Toronto Life 2000

You don’t expect to find capacious rooms in a Woodbridge strip mall, with a luxurious sense of privacy; tables are widely spread, and the area is broken up by angled walls. It’s all such a welcoming contrast to cold, grey hinteredland autostrada Steeles (though wooden venetian blinds soften the parking-lot view across to the Ferrari dealership). Guests are first greeted with lyrical faux artichokes in flowerpots and dusty wine bottles in a lighted display case. Carpeting, padded chairs and Italian opera (Pav, of course) impact a genuine luxe. It’s not too far a stretch to figure that seafood’s the specialty in a place whose name translates as “ships”. To begin dinner, there’s a splendid, largely marine antipasto table: clams, mussels, fresh white fish in light tomato glaze or perhaps sautéed with onions and vinegar: eggplant two ways (sautéed or marinated); an unusually tasty frittata with a festive confetti of red and green pepper bits. The clean, sweet flavours of lightly steamed clams, mussels, shrimp and calamari stand out in a wide-lipped bowl of linguine with the sparest sauce of little other than ripe tomato. Back to terra firma: a crisp-edged wedge of creamy polenta with white beans that have absorbed the lusty flavours from surrounding meltdown garlicky herbed tomatoes with olive oil. For secondi ($15.50 - $24), just a few robust pastas, along with a half-dozen proteins, three each from land and water. Four little lamb chops ordered medium rare are devoid of pink, but they’re still fairly moist with a satisfying savour, set over reduced juices finished with balsamic vinegar. An otherwise delightful salmon steak has also grilled just a little beyond its peak of juiciness; this is nearly abetted by the fact that it’s up to its figurative little knees in a pond of ethereal beurre blanc a-bob with capers and tomato bits. Dolci: tiramisu rewarding rich, or a couple of translucent spheres of icy lemon sherbet in a glass with blueberries. The dozen wines, all from the Boot, save for a pair of Cals. Vintaged, most of them, and with an uncommon five from Sardegna. Plenty below $30. Charming service.