Fabulous Amici has perfection in its sights

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/10/2006 (6969 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HEINZ Kattenfeld has been gone for several years now, but his legacy lingers on — at Tavern in the Park and at Amici, both of which, under his personally trained disciples, remain among the city’s most distinguished restaurants.

The ambiance at Amici seems little changed since his departure, a softly lit, vaguely art deco setting, with intimate areas created by etched glass partitions and a few creamy coloured columns.

But (readers ask) what about the food? The answer is still delicious, although longtime patrons may notice that the choices are fewer than in previous years, and that some of those that remain may be less ambitious in scope. For me, for instance, the vanished marinated salmon tartare would have been more appealing than its replacement, the far less challenging smoked salmon.

Still, one can’t review a restaurant on the basis of what it doesn’t serve, and most of what Amici does serve is excellent. One of the best appetizers is a holdover from the past, big, moist grilled scallops paired with a soufflé of roasted red peppers ($11.95). Another starter, however, was a surprising letdown — mussels all arrabiata ($9.25), in a lively tomato broth dotted by olives, capers and bits of pancetta, every component of which was delicious, except for the mussels themselves, which were flabby and flavourless.

As one who must soldier her way through several courses, I’m particularly grateful for the enlightened policy (not printed on the menu — you have to ask) of serving generous half-portions of pasta, as long as they form part of a meal, a policy that enabled me to sample two pastas instead of one.

Gone, alas, are such interesting choices as pappardelle with bison ragout, or ravioli stuffed with lamb sausage, but the two I did try were lovely: soothingly chewy gnocchi, baked with chunks of spicy Italian sausage and asiago ($16.75) — a robust, peasanty kind of dish; and, for more aristocratic tastes, saffron linguine with both grilled and smoked salmon, sprinkled with caviar and bathed in creme fraiche ($18).

The other main courses I sampled were also impeccably prepared. A veal chop is one of my acid tests — frequently overcooked to dryness, or, almost as often, undercooked (just to be on the safe side) to — in my opinion — an unacceptable pink. Not here, where the costoletto alla toscana — stuffed with a mixture of celery, onions and parmesan — was pale, tender and moist, cooked to the precise second for doneness, and beautifully garnished with tiny green beans mixed with roasted tomatoes ($35).

Equally excellent were grilled breast of duck in a sweet and sour cherry sauce ($25) and gorgeous little lamb chops, grilled exactly as rare as requested, and bathed in a slightly sweet, only slightly tomato-y sauce, sprinkled with pine nuts, although the latter, to my mind, tasted intrusive ($28). The garnish of goat cheese topped mushroom also seemed discordant.

Other possible pastas range from a simple spaghetti putanesca with tomato sauce, black olives and capers ($16.50) to fettuccini with grilled medallions of beef and lobster tail in a rose sauce ($27). Also among the main courses: pine nut-crusted sea bass ($32), grilled salmon with crabmeat and grilled asparagus ($29), beef tenderloin with gratin potatoes ($34) and chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and basil ($25).

Although each entree was garnished by its own specific vegetables, another little plate came on the side, usually with tiny potatoes and sweet-and-sour red cabbage, plus others which varied from night to night — all good (except for one night’s dreadful boiled-tasting mushrooms), but more than was needed. And, with all dishes, a basket of terrific house-made breads.

Dinner can still finish with Joanna’s wonderful chocolate poppyseed cake.

Also with one of the best, most perfect conclusions to a full course Italian meal that I have found — a meringue that melts on the tongue, layered with lemon curd and raspberry cream (and the occasional blueberry), that manages to be somehow, simultaneously, both sumptuous and light.

Service is impressively polished, polite and attentive.

marion.warhaft@freepress.mb.ca

Dining Out

Amici

326 Broadway, 943-4997

Licensed

Wheelchair access

5 stars out of five