Heard of this place due to its famous chef, Massimo, and had marked it on our radar for some time now. Mistura is normally quite pricy, so we figured for $45 each at Winterlicious, we should taste some decent dishes.
APPEARANCE
a tinted bottle, elegant labelonce poured,
you can see the rich golden colour
Dark from the outside, bright orange sign with playful writing, Mistura is hard to miss on the dark corner of Davenport with Valet parking signs at the front. Once inside a lady traded our coats for a metal number - making us feel important.
SWIRL
Walking further inside the long room, we felt like we are part of a magic show - mirrors, long white table cloths, high contrast spot lights, interesting glass structures with candles dancing as the air moved. We sat at an elegantly laid booth table with a long, narrow tablecloths stretching from one side to the other width-wise (a bit restraining, I thought). The paper sheet menus for winterlicious didn't belong there much. With the large Mistura wordmark (in case we missed it), a thick black frame close to it and plenty of text to follow - the menus didn't do their interiors justice, as they cram any available space.
NOSE
citrus, melon, as well as a strange
unidentifiable aroma
Our polite waiter was in no mood to chat. We were asked to order all at once. I asked for their Tuscan Onion Soup, Trofiette main dish, and a Pistachio Panna Cotta. I asked for advise between their Cave Spring Riesling and 2011 Italian Pinot Grigio, and he recommended the ladder. I asked for 1/4 L and Cheri did the same but for a 2009 Caliornian Merlot. We got some warm bread, so the balsamic & oil dip to the side, as well as the tomato tapanade, came to use.The restaurant ended up filling by 7pm, and the crowd seemed on the older, mature side, and some seemed to be regulars.I have to add, we kept on picking up a cologne (perhaps one of the Polos), sadly we thought it was one of their staff.
PALATE
a bit dry and herbaceous to start, medium-bodied, oaky character
To begin, I got my soup - a light version of French Onion Soup. It had parsley and a bit of pecorino on the crostini floating, which I had trouble chasing and cutting it into smaller bites. Cheri's Braised Quail had a bone sticking out and the rest cut nicely and laid on the polenta, with squash and onion on the side. The meat was a bit dry, but Cheri quite enjoyed it.Next came my Trofiette Pasta - seemingly home made, as they were all so different, I was genuinely amused by the shape. Unfortunately it was a bit too chewy. The pasta came with plenty of cauliflower, some ricotta, parsley, a hint of truffle and perhaps some walnut. It was a bit too very heavy for me to finish and I was definitely getting a bit un- enthusiastic with every dish having parsley. Cheri's small Pork Loin came topped with a bit of Apple, Kale, Chestnut, with some Squash Puree and Onions. The pork was nowhere close to being lean, lard was a good third of it, but overall interesting flavour combinations.
FINISH
a long aftertaste perfect for those with a sweet tooth
Desserts were the best part! My Pistachio Panna Cotta cream reminded me of my grandma's pudding. It was topped with mascapone some fruits and mint springs. It was under subtle orange polenta cake and strange candied oranges on the side. Cheri's Warm Walnut Cake was delicious - crumbed and served in a cup, covered in salted caramel and topped with mascapone and a few fruits - beauty.
Oh, we had to google what Mistura meant (thinking it had to do with Mystery) but it turned out it is a Portuguese word for Mixture/Fusion. The interior would have been a perfect match for Mystery.
Overall.. a Chardonnay needing some work in the midst
of the experience.
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