A fixture on Montreal's trendy St. Laurent street for many years as a place to be seen, "Buona Notte" has been one of those places I've avoided dining at as I hypothesized that it was really a nightclub that served over-priced substandard food instead of a good quality restaurant that offered a nightclub atmosphere. Aside from hearing stories of what Hollywood celebrities were spotted there, I never really heard anyone rave about the food. But surely if Jerry Seinfeld and Nicolas Cage dine there, it must be good, right?
Finally, the day came where a vendor from my previous job proposed to take us all out to dinner there and I would get my chance to sample anything I wanted from the menu.
Noisy and buzzing, we were seated and the vendor group ordered up a variety of appetizers. Nothing remarkable here. Tartares, carpaccio, tempura... nothing really spectacular, noteworthy, or trend setting.
The mains we ordered took FOREVER to get to the table and the place was not packed...
I ordered the "osso bucco". When it finally arrived, it was very well braised (perhaps too well) as the marrow was almost non existant and obviously had melted away somehow into the braising liquid. What meat that was left on the bone was succulent but a small consolation for the best part of the "osso" being missing from my "osso bucco".
My colleague two seats down had ordered the risotto of the day which, in this case, was a seafood risotto. You have to assume that any italian restaurant worth it's salt should be able to make a risotto and, at the prices they were charging, she was expecting a damn fine one. What she got was a risotto that completely lacked the molten lava type consistency and gloss around the firm rice that you expect from a good risotto. It was amateurish at best and too congealed. A much too high starch to liquid ratio had clearly ruined it.
Most shocking of all was the two plates of duck ravioli that were served. Nine small raviolis placed in a tic-tac-toe board pattern on a flat white plate in a orangish/brown reduction. Not only did it look like very little food... for over $29.00.. the two 6ft tall men who ate it were quite starved afterwards.
White ravioli on a white plate in a clear carmel colored sauce. Quite shocking. I didn't get to taste it because it was such a small amount of food that I think the two diners who had it would have bit my hand off to protect what little food they had.
Dessert? The raspberry gelato was rich in flavor but the "chocolate experience" ordered by my colleague was nothing short of sad. The chocolates lacked richness and the variety of biscuits and wafers served with the various dollops of chocolate concoctions tasted like they came from a package and were definately not fresh. I would be shocked if they were actually made in-house and simply not brought in.
The general consensus around the table upon finishing the meal was a resounding "I'm still hungry!" as we piled into a cab with half of the group actually going for burgers and pizza.
Buona Notte attempts to advertise itself as holding to stout italian cooking traditions. Nothing could be further from the truth as true traditional italian cooking is based around freshness, quantity, and quality of ingredients. Italian cooking is about extracting rich and filling flavors from even the simpliest of ingredients. Buona Notte fails in all such accounts. Mario Batali would pitch a fit if he dined on the dishes we had. The food was an insult to italians.
If Buona Notte is the "place to be seen" on St. Laurent, it is to be seen for anything except eating. The "trendy" people who go there stay skinny, I suppose, because they spend well over $200 a table and actually don't eat.
Go there to be trendy if you must-- but I suggest packing a lunch.
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