Introducing: Bricco Kitchen and Wine Bar, a stylish new enoteca on the Junction strip
Name: Bricco Kitchen and Wine Bar
Neighbourhood: The Junction
Contact Info: 3047 Dundas St. W., briccowinebar.com
Owner: Eric Gennaro, the sommelier at Crush Wine Bar
Chef: Justin Zamperin, formerly of Crush Wine Bar, Buonanotte and Scarpetta
The Food: Homestyle Italian food with some modern twists, like chestnuts in a creamy porcini soup and a hearty stew studded with chunks of wild boar bacon. Shareable sides include grilled rapini, tomato-braised runner beans and creamy, slow-cooked polenta.
The Drinks: The 50-long wine list focuses on Italian, French and Spanish bottles, as well as some local options. Thematic tasting flights are organized by grape, region and season.
The Place: The thoroughly modern enoteca is devoid of gingham prints, dangling ham hocks or wine bottle candelabras. Instead, midcentury Scandinavian furniture and Gaudí-inspired textured tiles add life to the white-walled room, as does an intricate tree-like wall sculpture by local designers Brothers Dressler.
The Numbers: • 2000 kilometers traveled to source furniture, which includes pieces by famous Scandinavian designers Kai Kristainsen and Hans Olsen • 14 months to renovate • 10 years since Gennaro and Zamperin met at Crush Wine Bar • 10 walls knocked down in the reno process (the space was previously occupied by a frame store) • 6 hours to slow-cook the polenta • 1 beer on tap (King Pilsner) • 4 prized ceramic plates by Italian artist Giovanni DeSimone • 0 pizzas on the menu
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