The fish special our night was Arctic char ($25), a fine filet wrapped around heaps of asparagus tips, with a pavé (layered slices) of sweet and white potatoes. Visually attractive but not overcooked fish — and char is my favorite of all the farmed fish so far — is a rare gift. I wasn’t quite as impressed with a veal braccialettini special ($24), which was not one but two sausage-skinny veal rolls, served vertically. Here the veal was partially dried out, but the filling of cheese and herbs was well balanced, and the small stalks of surprisingly sweet broccoli rabe (like asparagus tips) more than made up for some dull veal, as did the gorgonzola-enriched polenta (just enough to tantalize, not enough to make me sleepy).
Anatra Alla Peppino ($26) is the cinematic take on duck two ways. The confit leg has become a useful cliché, but Peppino’s idea for the breast is a sauce of orange and marsala. It’s too sweet for some people, though I thought the citric acidity was refreshing. The accompanying starch was oven-roasted potatoes; a fine hand with gorgonzola again made them special.
The wine list is almost all Italian, with some older bottles at scary prices. Those under $40, such as my old friend the Dessilani Spanna ($38), seem fairly priced. Naturally, they have the full line of Da Vinci Chianti. In fact, we were able to compare the 2005 regular bottling ($8/glass) with the 2003 Riserva ($13/glass). The regular is traditional Chianti, light enough for a variety of foods, with good fruit flavor. The Riserva is much bigger all around, and in fact could use some age to soften the astringency. Save it for major meat. On the white side, 2006 Maso Canali pinot grigio ($12/glass) is the real thing, with the fresh, fruity aroma that pinot-grigio drinkers expect, plus a longer flavor on the palate and a bitter finish suitable for fish and some pasta dishes.
Desserts are Italian. Our table of four did quite well with a single dessert tasting sampler ($12). Attention went first to a small chocolate soufflé that was airy yet full of flavor. But the smart spoons moved quickly to a mini scoop of incredibly rich vanilla gelato in a chocolate-candy cup. Tiny tarts of blueberry and raspberry layered on pastry cream in superb pie crust were nearly as enticing.
Da Vinci took over the space that once was Grillfish and more recently Piattini, and has tamed a concrete jungle to make it something like a Tuscan palace. The decorations run to blown-up bits of Leonardo’s notebooks, antique vases in niches, and low lighting from chandeliers and table candles. The kitchen is still semi-open, so the dining room should be louder than it is. Atmosphere is familiarly that of an “Italian restaurant,” despite a soundtrack that runs from techno to ’70s funk.
Service at Da Vinci is above average. The sum of all the multicultural backgrounds here (our server was German-Brazilian; there are about eight languages spoken by the staff) is a tone that is European and somewhat old school. Da Vinci has the food and, unusually, the traditional service of a fine restaurant, in a period when fine restaurants have been slumming it in the front of the house.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com.
