There’s a lot of drama at Vinizza
THE NEW DOWNTOWN LOCATION has an upper-middle-class feel, but the pizzas and pastas are as accessible as ever
When Vinizza opened at Jean Talon Market in 2008, it was a smart proposition. Little Italy wasn’t exactly hurting for Italian restaurants, but this one was bright and fresh, and doing things just a little differently. With its osteria-enoteca for mat, it was too glossy to be the rustic mom-and-pop trattoria and a little too pricey for everyday eating, but it managed to be classy and accessible at the same time. Its ambitions seem to have edged up from middle-range to upper-middle-range, but it remains a welcome addition to the area.
In the fall of 2011, the same team launched Vinizza downtown – another restaurant expanding westward, as did L’académie and La Montée de Lait (now defunct). And with the move to the commercial core, the pressure is on. Cue ’90s workout expressions, like pump you up, take it to the next level, hi-nrg, feel the burn (okay, that was my mum’s Jane Fonda workout tape from the ’80s).
Definitely, there’s a lot of drama in the Dolce Vita-inspired decor at Vinizza on Metcalfe. Blown-up portraits of cinema luminaries, such as Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren and Giulietta Masina (object of my longstanding girl crush), line the walls. It’s all glittery in pomodoro and pink, moody backlighting, angular arrangements of wine bottles and a red Vespa mounted behind the bar. This is Italian glam, citta style.
Like the first location, much of the menu appeals, and we started in on a bottle of Frappato while we looked through it. To start, the decision was a salad of farro, barley and beans. The chewy texture of farro – an ancestor of modern wheat, it’s what sustained the Roman legions in ancient times – can’t be beat, and it was lovely with the barley. The soft, pale cannellini beans didn’t offer much interest or contrast. We also got a serving of huge meatballs coated in splashy red tomato sauce, and they were better – and possibly even bigger – than the ones I remember from the original Vinizza.
Mains are divided into pizza, pasta and meat. The pies range from $13 to $18, a little more for pasta and the short list of fish, veal and steak peek over $20.
The pizza was pretty damn fabulous. When a dish is so immediate, simplicity really does rule. Delivered hot out of the wood-stoked oven, the Romana was a case in point. Each of the ingredients shone: a tiny filet of anchovy on every wedge, set off against the bright tomato sauce, patches of melty mozzarina cheese and a rosette of basil leaves in the centre. The bottom line was, of course, the crust. And this one had the wow factor: it was a lively thing, with blisters and bubbles, elastic and crisp, tasting of fresh, yeasty doughiness.
I love mushrooms on pizza, so we got a Funghetti, despite the mention of truffle oil. Fortunately, it was just a whiff – to me, it’s sort of like culinary cologne: a little goes a long way, and more often than not, it’s just tacky. The crust delivered again, although the toppings on this entry didn’t lift off as high.
The pasta selection entices with homemade preparations like pumpkin-stuffed ravioli and pici with boar ragu. Orecchiette is on the rarer spectrum: a specialty of Puglia, the indented discs, as the name suggests, are shaped like little ears. I liked the texture of the rounds, and the rapini they were tossed with. I didn’t love the saltiness of the sausage, though, and I thought the grape tomatoes unnecessary. (But I enjoyed this dish more than my companion: Bringing an Italian from Italy to an Italian restaurant in Canada is always difficult; we got a trea- tise on the correct way to prepare orecchiette – the cooking liquid from the veg should be ladled in, gradually, almost as you would risotto.)
For the purposes of sheer gluttony, we shared a dense cheese pie for dessert. Nice enough, but I think a spot of limoncello or an amaro would’ve done us better.
The food was enjoyable, the pizza expert, but I wasn’t sure it suited the room or how much the room suited me. (This place could go fine or casual dining – either way, the $22 lunch seems like a good deal. And, speaking of cost, the purchase of each main course goes to sponsoring a meal for someone at Accueil Bonneau.)
I just wished the experience were more cool and low-key. The bar-height seating that leaves toes swinging above the floor, the Italian-style Ricky Martin music, the tragically nervous waitress and the water in wine glasses, all no-nos for me. It felt more precarious than relaxed, although there is considerable charm and care under the surface. Vinizza has some good pizza, it doesn’t need to work so hard to impress.