Eat The Menu: Barbie’s Night Out

Wear pink: You’ll blend right in.

That Pepto hue rules the décor of the North Loop’s hottest new dining destination, Dario. It’s offset by perky accents of swimming-pool blue dressing the spacious room’s banquettes and the tiles adorning its snazzy, center-of-the-action bar. Giant picture windows overlook an otherwise-forgettable cul de sac just off Washington Avenue, whose interior divulges a cache of discrete dining areas, imparting an aura of intimacy to this showtime endeavor.

Our fellow diners were dressed for a night on the town, although our server wasn’t. Barbie—and I—would frown on her jeans. (Didn’t she get the memo?) More importantly, she performed perfectly, starting with the delivery of our stout Old Fashioneds, from a cocktail list that favors more unique and fruity libations. Wines BTG mostly salute Italian makers ($14-22).

The well-curated menu emphasizes the kitchen’s hand-made pasta, both extruded and filled, along with a half-dozen proteins to follow, plus veggie sides, both cold and hot. We began, as probably every table does, as the word has spread, with Oysters Dario—six petite, briny bits per order ($30), topped with a tiny mound of “spicy” beef tartare, giving an inventive twist to surf-and-turf. However, the dominant spice proved to be crunchy salt—so much of it, in fact, that it rather ruined the experience and proved close to inedible, despite the genius addition of a marble of frozen lime juice to liven the duet.

But the pasta beckoned, and an order of the menu’s star performer, the Doppio Ravioli ($24) provided an unusual double filling to the joined pockets—one a lusty sunchoke puree, its twin with smooth ricotta mined with honey, hazelnuts and rosemary—a standout dish from the resident Pasta Whisperer in Dario’s kitchen.

We also enjoyed the richer, bolder flavors presented in the beef short rib agnolotti—filled pasta circlets bathed in a reduction of beef jus and red wine, then endowed with even more gutsiness thanks to bacon and Gorgonzola in the mix ($28). Fortunately, my partner and I shared every dish, for it would have been a palate-tiring endeavor to polish this off solo. Other pastas on offer range from goat cheese mezzaluna in lamb ragu to a spicy rigatoni alla vodka, boosted with fennel sausage; from a divine-sounding (next time!) spaghetti alla chitarra limone, whose “guitar-string” strands come entwined with blue crab, chilies and Meyer lemon, to a simpler fusilli alla pomodoro ($24-28).

But (as they say on late-night TV) wait! There’s more! Entrees ($26-29, plus two more costly steaks) include trout, skate wing, brick chicken and our choice, char siu pork belly.

How the heck did this Asian-influenced dish sneak past the menu police? I have no idea, but we had to try it. A tumble of tiny clams mingled with tender, sublimely fat-kissed pork in a bold black bean sauce—perfectly fine but not memorable.

Instead, next time, I’d venture into the list of vegetables ($15 range), both cold (cukes with feta tzatziki and smoked trout roe, for instance) and hot, such as the grilled turnips paired with green apple, chili crisp and ginger aioli, or the grilled cabbage with horseradish potatoes, cider vinegar and dill.

Yes, there’s a short dessert list that stars chocolate cake a la mode; a pineapple and passionfruit pairing abetted by coconut and macadamias; and my choice, affogato—a shot of espresso made even more wonderful with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (Remember this one, come summer: It’s a life-saver.)

Parking meters serve a few lucky diners, while a valet ($15) takes care of the rest of us. Benvenuto, Dario—and I’m guessing Barbie would also approve.

Dario
323 N. Washington Ave., Minneapolis
(612) 614-2560
www.dariorestaurant.com