AUGUST 15 / 2003

BACK TO ARCHIVES

La Spiga - Still Amoung the Best of the Best Recently Michèle Hecken, our Calgary restaurant reviewer, and I went to dinner in Edmonton. As this was more of a social get-together, we went to La Spiga Ristorante Italiano, located at 10133 - 125 Street. La Spiga is a multiple award-winning restaurant that has long been regarded amoung the best in Edmonton. I have reviewed La Spiga various times over the last 15 years, always giving it an excellent rating. Nothing has changed in terms of my opinion of this fine establishment. We reserved a very nice table on the upper balcony of this beautiful 1913 mansion, as it was a beautiful summer evening. Weather permitting, there is superb upper and lower outdoor dining, although the inside is nicely temperature controlled for optimum comfort. Michèle and I began our meal with delightful appetizers. She chose the light summer soup special of the day, which was a cold asparagus, zucchini and potato purée. We both tend to be quite fond of refreshingly cool summer soup. This one was excellent. The distinctive taste of each vegetable was easily noticed within a finely textured purée. Spicing was minimal, allowing nature's flavours to come through on their own. Sticking to a classic Italian tradition, and also wanting to help out the Alberta beef industry, I went for the Carpaccio di Manzo. This is raw Alberta AAA beef tenderloin, thinly sliced, served with a wonderful homemade house mustard sauce, chopped shallots and grated asiago cheese. Few things can match a finely prepared carpaccio, and this one was prepared to perfection. The beef was melt-in-your-mouth quality. The combination of asiago cheese, shallots and mustard made for a heavenly blend on the palate. La Spiga's Carpaccio di Manzo is worth the trip on its own. Our smooth and very eloquent server had Michèle quite enchanted. Whatever he suggested was just fine with her. (Sorry, Kiddo, I don't get good shots like this every day!) So Michèle continued with the features of the day, with the entrée being the Gambini al Pernod. This creative dish consisted of large prawns sautéed with leeks, garlic and Pernod on a further sautéed bed of spinach and shallots with white wine and garlic, dressed with asparagus. The prawns were large and plentiful, the Pernod flavouring was not overpowering and the spinach was most impressive. It is so very easy to overcook spinach. Anything beyond a gentle wilt makes it bitter and without character. Anything insufficient simply takes the freshness out of naturally great leaves. But when cooked just right, it is a most noble vegetable indeed. Remembering some of their other fine dishes, such as the veal and the lamb, I wanted to see if I could catch them with something that might not quite meet their other superb standards. So I was drawn to the Linguine Marittima, since I don't recall having seafood dishes here before. To my delight, the seafood selections are every bit as superb as the rest of the menu. My linguine was served in a light cream sauce with black tiger prawns, very large sea scallops, zucchini, mushrooms and diced tomatoes. The linguine was thoroughly cooked, but not limp. The cream sauce was richly decadent. The seafood well prepared and the dish as a whole was immensely satisfying. For dessert, I was talked into the chocolate mousse special, which is a sharp turn in direction from my ordering their award winning Tira Misu (and by the way, the Tira Misu here is to kill for). The chocolate was good, but a wee bit too overpowering for me…sure went well with coffee, though. Michèle ordered the Zabaione, which she described as being "almost as good as sex". This sweet but light dessert is a rich blend of egg yolks, sugar and Marsala whipped to an almost custard state and served with fresh strawberries. You'll know you've cheated on your diet after this treat. Depending upon what you order, a fine meal for two can cost you anywhere from $100 to $150, including coffee, apéritifs and wine. But there is no knocking quality and there is no better place to go for a special occasion or to entertain out-of-town guests. BEST POINTS: Service, décor, ambiance are all great. The food is sensational. AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: Before dinner I had a martini. Admittedly, I've had better martini's. RATING CATEGORY: I seldom give 9.5's out of 10…but I can't think of a reason that La Spiga doesn't fully deserve it.