Pizza perfection

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/06/2017 (3269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Pizzeria Gusto, a popular River Heights destination since 2008, clearly didn’t need a big overhaul. A frequent fixture on Canada-wide best-of lists, the venue has recently undergone a slight expansion and a smart new interior redesign. At the same time, Jesse Friesen, who’s been head chef for over a year now, has tweaked the menu just a little while remaining true to the resto’s original mission — serving up some of the city’s best wood-fired pizza alongside modern takes on classic Italian cooking.

Calgary-based Frank Architecture, a young firm gaining a national name in restaurant design, is behind the new room, which has been planned with exquisite care to look elegantly nonchalant. There’s a mix of upholstered benches, chairs and tables, with high stools along the bar and another bank of seating looking out onto the street. The final effect is less like a formal restaurant and more like someone’s very cool dining room. And I would gladly take home the felted moss-green chairs and several of the ’70s-style Italian light fixtures.

On top of the wide-ranging all-Italian wine list, the resto now offers hip — and pricey — cocktails, several relying on Italian aperitivo. The Al Fresco mixes the earthy, herby bitterness of Cynar with grapefruit juice and simple syrup for a fresh, sharp kick. The Spritz — you can specify Aperol or Campari — is light and lively, and the bartenders recently celebrated Negroni Week with three variations, named after staff members and given almost comically specific descriptions. (The Josh is “like cosying up to a campfire,” our server suggested, which sounded unlikely but was, in fact, an apt summary for a drink that finished with a warm, smoky aftertaste.)

The pizza is gorgeous, the crust thin and tender with a bit of chew and the toppings coming together in complementary but sometimes unexpected combinations. The Lucia’s fig jam, caramelized onion and gorgonzola are topped with a salad’s worth of citrus-kissed arugula. The Sinatra is old-school with a little swagger, its tomato sauce, prosciutto, artichokes and mozzarella finished with egg.

For the primi course, calamari is stuffed with sausage and house-made ricotta and covered with an intense, winey tomato sauce that holds a bit of heat from preserved chilies. Brussels sprouts hit the sweet spot between tender and crisp, with a spicy undertone from chili oil and some texture from a dusting of bread crumbs.

An antipasto plate features cured meats, including transparently thin slices of prosciutto on one night, a trio of imported cheeses, some mixed olives marinated with orange rind, and rather adorably small pickled onions, but it felt a little skimpy.

The raccolata — a salad of baby kale — radish and ricotta is dressed in a white balsamic vinaigrette with a delicate hand, but the roasted cauliflower that anchors it is disappointingly bland. Gusto’s ingenious take on Caesar salad is a winner, though — its romaine heart barely charred, smeared with a garlicky dressing that’s unafraid of anchovies and finished with crisped swirls of thin pancetta.

Spaghetti with meatballs is good, though not quite, “OMG, good.” Gnudi, on the other hand, are absolutely brilliant, the light ricotta dumplings beautifully browned and matched with braised beef, preserved eggplant and an egg yolk cooked so perfectly that the lightest tap sees it oozing out to meld the flavours.

Lobster risotto, intensely rich and creamy, contains resolute chunks of lobster meat, though the broth comes close to overpowering the dish’s delicate flavours.

The dessert menu is short but sweet. A dense, moist, flat Italian cake is offset with a schmear of lemon curd and honeycomb brittle. The sublimely smooth chocolate budino tart is served with a drizzle of fruity olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a quenelle of whipping cream. And the reputation of tiramisu — which too often is a bad restaurant cliché, sodden and podgy — is totally rehabilitated here, with distinct layers that alternate boozy intensity with the richness of mascarpone, all garnished with fat curls of deeply dark chocolate.

Pizzeria Gusto has fine-tuned its menu for 2017 with authentic ingredients and some full, robust flavours. The commitment follows through right down to that last course. You can finish your night with a resentin, which involves downing a demitasse of espresso and then rinsing out the almost empty cup with a punchy shot of grappa. Perfect!

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca