Hell's kitchen

>> Piccolo Diavolo could be a little more devilish

by SARAH MUSGRAVE

A demented gargoyle hangs over the entrance of Piccolo Diavolo, mischievously beckoning you into this upscale Italian eatery in the gay village. Inside, you'll find ornate décor--rococo candelabras, high-backed benches, textured red walls--and fiery atmosphere.

Designed to conjure up an image of excess and debauchery, it's a fun backdrop for a culinary adventure into the underworld. But while the overall experience is satisfying, the food is not quite as sinfully good as you might hope.

The evening's table d'hote featured a choice of three main courses created by executive chef Jacques Faucher: spinach linguini with feta, tomatoes, asparagus and Kalamata olives; penne with cream sauce, white wine, clams and smoked oysters; or steak with a garlic and basil vinaigrette and grilled vegetables. The specials range from $15-20, including appetizers and coffee. The regular menu offers a choice of pastas and sauces, along with an array of pizzas ($10) that includes unusual pairings like goat cheese and pistachios.

For starters, I opted for the grilled Brie salad from the menu of the day. It consisted of a warm slice of creamy cheese appealingly presented atop a bed of spring greens and fresh walnuts. My dinner companion's minestrone soup with pesto ($4) was brimming with a medley of tender vegetables and swimming in herbs. The result was a fresh, hearty taste, although surprisingly mild. If both of these dishes were meant to whet the palate for something more flavourful, they certainly did the trick.

As a final appetizer, we sampled a shrimp dish ($9), whose intriguing ingredients were lengthily listed as "garlic, cream, tomato sauce, stuffed eggplant, zucchini, onion and black olives." It took about as long to eat the four shrimp as it did to read the description in the menu, but this was mitigated by the chef's real knack for sauces. A creamy garlic concoction approaching decadence was artistically swirled onto the plate, making a nice visual contrast with the red of the tomato sauce. We could have done without the platter's centrepiece, an eggplant vegetable roll that called to mind the earthy cuisine of a Birkenstock-clad vegetarian--not particularly well paired with delicate shrimp.

My main course of penne was infused with the distinctive taste of smoked oysters--rich, pungent and complex. However, the restaurant's most unforgivable sin, for which the cook should be banished to Hades forever, was to overcook the pasta. The penne plumes were served so hot that the extra minute it took to get to the table cost the meal its texture, accentuating the already mushy consistency of the generous helpings of clams and oysters.

The spinach lasagna ($15), on the other hand, was made up of firm layers of green pasta, grilled zucchini and red peppers, fragrant chicken and mozzarella. It was a satisfyingly solid casserole that offered different flavours at different moments.

Over coffee, we sampled an exquisite version of tiramisu ($5). Presented in a wine glass that showed off the marbling of the mascarpone cheese and espresso chocolate, the dessert was appropriately not too sweet when dipped with the accompanying biscotti, fresh strawberry and sprig of mint. The best part, however, was a hidden treat of sambuka at the bottom of the goblet.

I suppose I expected Lucifer's kitchen minions to have come up with a tangier take on Italian cuisine. Piccolo Diavolo is worth a visit, though--you may not be gorging on forbidden fruits, but you can look forward to taking illicit pleasure in watching a man with a fake tan stuff his lapdog into a bag at a nearby table. :

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Piccolo Diavolo

Address: 1336 Ste-Catherine E.

Phone: 526-1336

Hours: 5-11pm daily, 12-2 pm Thursday and Friday

Best features: devilish décor, sumptuous sauces

Alcohol: yes

Vegetarian friendly: yes

Credit cards: yes

Wheelchair access: yes

Price: $20/person before drinks, tax and tip

Rating: ** out of ****