Tradition rules here
Da Santino Ristorante focuses on homestyle pizza and pastas,
While Da Santino Ristorante has been open for three years, in some respects it seems like an eatery that has been time-warped into the present from several decades ago.
That’s not a dig at the eatery’s ambience or upkeep. Located in a Merivale Road strip mall, the restaurant seats 80 or so people, in connected rooms that feel cosy and partitioned. At night, Da Santino favours a dimly lit atmosphere, brightened by candles on taupe tablecloths and the fireplace channel on the stone accent wall’s television. On other walls, there are photos of the young Santino Zacconi, the chef and owner here, marking his birthday and of Venice’s canals and gondolas. Empty wine bottles and flowers decorate mantels. The reassuring sounds of chopping and the rustle of pans emanate from the kitchen.
Nor was it just the vintage easy listening sounds of Rod Stewart, Lionel Richie, Player and the Bee Gees that were making me nostalgic during one of my recent dinners, although the tunes helped. It was the menu, too, which offers greatest hits of a classic and casual ItalianCanadian kind.
Here, the time-honoured pastas, veal dishes and pizza (thick-crusted, of course) rule. Go elsewhere for more recent Italian culinary imports such as house-cured meats, crudo preparations and olive oil and balsamic vinegar for one’s bread. There are, however, glutenfree pizza and pasta options that attest to more recent dining-out thinking.
During three visits, we had mixed reactions to the unfussy, homestyle fare on our plates, finding that some dishes delivered good flavour and value, while others would have made us happier with some tweaking in the kitchen or at the cash register.
If an Italian restaurant stands or falls on its tomato sauce, then Da Santino passes the test. Slathered on chicken parmigiana or spaghetti pomodoro, or bolstered with meat in the restaurant’s lasagna, the house sauce was bright and vibrant.
Among some starters, there were strong and weak points. We wished for more homemade broth flavour from the tortellini in brodo, but the ricotta-filled tortellini were tender and tasty. Arancini (fried rice balls) came with that commendable zesty tomato sauce and a crisp, ungreasy exterior, but their interiors were mushy and the ham and peas hidden inside tasted of very little.
Among the pastas, a special spicy seafood linguine was a winner — meaty crab legs played an MVP role. Penne primavera, nicely al dente, boasted nicely seasoned, properly cooked vegetables. Both bountiful plates yielded leftovers.
Less pleasing were the somewhat gummy gnocchi, although their smooth Gorgonzola sauce had good blue-cheese bite.
Da Santino’s pizzas are large, rectangular slabs, more focaccia than pie, and they’re easily shared. We asked for a half-margherita, halfSantino’s special (grilled chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, goat and mozzarella cheese), and were happily accommodated. In the end, it was all right but nothing special in the taste and texture departments.
Veal scaloppine had been thoroughly pricked by a tenderizer and blanketed in a thickened lemony piccata sauce. Our table’s diner with an older palate liked it. I was less keen on a plate of veal alla fiorentina, which was overwhelmed visually and taste-wise by a mound of melted cheese, under which the meat was flavourless and too tough. On both plates, the accompanying vegetables, sautéed with garlic, were plentiful and freshly prepared.
Of the two Da Santino desserts I’ve tried, I’d pick the big, sweet helping of tiramisu over the toocrunchy cannoli filled with ricotta that needed more sweetness. Actually, the well-made short espresso with an amaretto cookie would have been a fine and sufficient meal-closer all by itself.