Via del Corso
INSIDE BERKELEY’S NEW, PANDEMIC-BORN
What will you remember most about your first fine dining experience of 2021? Mine was indoors. The tables were so close together I could count the bubbles in my neighbor’s prosecco and the general manager, a bald and beaming Italian, gave out more hugs than a preschool teacher. It was exhilarating.
If, like me, you had the pleasure of dining at a pandemic-born restaurant like Via del Corso, a new, intimate, 49-seat trattoria in North Berkeley, you will also linger on the restaurant’s limoncello-out-of-lemons story more than the not-quite-warm tagliatelle or delayed gelato. Though I’m still swooning over the ravioli.
Owner-executive chef Peter Chastain saved this beloved neighborhood bistro, formerly called Corso, and it saved him, too. The financial strain of the pandemic forced his friends, then-owners Wendy Brucker and Roscoe Skipper, to close in November after 12 years. Four months earlier, Chastain had shuttered his own Italian restaurant, Prima in Walnut Creek, for the same reason.
In some ways, Via del Corso is Prima 2.0. Chastain has brought with him several Prima staffers, including chef de cuisine Massimo Orlando, with whom he cooked for 18 years, and that jovial GM, Marco Penitenti, who was at Prima for eight. They’re doing handmade pastas, braised dishes and the kind of spot-on antipasti you would expect given the team and history.
Was everything perfect? No. Via del Corso opened when California did — June 15 — and is still working out the kinks. But the food was fresh and delicious, even transportive, and the service abundantly warm. Alfresco dining is coming, too. Here’s everything you need to know.
THE VIBE >> Upscale, celebratory and loud, like throat-scratchy-the-next-morningfrom-shouting loud. The lighting is dim and romantic. Framed old Corso menus line the wood-paneled walls. There is a corner bar on the left and a small open kitchen on the right. The dining room, filled with two- and four-tops, is an even mix of former Corso patrons and Prima diners who have hoofed it from Walnut Creek to show their support. Via del Corso is currently very busy. Reservations after 5:30 p.m. or
before 8 p.m. are hard to come by, even a week out, so plan ahead.
THE FOOD >> Where Corso was known for Tuscan cuisine, Via del Corso — named for the boulevard that runs through Rome — doesn’t stick to one region of Italy. Some old favorites remain on the menu, with subtle changes.
Orlando is from EmiliaRomagna, where pasta is made with a bit more egg, so you may notice a textural difference. We loved the handmade ravioli, which are filled with the most juicy and savory boneless short rib meat simmered for six hours. The ravioli ($25) is topped with soffrito and red wine brown butter, sage and sugo di carne.
Bisteca alla Fiorentina, a grilled Painted Hills prime porterhouse steak ($58), is cut thicker now, but still served medium rare. And fans of Corso’s Budino al Cioccolato ($13), a chocolate pudding cake, and pollo alla Sostanza ($24), a Mary’s chicken breast basted in brown butter with lemon ($24), will find them unchanged.
The piatto del giorno, or dish of the day, was a garden-fresh wild arugula salad ($14) layered with sliced yellow peaches, Gorgonzola and balsamic vinaigrette, a perfect summer starter alongside the Bocconcini ($8) I’ll be replicating at home: Oil-cured, not-toosalty anchovies skewered with plump sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella balls. Buy the good, imported stuff, Penitenti told me when he saw me swooning, it makes a big difference.
THE DRINKS >> A thoughtful cocktail program offering both low-proof, amaro-based drinks and spirit-led selections, like The Ruse ($13), made with bourbon, lemon, sherry, honey, orange bitters and an amaro called Averna. My favorite was the Via del Corso Spritz ($12), which features prosecco, soda and Cappelletti instead of traditional Aperol, I was told, for a lessweighty spritz. Very true. Also: A focused Italian wine list with most selections available by the glass for $11-$17.
DON’T MISS >> That legendary chocolate pudding cake with caramel sauce and fresh whipped cream ($13), though we capped our meal off with the most flavorful, decadent salted caramel gelato ever ($7 per scoop). It comes from Alberto Malvestio’s Almare Gelato, down the street and open until 9 p.m. most nights.
DETAILS >> Reservations recommended. Parklet coming in late July or early August. Open 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and until 10 p.m. FridaySaturday at 1788 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley; www. viadelcorso.net.