The place has a room with bar in front, a little private dining room off to the side and then another room that is offset from the main room. They have these curtains so they can separate it from the main room. The night i was there they were using it for a party.
I'm not sure how long the place has been in this location, but it has a real '80s look to it. It's really tacky. There are like these light fixtures that have like a new york loft skylight detail and then they put a cheap chandelier in them. This run the length of the main room. I guess when they first built the place they had the pot lights that were more recessed, so there is kind of like a cylinder (recessed into the ceiling) and the light is in the cylinder. I guess someone changed their mind and decided to put in some of the new pot lights that are more flush with the ceiling. The only problem with that is that they didn't take out the old pot lights, they just put the new ones in at the end of the cylinder. So they kind of look like these little spot lights. Along the left wall they have these booths that run the whole length of the main room. But they super-sized the seating, so the backs come up really high (like 6-8 feet). The walls have a lot of these mirrors, with no frames. They have some tables in the middle of the room and a more traditional banquette at the back of the main room. I found the banquette to be somewhat cramped. This place is definitely not going to win any design awards, but it is so ugly that is actually worth a look.
The crowd can be best described as white guys in their 40s and 50s with a lot of money and no taste and the women who have sexual relations with them.
There was no back ground music in the main room, but they do play some jazz in the washroom.
The wine list is relatively big. There is quite to pick from. If you're on a budget you're going to forced to pick from the California and Australian and New Zealand stuff for the most part. We had a California Chardonnay that was adequate and an Australian Shiraz that was OK. I think they have a sommelier. I would probably recommend talking to him to get some suggestions.
The menu is Italian. It looks like there is some seasonality to the menu. I've been here before (3 and 5 years ago), the menu each time is really different, so the chef (some hardcore italian guy called massimo) really changes it up. The chef seems like a pleasant enough guy, he worked the room a bit.
To start I shared a couple of things. I had a bit of the crispy artichokes with caponata and then mushroom trifolata. Both of the starters were really light. I was somewhat disappointed with the trifolata. It was supposed to come with a parmigiano tart, but I could hardly taste any parmigiano in the tart. I had someone else taste it and they had the same assessment. They had these lamb ribs as starters, I probably should have had those. They got some favourable comments form someone else at the table.
The mains they are substantially better. This is where the chef's skill is really on display. I had the wild boar agnolotti. This was so good and really rich. It came with the roasting jus as a sauce it was so good. I also had a bit of the wild beet risotto. This is described as classic mistura -- i've had this here before. If you want to see a well executed risotto then have this. Its creamy, and it has these hints of parmigiano and its not too sticky or too runny. It's just the way its supposed to be. All of the pastas and rissotti can be ordered in appetizer or main size. The main sizes are quite big though. This guy does go cheap on the serving sizes.
I didn't go for the any of the meat or fish dishes on the menu -- i was trying to go light. But there is a quite a bit of selection. My sense is that these will be pretty well executed given the two I sampled. Oh and they will be really filling.
The deserts are interesting. He gives them all these italian names. I shared what they call the modernist, which was supposed to be plantain and chocolate. When I got it was like three filled dumplings with chocolate inside. It was pretty good. I order an americano with desert. Like most places in the city, they didn't make it properly. This also indicates that there will be problems with the espresso.
In terms of price. This place is going to really expensive. The starters are generally in the $15-$20 range, the pasta and risotto (main size) are in the $25 range, and the mean and fish mains in the low-$30 to $40 range. Given the price range I would expect the waiters to be all over you, but you don't see a really high standard of service (like you would at Splendido). However, the waiters did seem to be quite knowledgeable when questions. I'd figure dinner with wine would be like $130-$150 per person here.
Overall, the mains (and some of the appetizers) are going to be really good here; but the room and the crowd are going to be incredibly disgusting. But I think that adds to appeal of the place in a weird twisted way. So this kind of place to go if you want to have really good food, but in a completely tacky -- in both a decorative and social sense --setting. That's kind of ironic I suppose. But after you've been there once, there really isn't much reason to go back unless you really enjoy the show. So this place gets a split rating.
Rating:
1 Bunny if its you're first visit
0 bunnies after that
Notes on the Bunny Rating System:
- 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
- 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
- 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
- 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool
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