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WHEN WE CLOSE the books on this decade, "local" and "organic" will rest as the top food themes. But their quiet cousin, "authentic," has played a strong supporting role. Though the term is drooping from overuse, I'm eager to watch one North Berkeley team revive it with the opening of Corso.
Rivoli owners Wendy Brucker and Roscoe Skipper are set to open their Florentine trattoria on Shattuck by the end of the month. They were set to open today until hitting an unexpected permit snag.
The concept is to offer the best in casual, authentic, Florentine food, based on their half-dozen favorite trattorias there. "We are doing a real Tuscan trattoria," says Brucker. "That feels fun and important." Corso replaces flash in the pan Misto Italian Bistro.
They've hired chef Elaine Rivera, an Arkansas native who moved to the Bay Area eight years ago and worked at Oliveto for six of them. She, too, is drawn to the sincerity of the Florentine menu. "This type of food has a very specific direction," she says. "It is what I am about: simple, straightforward, and skill-driven." Her home kitchen has been in overdrive, as she researches and perfects recipes such as a classic soup, aquacotta with bruschetta and a poached egg.
Rarely has a menu reading left me this eager for an opening. Brucker highlights the Pasta al Sugo and Bistecca alla Fiorentina for two. I'm equally drawn to the bocconcini with ricotta, parmiggiano
Brucker spent a good chunk of time in Florence as a child. Her father, Gene Brucker, specializes in Florentine history as a professor emeritus at Cal.
On a recent visit to Florence, Brucker took her dining particularly seriously as she prepped for Corso's opening. She sat near the kitchen at her favorite trattorias to watch the chefs at work. At a dinner party, she talked sugo (sauce) with a 10th century historian, eventually drawing from him the technique and ingredients of his family's recipe.
"It takes four hours to make it," Brucker says of the sugo. "It is very labor-intensive and it has a very specific taste." She's convinced it is worth the wait. "At the third hour, it's like, oh my God."
Framed menus from the owners' favorite Florentine restaurants line the walls. They, too, are authentic with red wine rings and olive oil stains. The dining room feels comfortable with warm colors, a communal table and a newly opened kitchen.
Skipper and Brucker have been a winning team at Rivoli. Brucker is the chef and Skipper serves as front of the house manager and sommelier. Since its 1994 opening, the restaurant has been steady received great reviews. Corso (call first to check opening date), 1786 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, 510-704-8004, www.trattoriacorso.com.
TASTES CHANGE: When Taste opened two years ago in North Berkeley's Epicurious Garden, its small-plate menu was well-received. It also introduced the East Bay to an enomatic wine dispenser, the latest in vino vending.
The global fusion menu wasn't owner Deepak Aggarwal's bailiwick, though, so he covered the windows with paper a few months ago. Taste transformed into Mint Leaf, an Indian bistro and wine bar.
The menu features family recipes made with high-end and organic produce. The Indian spices are handpicked by family members in India. Aggarwal, who also owns Khana Peena, says the organic angle is new for Indian food, even in the saturated Berkeley market. He's hoping that people won't mind paying a touch more for it.
Aggarwal is inspired by his Punjabi grandfather, who made and sold a curry each day using ingredients from his garden. "The line for his rice and curry was longer than at the Cheese Board," he says, while pointing to the snarl of people queuing for pizza across the street.
On a recent lunch visit, Aggarwal's brother, Amit Aggarwal, was manning a miniscule kitchen. We ordered a perfect vegetarian samosa, followed by tender chicken and lamb thalis. All of the thalis come with naan, jeera rice, black or yellow daal, and spinach. It's a good value at around $8. Beginning this week, Mint Leaf will also offer a late-night $5 menu.
Aggarwal is sensitive to those who come strictly for the wine. He plans to offer a cheese plate for those who insist on Western wine fare.
Though the food is sold, the recycled decor from Taste creates a bit of confusion about the restaurant's identity. It feels like the contemporary, lofty wine bar it once was, with nary a nod to South East Asian culture. Mint Leaf Indian Bistro and Wine Bar, 1513 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, 510-540-7900.
BACK TO BURGERS: Down the street, at the corner of Shattuck and Ashby, Cafe Sole has closed. A sign in the window says that Rocky's Burgers and Cheese Steaks is coming soon. Meanwhile, the downtown Oakland Rocky's was replaced a couple of months ago by Jo's Burgers, which has kept a similar menu.
Rocky's Burgers and Cheese Steaks (not yet open), 2929 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley.
BUSTLING BELLANICO: Many neighborhood restaurants are opened by dedicated parents looking to work close to home. This was the motivation for Chris Shepherd and Elizabeth Frumusa, who opened Oakland's Bellanico just five minutes from their house and their two young daughters.
As a daytime dad, Shepherd teamed up with his 3-year-old to girl transform a Glenview floral shop into a "refined rustic" Italian restaurant. "She came with me everywhere," he says.
Shepherd and Frumusa also own Aperto in Potrero Hill. The menus at both restaurants are similar, though they added a wine bar and more extensive wine list to the new location.
They've hired chef de cuisine Jonathan Luce, formerly of Pearl, to keep things humming in the kitchen. Shepherd says the most popular dish at Bellanico is the signature tagliolini pepati made from thin egg pasta, garlic, smoked bacon, jalapeno, roasted tomato sauce, arugula, butter and cheese. Another favorite is the Swiss chard malfatti (gnocchi) with brown butter and sage.
Shepherd is a local guy who graduated from Albany High. Before Aperto, he worked for several years with the Kimpton Group, with his first stop at Kuleto's. Bellanico has been bustling so far. It is open for lunch as of Monday. Bellanico, 4238 Park Blvd, Oakland, 510-336-1180, www.bellanico.net.
PAMPAS RUMPUS: In Palo Alto, the buzz is on Pampas, the first churrasco-style restaurant in the South Bay. For a fixed price of $44, passadores serve a selection of more than a dozen meats in unlimited quantity on traditional skewers. A side bar offers more than 30 hot and cold options influenced by the flavors of Brazil.
The Brazilian steakhouse, which opened last week, is the first restaurant for owners Tim and Masumi Reynders. Tim worked in the financial services industry, while Masumi is currently senior corporate counsel at Google. They've brought on chef John Karbowski from Mill Valley's El Paseo and Carmel's Casanova. Pampas, 529 Alma St., Palo Alto, 650-327-1323, www.pampaspaloalto.com.
Reach East Bay food writer Chrissa Ventrelle at cventrel@hotmail.com.
