2012-09-16 Lunch @ Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria

6011 Hastings Street, Burnaby, BC

604-299-8002

Knowing that I've always enjoyed Alex Tung's blog (Chef's Night Out) and wanted to visit Tapenade Bistro when he was there (but never got a chance to do so), Buddha Girl suggested to have lunch at Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria, a restaurant headed by Alex Tung in north Burnaby.

The restaurant is located where the old Anducci's Cucina was.  We arrived when there was only one other table of customers (family with kids).  Soon after, two more tables of two's were occupied.  Our inexperienced server was going to seat us, the fat couple, at a small table near the entrance where rest of the room was pretty much empty.  Yes, my wife was not too pleased and requested to sit at the corner booth table, luckily, they were accommodating.

Our drinks of Sanpellegrino Iced Tea Limone (lemon) and Sanpellegrino Iced Tea Pesca (peach) showed up first.  Between the two, Buddha Girl and I enjoyed peach iced tea more than lemon, however, both were good.

 

Next, we were served a complimentary plate of Bread & Dip.  The bread was amazingly light and crisp.  The dip, made with white kidney beans and truffle oil, was amazingly delicious.  Buddha Girl and I really had to restrain ourselves from asking for more.

Thank goodness that I didn't have to share my order of Calamari Fritto with Buddha Girl, who was still on her vegetarian diet when we visited the restaurant.  The squid was coated in a very light batter that was delicate yet had that requisite crunch.  The salsa verde wasn't really needed, but the roma tomato accented this dish to perfection.

The Panzanella was a salad mix of fried bread, goat cheese, arugula, radish, Sicilian olives and balsamic vinaigrette.  I liked the whole combination but not so much for Buddha Girl.

I wanted a third appetizer (Cotto Poppetti), but our server, who gave Buddha Girl the feeling that "she didn't really wanted to be there", mistakenly served Pizza Polpetti (crushed Cotto meatballs, ricotta cheese, Grana Padano, spinach, San Marzano tomato sauce, basil).  Not there to make a scene, I let this one go.  The tomato sauce was not over-seasoned or drowned in herbs.  The meatball was flavorful.  The crust was light and nicely blistered.  I ate the whole thing...yes, I know, I was bad.  As much as it was a good pizza, after the third slice, I pretty much got tired and was bored of it.  It was simply too much to eat at one sitting.

Buddha Girl enjoyed the simplicity of Pizza Margherita (fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, San Marzano tomato, basil).  This was well balanced with nothing overpowering each other.   The crust was, again, amazingly light and beautifully blistered.

Buddha Girl only managed to finish half of her pizza and requested to pack the rest for home.  Unfortunately, our server walked away with our leftover pizza and comfortably "forgot" to return with it.  We didn't realize until we drove half way home...that's after we asked for our bill, waited, paid with credit card at table-side, used the loo, left the table, walked towards the door and snapped a picture of the oven before walking out of the restaurant...yup, all that time but still no pizza.

Food was good.  Ambiance was relaxing.  Service, well, was good, but could be improved (servers needed to be more visible).  After tweeting about our missing leftover pizza, Alex Tung acknowledged the glitch and offered a make-up on our next visit.  Buddha Girl accepted the offer and plans to take MomJ here for lunch on her birthday.