SubscribeDINNER APRIL 27, 2007
Sicilian food is quite different from what we typically think of as Italian. Because of its strategic location in the Mediterranean, Sicily has been subject to sporadic invasion throughout its history and the influence of its Greek, Arab, Roman and Norman conquerors is seen in the varied ingredients and techniques that make it one of Italy’s most unique regional cuisines. My JJ and I have been planning a trip to the island in May, so when Caffe Della Posta received positive reviews in two separate publications within the space of a week, we thought it would be an interesting amuse-bouche to our vacation. Boy, were we wrong.
The Caffe Della Posta has a nice rustic bistro look accented by a little marble, brass trim on the bar and an imposing buffet at the back of the room. The tables are squeezed together tightly and, in the dimly-lit full room, created a pleasant tratorria ambiance as waiters whished by with baskets of bread, plates of pasta and bottles of wine.
The amuse-bouche, a little square of foccacia with baby tomato, was not terrible but had the taste of overleavened pizza dough, and was followed by a bread basket featuring slices of a sesame baguette and twisted anise breadsticks served with olive oil. The olive oil as well as the anise breadstick, which I suspect is made on the premises were both very good. The olive oil had a nice mouthfeel and a deep grassy note but was not helped by the sesame baguette which was dry, mealy and damn near inedible.
The wine list was a little disappointing as we were hoping to see more Sicilan wines (Malvasia from the Esoli islands!). There were a few but with so many restaurants offering a wide range of privately imported wines these days we would have liked to see a few more wines that are not available at the SAQ. We settled on the 2004 Donafugatta nero d’avola (Sicily), which was quite good although a little dry for my tastes.
We ordered three antipasti: polpette di sardi, a kind of of anchovy croquette; calamari in spicy tomato sauce and a baked mozzarella and eggplant dish . The polpette di sardi were small, overprocessed and tasted like a poor crab cake; they were served with a non-descript tomato sauce and a tumble of salad with a dressing that lacked acidity. Ideally, this dish is made with roughly cut fish made into round balls. These flat cakes looked like they’d spent 10 minutes on liquify in the Cuisinart and were my biggest disappointment of the evening. The calamari, which was well cooked and served in a spicy but still quite ordinary sauce, fared a little better. The baked eggplant and mozzarella had a mushy consistency and the flavor of the ingredients did not come through well at all. No homeruns here.
The pasta that was floating past us looked quite good and we were hopeful that it would be a step up from the antipasti. I ordered linguine with bottarga and the JJ had the linguini con pesto trapanese (a version of pesto made with basil, tomatoes and almonds. The linguine with bottarga was tasteless; I added the olive oil that was leftover from the bread to try to squeeze a little life out of the roe; finally I gave up and started heaping parmesan into my dish to try to give it a little flavour. Really too bad as this is a delicate dish to which parmesan should not be added. The JJ never eats as quickly as me so I went for a bite of the linguine con pesto trapanese thinking it would be better given that it had a sauce. No dice. It was just as bland as my dish had been. Almost as if they had forgotten to put salt in the water when cooking the pasta. And who ever heard of pesto with no taste?
My rule is that if I haven’t eaten anything good by the time dessert rolls around, I’m not dropping another $15 to prolong the pain . We asked for the bill before our pasta plates had been picked up. Normally this would make me uncomfortable but the service was less than charming and we weren’t too worried about breaking our waiter’s heart.
Caffe Della Posta
361 Bernard W.
514.495.8258
Total bill: $110 with tip.
Rating: One Star. I’m not going back unless someone else is paying and even then, I’m pushing to go elsewhere.
