Mom's Day at Campagnolo

I’ve been trying to take my mom to Campagnolo for months now, but she’s always vetoed me at the last minute, usually in favour of something closer to home. Well this time, for Mom’s Day, I decided to surprise her (along with my stepdad) and brought her there for a late brunch. Eager for a chance to do a second review. When we arrived at 12:30, the restaurant was serving lunch as well. Between the three of us, we knew that we’d be having at least one pasta and a pizza. The third dish stumped us, and we resolved our differences by ordering two pastas! I had tried the Tagliarini just a few weeks ago, but have not tried the second pasta, the Arlecchino pasta sheets with sausage & kale. I knew what pizza to order too, the Margherita, but it seemed just a touch on the plain side, so we ordered it with prosciutto on top.
Both my parents had a coffee to start, and both commented on the richness of the flavour and body. They were shocked to not get a refill though, oh well, but they would probably be buzzing after any more of those.

We were given a plate of chili flakes, along with some dried oregano (?) and shredded parmesan cheese. It’s perfect for people like me who love to spice things up and to play with my food. It wasn’t long before the pizza came out, still piping hot from the oven. The thin slices of prociutto just blended perfectly into the cheese.

All conversation stopped as we munched on this slice of yumminess. My mom said that the crust was perfect…thin and crispy on the bottom to support the topppings, but the edge had a very satisfying mouth-feel. The cheese and tomato sauce blended together nicely, and the prosciutto gave the whole pie an extra zing of salty kick.
Just as we were polishing up the last of the pizza, the Tagliarini and Arlecchino pasta sheets arrived. I LOVE their Tagliarini. As the waiter said, this has been on the menu since they opened and it will stay on there menu forever. I had ordered the full portions of both pastas, because I remembered the half portion was nowhere near enough for me, and to have to share with my parents, nuh-uh. I love the texture of properly done fresh pasta. Add that together with a pork ragu that stands right up to the noodles, you know you have a good marriage. The generous sprinkling of finely grated parmesan cheese was appreciated too. For a non-meat-craver such as my mom, she loved the proportion of the meat to noodle ratio. I, could have used more ragu, but then again, I’m a carnivore at heart.

The Arlecchino sheets were amazing too. Perfect little diamond shaped sheets with sharp edges. The fennel sausage was mildly flavoured, so that fennel lover (mom) could taste it, but not so strong that a fennel hater (me) would spit it out. Despite the listing fennel in the description, I knew I was going to order this because of the perfect pasta accompanying it. Both my parents were pleased that there was some kale thrown into the mix, to make it a little lighter and healthier. Because the pastas arrived when we were still eating the pizza, we made the mistake of allowing the pasta to cool. I found the sheets clumped together a bit when I tried to serve them; the sheets had to be pried apart to be shared. That said, I was delighted that the sheets stood up to my prying them apart, I didn’t get any torn sheets or sheets that refused to part.

We’re not usually dessert people, but decided to have something sweet this time, just so my mom could have another cup of coffee. We ordered the Biscotti, Meringue and Cookies dessert. There were fennel biscotti, hazelnut cookies, and shortbread as well. The little white meringues are about the smallest I’ve seen, but still light and airy. As I said, I’m not a huge fan of fennel, but it works in a biscotti…there were definitely fennel seeds here!

I was intrigued by something on the menu called Resentin. I had never heard of this before, and had to ask the waiter what it was. 

So you start with a strong espresso, to which you add a little bit of brown raw sugar. Give it a quick stir and drink as usual. Once you are near the bottom of your cup, you pour the grappa shot (0.5 oz only) into the espresso cup and you stir again, before drinking it quickly. I convinced my stepdad to have one with me. I had the espresso & ½ oz. Grappa di Brunello and he had the espresso & ½ oz. Grappa di Prosecco.

Our parting gift was a small package of macaroons for mom (and luckily, a small package for me too). Can’t wait to try the salty caramel one. We also received a gift certificate to ReFuel for brunch…time to check out that menu now…