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J. Tillman at the Mohawk - Giveaway
Hey Folks, this post is by future contributor Karin L. Kross.
We love Italian food -- one of the (very small) handful of things we missed about Houston was the ready availability of quality Italian restaurants -- but we're embarrassed to admit that we've never tried Vespaio. We have, however, sampled the goods at the new Enoteca Vespaio, and pronounce our need for good Italian food to be well-satisfied.
An enoteca, according to our friend who lived in Italy for a year, is traditionally a wine bar that serves small plates, antipasti, and the like -- essentially an Italian tapas bar. Enoteca Vespaio has adjusted the concept to the American market; the menu also features hot appetizers, salads, panini, pizza, and pasta. There's also a mini-market that features an array of Italian specialty foods (olive oils, pastas, balsamic vinegars, and things far more obscure), and best of all, you can get antipasti and desserts to go. As far as we can tell, the only significant menu overlap between Vespaio and the Enoteca is in the pasta department. For the most part, Enoteca Vespaio is a more casual dining experience, not to mention a somewhat less expensive one, than Vespaio.
The first time we went, we tried the suppli (small risotto cakes, stuffed with fontina cheese, deep-fried, and served in spicy arabbiata sauce) and the salsiccia pizza. The suppli were delicious, cheesy little flavor bites, and surprisingly light; and the pizza ... well, it was one of the best we've ever tried. The crust is light and crispy, with just the right amount of chewiness; the sauce and cheese are skilfully applied; and the Italian sausage is fantastic.
We went back a week later, this time with our Italian-knowledgeable friend, and sampled some of the vegetarian antipasti options. We recommend the marinated mushrooms wholeheartedly, as well as the agrodolce cipollini onions. We've yet to try any of the charcuterie, but they buy from the right companies -- Molinari and Niman Ranch -- and so we've no doubt that they're good. Our friend is a little sorry that they didn't have a feature of the enoteche she had frequented in Italy: a cheese plate, which would have featured three or so cheeses, some good honey, and fruit preserves. (That, however, was her only complaint.)
We also tried some pasta dishes, and give an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the super-flavorful penne puttanesca and to the rich-but-not-murderously-so tagliatelle in the truffled cream sauce. Both come in portions that a person of normal appetite can handle, which is a welcome exception to the usual laws of excess that seem to govern the serving of pasta in this country.
The wine list is short, but well-selected; there's a good sampling of Italian and French wines, red and white, in a moderate price range. We recommend the Ruvei Barbera d'Alba if you're into reds; for white wines, we liked a Friulian pinot grigio, the name of which we forgot to write.
We're starting to run out of superlatives here, so let's just say that the desserts we sampled are all really good. The tiramisu is light and tasty, not the soggy cliche that you get at most American restaurants; the lemon panna cotta is creamy and not too sweet; and the cannoli are excellent, although opinions were divided on the presence of the pistachios. No matter how full you are by the end of the meal, however, you owe it to yourself to buy a couple of the amaretti on the way out: these almond cookies are positively divine.
Enoteca Vespaio is open from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and a sign on the door indicates that they'll be opening for Sunday brunch this weekend. It's located right next door to the original Vespaio, in the space that used to house Rock 'N' Roll Rentals, at 1612 South Congress Ave.
(Oh, and if you order the taleggio cheese and mushroom pizza, people will stare. Because you can smell the taleggio halfway across the restaurant. We also asked the bartenders if very many people order the lardo pizza. "Not enough," they said. If you're up to the challenge, please sample it, and let us know how you like it. We are famously omnivorous, but our dining companions occasionally balk.)
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I haven't been there in years but Vespaio was great the last time I went. The bar section was always packed back then. I just haven't had the occasion to go back since it's a wee bit pricey (good, but pricey). Nice to hear there's another Italian place to check out. I've always lamented the fact that Austin doesn't have better Italian food. Actually any food besides bbq, asian buffets and fried velveeta wrapped in tortillas would be nice but I digress.
Does this place have the same owners as Vespaio? And is it faux pas to print the prices for the dishes y'all review here on Austinist?
i was going to write about this place. it is deloosh. bitch, i hate you. love, matthew
OOPS! Sorry, Karin, I though ALison beat me to this punch. Welcome aboard, i take it all back. Anyway, that is a general term of endearment not an aspersion, so i hope we can still be friends. Vespaio is the best italian food in town, btw.
It's the same owners. They just got done expanding and adding Enoteca to the original restaurant about a month ago.
sounds amazing but are the staff here as rude as they are at vespaio?
No problems at all with the staff at Enoteca, actually -- they all seemed very helpful and pleasant.
odam: no offence taken. :)
sean: Alison hasn't mentioned anything about prices, and I'd have put them in if I'd actually, you know, written them down. Oops. I do recall, though, that a meal for two consisting of pizza, an appetizer, and a glass of wine (one of the two had water) was about $40.
I had the opportunity to eat here the other day for lunch and was very pleased. The nice cafe atmosphere it has is pretty rare in Austin, and the food was delish. Our server was great, so the company card left her a nice tip. The lunch crowd filled the place - so get there early.
ive never thought the staff rude!