Coppi’s dining room is a tribute to Italian cyclist Fausto
Coppi and you’ll notice elements of the sport throughout: from trail posters;
spokes on the wall; to, my favourite, a whimsical fish made from bicycle parts.
It’s an interesting choice of décor for a restaurant whose menu and overall
ambiance is nothing like a sports bar. Rather, diners should expect classic
Italian dishes that have a heavier focus on seafood.
Their signature dish, the pesce al sale ($43), takes a whole fish and bakes it encrusted in
salt. Wheeled out still in the salty tomb, the fish is quickly filleted and
dressed in a light lemon butter sauce.
While the dish looks huge, after
fileting the meat what’s leftover is smaller than you’d expect, but nonetheless
sufficient as a main for one. The sea bass was remarkably moist and tender with
such a clean taste that even someone who doesn’t like fish could be converted.
The risotto frutti di
mare ($44) serves two, but with a few appetizers this could be stretched
for three people (pictured below is a single portion). Dotted throughout the
risotto were bits of clams, shrimp, squid, octopus and bay scallops all evenly
disbursed so each bite had a couple of seafood items and helped to thoroughly
scent the rice. Tuck in as soon as it arrives as it’s a lovely consistency but
a tad more cooked than normal; should be it left longer, it may become too
soft.
Coppi offers a variety of appetizers but truthfully the choices
are rather safe and nothing seemed overly exciting. Their Caesar salad ($15) is
heavy on the anchovy and light on garlic, making the flavours subtler and ideal
for those who want a lighter tasting version of the salad. The burrate caprese ($19) is simple
combination of quality ingredients: a decent portion of burrata mozzarella,
grape tomatoes, and rich and bright olive oil that went especially well with
the warm heavily salted baguette.
Personally, I rather have an appetizer portion of pasta
instead. The pappardelle in the mare d
monte ($18) arrives as silky slightly chewy ribbons and the sauce a light
combination of shrimp, mushrooms, and tomato. It’s a great blend of sweet
seafood, earthy fungi, and just a hint of something fresh.
The spaghetti used in the chitarra tirreno ($26 for a main portion) is interestingly
square-shaped and could be a tad more al dante. Regardless, the san Marzano
tomato sauce mixed with all the seafood tastes wonderful and is that lighted
umami-laced tomato sauce I love with seafood pasta.
Seeing the baba di
ricotta ($13) we were instantly intrigued to try an Italian version of rum
baba, a traditional French dessert. A funnel of sponge cake is wrapped around
sweetened ricotta, which is a great addition. However, the cake is hardly
“soaked” in the rum syrup mixture as described on the menu and any rum flavour
is non-existent. When I order this dessert, I want that hit of alcohol against
the tongue before the sugar shines through! This is better described as sponge
cake filled with ricotta and drizzled with sugar water.
Coppi’s tiramisu ($13) uses most of the typical ingredients
(lady fingers, espresso, and mascarpone cream). Yet, seems to leave out the
zabaglione layer so the dessert is creamy and sweet but doesn’t have that rich
egg custard that really makes the dessert. It’s a bit disappointing when
tiramisu at an upscale Italian restaurant is only a touch better than one found
at the supermarket.
There are a number of Italian restaurants to choose from
around the Yonge-Lawrence neighbourhood. Coppi’s menu trends towards being an
upscale establishment and offers excellent mains and decent appetizers but
passable desserts. What truly sets Coppi apart is the ambiance: space exists
between tables and the table itself is also larger (where they sit two people,
in other restaurants it’d hold four). The timing of dishes is also well-paced
to allow a brief pause between dishes, but still quick enough to keep things
under two hours. It’s a place that you’ll want to stay and catch up longer with
guests. Just load up on the delicious pasta, maybe you won’t even need dessert.
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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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