Bar Bricco — Restaurant in Central Core

Bar Bricco.

This is a great place. Sleek. Prominent location. Clientel"e".

That being said, it deserves a deeper investigation.

Upon entry, a simple bar with a few tables and high chairs, as well as a small table and several chairs that line the primary window that peeks outdoors on Jasper avenue.

Myself, and a party of two more, decided to frequent Bricco on a rather warm Friday summer evening. (For me, this was my second time visiting -- for the other two folks, they have visited more times than that previous).

The wine list is comprehensive, but ambitiously priced, even for Canada, which in itself is often criminally, punitively, expensive.

Upon ordering 3 glasses of $39.00-per-dose Italian wine, all three parties were satisfied. However, when ordering complimentary cheese such as to amplify the experience, I noticed a peculiar, confrontational and troublesome, attitude shift with our waitress.

One of my guests, although admittedly a bold, brash, and sometimes 'interesting' personality, inquired about the origin of a particular cheese we had ordered. Now, normally I would not make such a significant deal of such a minor transgression, however, the party involved was dropping SIGNIFICANT CHEDDAR in this party, and thus had a fiduciary duty in the cheese origin. A true vested interest.

So, instead of responding to the inquiry with candor, interest, passion, or any number of possible positive rebuttals, the waitress opted to respond in a particularly caustic, ignorant, 'great than thou' tone. "Italy", she snarked. "Oh", my friend replied.

There is actually quite an irony with this whole dialog, since the party inquiring about the origin of this cheese was indeed not Canadian, but European. Indeed, Mediterranean European.

After we had paid our rather thick bill at Bricco (several hundred dollars for a few glasses of wine, along with accompanying cheese), my European friend admitted to me that he had never been responded to with such scorn, such disdain, such vitriolic hate, as what he had encountered at this little gastro lounge in the middle of the Canadian prairies.

This had got me thinking, and made me realize, that fortunately this was not the first Italian gastro bar I had been to (I have been around), and indeed come to realize, that even if everything was absolutely PERFECT, the horrible experience we endured with our rather snarky, mean, arrogant, unnecessarily pretentious, greater-than-thou, high-riding, detached, unconcerned, and altogether unengaged waitress, relegated this tiny joint to a MAXIMUM 3/5 stars.

My advice for improvement? Always treat your guests with the utmost of respect and courtesy, no matter how stupid you may think they are, because you may be surprised where they come from. Even out here in the Alberta sticks.

Fairwell Bar Bricco, I do not think I will come back. To all those who do, enjoy the food and drink, but do not ask a question, heaven forbid it be the wrong one!

(A...

My co-worker and I went to Bar Bricco, he's been here before however I haven't. I've worked at a lot of popular Italian restaurants in Toronto and have worked in Italy before. It is probably one of my favourite cuisines. I do not remember the last time I've had Italian food this fantastic.

We had ordered the daily special of local charred peas, the tuna crudo, Formaggi Misto and added the proscuitto, and another order of Focaccia.

The focaccia was fantastic, had a glass shattering beautiful golden crust, the inside was super moist and light, so moist almost wet. I haven't had focaccia this tasty and just executed perfectly with great seasoning. You can tell that they make this focaccia and bread fresh daily.

The cheese tasted like it was kept out of the fridge which is how it should be, it was the perfect temperature. The balance of the black pepper and honey, the pepper jam, the expertly grilled bread (not too hard and not too soft just the perfect amount of softness and pull that is perfect to enjoy with the cheese and dip into the honey or jam)

The peas, I was not having high expectations that my co-worker wanted to order the peas however it was incredible. The little bit of char on the tips, the olive oil coating, the perfect amount of maldon on top, the texture of the peas just expertly cooked with a hint of a bite. I sadly misjudged the dish but really really enjoyed it.

The tuna crudo I wanted to order to try to understand the use of almond milk. It was quite an interesting dish, loved the texture of the tuna, the spiciness but not overly spicy. The almond milk sauce was just fantastic. It was tangy and citrusy but right before the point that it was too tangy and citrusy.

The addition of the proscuitto: the proscuitto was sliced at the ideal thickness, and expertly sliced that showed that they must maintain their slicer in the back on a daily basis and ensure it is as sharp as Samurai's Katana.

I would highly highly recommend this spot. We didn't order the pastas but based on the other dishes that we had experienced tonight, I can only imagine how perfectly executed those dishes would be. The Chef here and her team not only know how to cook but to have a team that really enjoys how to execute Italian food to another level with the attention and care that not many people give it is masterful. Our server was also incredible and really knew the menu inside and out, super friendly. The team at Bar Bricco = 11/10. Would check this place out again next time I'm...

I have been here half a dozen times since opening back in the mid 2010’s. This time had some definite pros and cons.

We were brought through the back and seated on the Corso 32 side.

A note about accessibility: the restaurant is 1 level (no stairs, landings etc) and is wheelchair friendly. The washrooms are unfortunately gendered single stall (which never makes sense to me). I hope they choose to make them gender neutral in the future to create a safe space for LGBTQ diners. As well, the entire place is quite echoey with the music, the concrete and the layout. If you have sensory needs related to sound like I do, it can be challenging at times. The plates are loud on the concrete tables, the music is on the loud side, but had a great sound system. The music itself was also great. We had a louder, large group beside us, and every time they erupted into laughter, I felt my soul leave my body. Jokes aside, the ambience is nice. It is very sexy and dark and makes for a nice date night, but is loud, maybe just where we were sitting.

The server was nice, not remarkable but was friendly and relatively attentive. I would have liked if they went over some of the changes to the menu since re-opening. One noticeable change was that the meat and cheese plates are no longer mix and match, they are set menus. I felt a bit disappointed, as I found the selection wonderful, and I am very keen on the mortadella. At least the porchetta and ricotta was included; they also seemed to expand their tapas/shareables menu to make up for the set menu. Still, I didn’t agree with the change. I prefer the mix and match quite a bit more.

My partner and I are sober so we started with two alcohol free cocktails, both were $10 but very good! I would love to see more options for alcohol free beers as well - but honestly the fact they had any alcohol free options other than water and pop was nice. Food was delicious. We got the olives, the meat and cheese plates, the delicious pastas you dip in butter and parm, and the beef carpaccio. It was lots of meat, and not a vegetable in sight!

When I made the reservation, it asked if we were celebrating anything (we were- our anniversary) but there was nothing added or special to our experience. Which was fine of course, but why ask if nothing is going to happen?

Some pros and cons for sure, but overall an enjoyable evening, and we will...