Quatro Staggione repertoire has no limits

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/11/2001 (8961 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SINCE just about now is when the bills are pouring in, it is also the time I start my annual series of bargain columns. Bills apart, one reason I love writing these columns is because I get to revisit some of my favourites, and Quatro Staggione ranks high among them.

Quattro Staggione 33 University Crescent, 269-8188 •Licenced (out of five)

It’s easy enough to prepare delicious food at top prices, although many restaurants manage not to do so. Delicious food at low, or even moderate prices is more difficult, but many of our family-run ethnic restaurants seem to have the knack and today’s choice falls into that category.

Make no mistake about it though. It may be a little ethnic mom-and-pop operation, but this mom cooked professionally in Europe for several years, and this pop’s constantly expanding repertoire seems to have no limits.

Rifat and wife Senija Medanhodric came here from Bosnia a mere five years ago. Like many immigrants before them, they have done well by doing good, the good being savoury food that is not only expertly prepared, but frequently quite exceptional.

The prices are nothing short of astonishing. Most range from $4.25, which buys grilled marinated boneless chicken with salad and pita, to $11.95 for four fresh (i.e. never frozen) lamb chops with pan-roasted potatoes and salad. Those who have trouble making choices can assemble a sampler platter for two at $17.95 to $19.95.

They make their own fine, chewy pita. They make crocks of sauerkraut, then simmer it for hours in chicken stock, with bits of pork and garlic, to a mellow finish. Their beef cevaps (three kinds, at least) are beautifully seasoned little sausages that manage the neat trick of being both lean and juicy.

Rifat’s latest passion is curing meats – smoked loin of beef, pork and lamb, pancetta bacon and a thin, scarlet garlic sausage that is closer to some semi-dry salamis I’ve had in France than to our local kolbassas. All are excellent, and an appetizer plate – with huge marinated olives, a chunk of feta and a pita – goes for a paltry $2.50 to $4.95, depending on size.

Not everything that’s in the kitchen appears on the menu, or on the wall listings either. It always pays to ask about the daily specials since there is a varying and seemingly ever-increasing number of them.

I didn’t get to the stuffed calamari, which is available on weekends only, but I did have the flavourful spit-roasted leg of lamb that is usually served on Saturdays. Among the various stews (paprikashes, goulashes and such) is a marvellous one of okra with chicken and pork that is finished with a final squirt of lemon.

A lighter and less-rich-than-usual moussaka glazed with sour cream and tender veal schnitzel in sour cream sauce are usually available. I didn’t have a pizza but I did try its cousin, the calcone – their own dough, naturally, with a generous filling of meats, cheese and peppers.

The chicken soup is a marvel and the salads are crisp and nicely dressed. Desserts ($l to $2.55) also vary daily, but there’s always delicious baklava and, for sheer elegance, delicate crepes rolled with jam, walnuts or chocolate sauce.

Coffee mavens who like their brew really, really strong should try the powerful Bosnian version, which comes in a little brass server with a tiny demi-tasse. There are, as well, a few Bosnian and Croatian wines.

Service is friendly and ever-accommodating. No decor, but you won’t mind.