Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
1091 Bank St., 613-730-5672, antipazzo.com
Open: weekday lunches 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., dinners nightly from 5 to 10 p.m.
Prices: antipasti $4 to $19, pastas $14 to $19, mains $21 to $32
Access: small step to front door
When Taylor’s Genuine Food and Wine Bar closed in January, a colleague who lives down the street got her hopes up regarding its successor.
“The neighbourhood has pubs coming out of its ears,” she told me. What Old Ottawa South needed, she said, was a slightly fancier but still affordable place — Taylor’s was fine, if pricey — where she could treat a houseguest to a nice, memorable meal out.
In the last week, I’ve been twice to Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine, which in early March replaced Taylor’s at Bank Street and Sunnyside Avenue, and it goes a way toward satisfying my colleague and me as a go-to neighbourhood option. But there’s room for improvements too.
The most attractive and value-rich items, I’ve found, were usually smaller and simpler, pleasingly accompanied with a glass of something from Antipazzo’s well-stocked and informative wine list. Indeed, oenophiles should be pleased that Antipazzo’s owner and sommelier, Tony Irace, commendably makes all of his wines, from very affordable Ontario-made choices that Irace buys by the keg to deluxe, splurge-worthy Italian bottles, available as three- and five-ounce pours.
But we’ve also been somewhat let down — not drastically, but repeatedly — by some of the more ambitious dishes from Antipazzo’s open, from-scratch kitchen, which is helmed by chef Christopher St. Aubin, who has cooked at Salt Dining and Lounge and before that, at Taylor’s itself, under its namesake owner-chef John Taylor.
The 10 items that I’ve tried from Antipazzo’s menus have been a mix of the almost wowing and more pedestrian.
Meals have gotten off on the right foot with complimentary house-made bread dipped in peppery olive oil or the sweeter alternative of the kitchen’s pear-citrus vinaigrette.
House-made bread with olive oil and pear-citrus vinaigrette at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
After that, several of Antipazzo’s smaller plates made us happy. The salad ($9) of slow-roasted tomatoes that burst with warmth and flavour, pesto and balsamic-drizzled cheese, was a winner with every bite, as were crostini ($9) topped with rich, unctuous duck mousse or eggplant spread and Grey Owl goat’s cheese. Expertly grilled vegetables ($7) were optimally textured and generously portioned, and Irace bolstered them table-side with a drizzle of artisanal balsamic. Tuna crudo ($19), which benefitted from a citrus cure, the bite of pickled mustard seeds, and a spoon of lemony smoked salt, went down very easily, although it did seem, like a few other dishes, a touch over-priced.
Roasted tomato salad at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
Crostini with duck mousse and eggplant mousse with Grey Owl cheese at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
Grilled vegetables at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
Tuna crudo at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
The only starter that did little for us was an arancino (deep-fried rice ball, studded with cured meat and topped with tomato sauce) whose flavours and heaviness disappointed.
Arancino at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
Of five pastas, I can weigh in on two. Well-made spaghetti carbonara, garnished with a raw quail egg, ($12 at lunch, or $14/$18 at dinner) provided the necessary indulgent satisfactions. We were glad to see tagliatelle with duck ragu ($14/$18 at dinner) on the menu, but the house-made, al dente noodles impressed more than the sauce, which seemed to want for more brightness, herbaceousness or complexity.
Spaghetti carbonarra at Antipazzo
Duck tagliatelle at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
The best main course that hit our table was a seared piece of Arctic char ($28). While this daily special might not have been the first piece of fish you’d think of when you think of Italy, it was moist and crisp-skinned, and its accompanying polenta was rich and creamy. On another plate, the helping of polenta outshone the bison osso buco ($32) which, while flavourful, could have been more tender. At lunch, wild boar stew ($14, $23 at dinner) had well-developed flavour but was a touch too salty, and this time, the too-cool polenta lacked creaminess.
Arctic char at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
Bison osso buco at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
Wild boar stew with polenta at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
To its credit, Antipazzo offered a half-dozen or so desserts, but our full bellies allowed us to sample just two — a lemon tart that could have dialed down its sweetness a bit and a pear crumble that was quite tasty but looked like it had been dropped on the plate.
Lemon tart at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
Pear crumble at Antipazzo Italian Plates and Wine
In general, the plating of Antipazzo’s more involved dishes could have been more clean and elegant, especially in keeping with the white tablecloths and Irace’s polished but friendly demeanour.
Antipazzo is a narrow space that holds 30 or so people at a front section, a line of tables along a wall and a bar that harkens back to the coffee shop that predated Taylor’s. The smells of a working kitchen do waft into the dining area now and again. A grey slate wall is a classy touch, and otherwise white walls with framed wine labels stand out. The music here could have been better and quieter.
“I want to like it,” my colleague said of Antipazzo after we’d eaten there. But she’ll withhold her full endorsement until the meals here are as striking as the wines. I’d agree that Irace and his team have this goal to shoot for.
phum@postmedia.com
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