Massimo’s Cucina Italiana – The Greatest?

Massimo: in Italian, the word means “the greatest”, so when a restaurant hoists that name above its door, expectations run a little high.  Massimo’s Cucina Italiana opened in December adjacent to the south side Italian Centre Shop (50 ave/104A St.) and, like the Centre Shop, is owned by Theresa Spinelli. The chef at the helm is Guiseppe Mazzochhi (my apologies for pronouncing it “Mazzocchio” on CBC Radio). Chef Mazzochhi is internationally known as “The Tuscan Cook”. His credentials include teaching cooking classes in Italy and abroad, leading culinary and wine tours, and operating a bed and breakfast in Nievole, Italy.  Chef Mazzocchi is also a member of the Italian Chef’s Federation, the Italian Sommelier’s Association, SlowFood, and the Accademia Italiana dell Cucina.  Pretty impressive credentials.

The interior of the restaurant is beautiful. Warm and inviting, old world meets chic charm, wood and brick, sparkling glass and white table cloths. Date nights would be great nights here, as would any other reason to get together with friends, family and loved ones. The space lends itself to conviviality, the very essence of enjoying life, Italian-style.

We were met at the door by a young man, a handsome, haughty, in-charge kind of guy. We had no reservations. His brow furrowed as he scanned the room and pointed to a table.  “This is all we have,” he said as he placed the menus on the table and left before we were even seated.  His brusqueness didn’t bother me. In fact, that attitude combined with the strong Italian accent made me feel like I was back in Florence, and that was a good thing.

A basket of bread and crispy focaccia was placed on the table. The white bread was nothing of note, but the focaccia, fresh from the oven and sprinkled with sea salt and rosemary, was so tasty we had a hard time not eating the entire portion.

The handsome, young Italian man was replaced by a beautiful, young Tuscan woman who was knowledgeable and passionate about Italian food. We peppered her with questions and she answered them honestly, revealing that most, but not all, of the food was made in-house. Some ingredients, like the pastas and the gnocchi were pre-packaged, and supplied by the store next door. I can handle dried pasta (as opposed to freshly-made) in a restaurant, to a degree, but in a beautiful restaurant such as Massimo’s whose website states, “Artisans imported from Italy create magic with classic favourites – flavouring our cooking with passion, drama and a true zest for life.”, I expect those artisans to be making my pasta by hand and not getting it from a store shelf. Knowing the origins of the pasta dishes definitely had an impact on what we ordered.

We started with the prawns wrapped in pancetta and served on cannellini bean puree as well as ground veal and pork tenderloin meatballs called polpetinne. The prawns were lovely, the pancetta so razor thin it was hardly noticeable and served not on cannellini, but borlotta bean puree. Not a huge difference in the flavour department, but appearance wise, the borlotta wasn’t as appealing as the cannellini would’ve been.

The polpettine really hit the mark. The light texture of the meatballs was a pleasing revelation and the marinara sauce delicately seasoned with fresh basil and nothing more, or so it appeared. Simple, and fresh.

Despite knowing that the pasta was packaged, we ordered a plate of the penne served with prime Alberta beef ragu because this ever-lasting winter in April was begging for some hearty comfort food – and a good ragu should deliver on the comfort front.  The pasta could have benefited from a little more cooking time and the ragu, although being cooked long and slow, was missing the layered flavour I expected.

Mains consisted of the Veal Scaloppini Funghi  (thinly sliced veal served with mixed mushrooms in a light cream sauce), and a thin-crust Salamino Piccante pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, Casalingo salami and mild chili peppers). Both dishes were very satisfying;  the veal was tender, the mushrooms plentiful – although not so much “mixed” in variety, but more a heaping helping of crimini or button. The cream sauce was surprisingly light and nicely seasoned.

The pizza at Massimo’s is so thin you can roll the slices cigar-style, or fold them up without losing the toppings. The salami offered just enough chew to put up a initial resistance and heat from the peppers was noticeable but not overwhelming.

Fans of tiramisu will be happy to see that item on the menu but again, it is the tiramisu that you can purchase from the Italian Centre Shop bakery, according to our server. Same goes for the cheesecake. We were assured that the panna cotta and the pistachio mousse were made in Massimo’s kitchen. The panna cotta was velvety smooth, rich but not cloying, and a lovely ending to a very good meal, overall.

Massimo’s scored high in several categories: decor, ambience, execution of dishes and service. The offering of pre-packaged foods at an Italian restaurant catches in my throat like a bad, back-alley grappa, but the dishes we ordered were well-above average for Italian fare in Edmonton. Having Chef Mazzocchi in the kitchen is a huge plus for the Edmonton food scene, I just hope he can be allowed to really let loose in that kitchen and give those of us who hunger for authentic Italian food the product I know he is fully capable of creating. Massimo’s isn’t “the greatest” yet but it could be, in time.

For more details, listen to my CBC Edmonton radio review here.