| Mondo Italiano >> A world of pasta awaits at La Strega du Village In a neighbourhood where style often takes precedence over substance, La Strega du Village has carved out a real niche for itself. This relatively new spot in the gay Village offers pasta priced like it should be, without cutting corners so much that your dinner companion will accuse you of being a cheap date. On a visual level, it’s a far cry from the depressing fast food establishment that occupied the space last year. It’s now pretty nice inside, though some of the touches-like the swath of sheer white fabric draped across the room-have HGTV’s Designer Guys written all over them. Other than that, the décor is pleasingly dark in a vaguely baroque way. The walls are painted in a glossy red that reflects the candlelight from the tables, creating a flattering glow for a clientele of mostly male couples. It’s a surprisingly nice backdrop in which to enjoy Italian classics at bargain prices. You can get a meal here for as little as $7. In addition to a regular menu of mix ’n’ match pastas and sauces, the table d’hôte listed on a blackboard outside offers excellent value for standard dishes. The first good sign was the waiter proffering a little hors d’oeuvre of bruschetta, and actually pronouncing it properly. As any savvy food-snob knows, it’s brusketta, not brushetta (and it’s espresso, not expresso). Anyway, no matter how you say it, the tangy tomato-topped pieces of bread were a nice touch. Another of La Strega’s strengths is that its flexible choices make it easy to build a meal for different budgets. You can pair up any pasta with any sauce for $6.95. All the usual suspects are available-spaghetti, linguine, penne, fettuccine, rigatoni, fusilli-to combine with napoletana, spicy arrabiata, primavera, pesto or putanesca toppings. For a couple of bucks more, you can personalize your dish from a list of extras such as sausages, mussels, salmon, shrimp or provolone. Panini sandwiches go for the same price, while the oven-baked pastas like cannelloni, lasagna and manicotti are $8.95. The
daily specials, with about eight different items ranging from $6.95
to $15.95, come with daily soup, green salad or a small portion of pasta
to get you started. My friend’s salad was fairly basic, but it
had simplicity and freshness working in its favour. My small bowl of
rigatoni was delicious, with a thick rosée sauce and a texture
that suggested that the kitchen understands the concept of al dente.
You can opt for an extra appetizer for $3.95; on the night we visited
gratinéed artichokes or escargots forestière were among
the choices. Overall, La Strega’s brand of Italian food is not always subtle and not remotely nouvelle cuisine, but it’s very satisfying and comforting. It makes a great date destination, as it’s a good place to test whether your potential mate is more interested spending money or enjoying food. :
La Strega du Village Feedback? restoagogo@hotmail.com |