Burrito Bill Fuller himself has had an eye toward vegetables lately. And while Alta Via trotted out that shiny red wood- fired oven on its Instagram account before it opened, it wasn’t a given that it would be a tool for augmenting the flavors of meat — nor would Alta Via necessarily become a meat- eaters paradise. The restaurant would feature “a lot of vegetables, great fish and housemade pasta,” he told me at the announcement of its opening
in January.
Even if you’re a city dweller, you should make the trip out to the burbs for this spot. Why? It’s closer to how we should be eating right now — for our health and for the environment. My big picture takeaway is that Alta Via offers some delicious dishes, and you likely will be treated well.
Outside of that pasta showcase with dishes from $ 13 to $ 27, the menu offers antipasti like a satisfying version of fried calamari with a few fried lemons thrown in, seasoned by a gremolata. The burrata is also a satisfying order, dappled with basil and corn, served with lightly toasted bread. The salads sing, from the Little Gem number with breadcrumbs, Parm and vinaigrette, a reminder that simple is good. And we’re moving into a good time for an heirloom tomato salad riff on a panzanella: this one with stracciatella.
From perfectly cooked baby artichokes to a fine version of beans and greens, the verdura section of the menu is refreshing: It is so great to see a shortlist of enticing vegetable dishes. And while many of them are, I’d skip the eggplant since it’s a bit dry and under- seasoned on the edges. Its center is slathered with Calabrian chiles and a lemon- olive oil- parsley mix that needs recalibration before it’s a home- run dish.
The mains are another story in that they could be on any menu, as is the case in many restaurants these days ( understandably, they have to please the most conservative of diners). Among a pork chop, filet, swordfish and trout, my preference is the chicken. Juicy and satisfying, served with Parmlaced crisp potatoes and leeks, it’s a confident dish. A salmon plate with a grain salad is less so, with the fish tasting like it would have been better a day or two earlier.
Ho- hum mains don’t bother me here, with the rest of the menu so vibrant, an inviting space and good service to boot. On my three or four visits, the rooms were bustling close to 9 p. m. on weekdays. My server did not direct all of her attention to the man at the table, which still happens elsewhere, all the time. Patrons all across the room were taken care of, right down to servers giving tables a number to pick up their leftovers on the way out.
The drinks and desserts are in keeping with the rest of the menu, drawing attention with a Gavi and a Soave or a Pecorino and my favorite, the Friulano. Among reds there’s the requisite Pinot Noir, Barolo and a Super Tuscan as well as a Nero d’Avola and a rogue Aglianico from Basilicata ($ 10 to $ 17 a glass). Craft brews and cocktails are more straightforward, with an Aperol Spritz and a Negroni or Moretti and Peroni brews.
Save room for dessert, steering past the watery zabaglione with bread crumbs as hard as boulders. There’s the elegant olive oil cake and a more decadent tiramisu sundae. But the housemade gelato hits the spot, topped with chocolate shavings, sprinkles or a smattering of pistachios. I’d go for the latter.