Restaurant review | Etna Pastificio: the best pasta dinner in town

Through the good times and, sometimes, the not so good, our restaurant critics tell you about their experience, present the team in the dining room and in the kitchen, while explaining what motivated their choice of restaurant. This week, the irresistible pasta from Etna Pastificio.

Why talk about it?

There should be a queue in front of this treasure on rue Jarry. I may be doing myself a disservice by writing this, as Etna Pastificio is two blocks from my house. I like to always have a place to dine there when I feel like it. But I love spreading the good news even more. Torontonians (and many Quebecers in the know) worship Baldassare, a temple of fresh dough where it is almost impossible to get one of the few tables at lunchtime, from Wednesday to Friday. It’s time for Montrealers to wake up and revere this little 12-seat corner space that is Etna Pastificio just as much.

Who are they ?

The always cheerful Claudia Fancello is the soul of Etna. The one who worked for a long time in the world of dance and theater always returned to her love of cooking and conviviality. Her family’s Italian recipes are engraved deep within her. Also, a few years ago, she accepted her dad’s offer to have the pasta extruder from the family restaurant in Vancouver delivered to her. The first version of the store opened at the corner of rue Faillon and rue Drolet, in 2021. Now installed in what was initially the tapas bar of Claudia and her partner (of Spanish origin), Sergio Conde, Etna Pastificio is today a grocery store and a (daytime) restaurant. In the processing, there is also the excellent Émilie Noël, who once worked at the Elena restaurant.

Our experiences

Walking for five minutes to spend lunch time in the small but bright Etna Pastificio premises, in the company of the cheerful Claudia and the always affable Sergio, it’s a new happiness that I will try to grant myself the most often possible, whether alone, with my lover, with my friends, with my children… It feels like we’re eating with friends.

Unlike the Italians there, still limited by a virtual obligation to follow traditions and regional specialties, Claudia allows herself to draw from the entire repertoire of the country with a thousand and one pasta recipes. And nothing stops him from adding his personal touch, if he likes.

The slate is very simple and this is, among other things, what guarantees perfect execution of each dish, every time. Three inscriptions are immutable. The first, malfaldine al ragù, are long pasta coated in a three-meat sauce (beef, pork and guanciale) without any heaviness. The serrated ribbons are just firm enough to the bite. I recommend adding the pepperoncini as an option if you like it a little spicy.

The value of a pasta house is sometimes measured by its mastery of simple pasta al pomodoro. Bucatini with Etna tomatoes are deliberately more delicious than others – by the addition of a secret ingredient that Claudia made me promise to keep quiet! –, perfect in their own way. Finally, the short pesto pasta satisfies taste buds craving fresh herbs.

Besides these must-haves, there’s always a pasta of the week that warrants going again and again. Recently, I saw cute ricotta raviolini in a porcini and parmesan broth on Instagram. I regretted having missed the gnudi with gorgonzola cream, radicchio and walnuts as well as the surprising burgundy-colored bigoli because they were cooked in a red wine reduction.

But I was treated to superb coal-black agnolotti, stuffed with delicate but textured shrimp, bathed in nduja butter, holiday chestnut ravioli with brown butter and crispy sage, then ricotta tortelloni -parmesan with rapini cream without any bitterness.

To wait upon arrival or to mop up at the end of the meal, there is always a soft focaccia encrusted with finely sliced ​​red onion and charred ends. On the counter, a jar containing “ugly but good” biscuits (brutti ma buoni) allows you to end your meal on a sweet note. Often, there is also delicious torta caprese, this very chocolatey cake made from walnut flour (Grenoble, in this case) that Claudia does particularly well.

The only thing missing – but that won’t be long, Claudia assured us several times – is a simple salad (bitter lettuce, please!) for fans of freshness like me.

In our glass

You can always accompany your pasta with a glass of organic wine (white or red) for $8, from the Etna region, in Sicily. It is also possible to choose a bottle from the shelves stocked with more sought-after vintages, to consume on site or to take away.

Price

Pasta costs between $11 (tomatoes) and $23 (dish of the week). We add cheese for $1 more and pepperoncini in olive oil for $2. There are kids’ portions of pasta al pomodoro or al pesto for $7.

Good to know

If you prefer to prepare your pasta at home, you can shop at Etna until 7:30 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, and until 6 p.m. on Sunday. The small team also sells its products to a few restaurants, including Knuckles, directly across the street, Un Po di Più, in Old Montreal, and Blandino, on Décarie Boulevard. Finally, the grocery store-restaurant quietly begins to offer pasta-making classes which are announced on its social networks. This is a very small factory that goes a long way!

Open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (dinner service from noon to 2 p.m.), Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

244, rue Jarry Est, Montreal

Visit the Etna Pastificio website