Adam Erace embraces the gastropub food with Italian twists at Alla Spina where he finds Chef Damon Menapace and the rest of Marc Vetri’s team is clicking.

Smothered with the promised Bolognese (made with guinea hen), that poutine would make even the most traditional Quebec lumberjack’s knees buckle, and Vetri was not kidding about the fries. Cutting the canola fryer oil with rendered beef fat (a la the Dandelion) gave the golden-brown batons a round, satisfying meatiness. It’s a heart-stopping quartet, this amalgam of potatoes, gravy, cheese and tallow, but Alla Spina shows mercy with its sensible portions and newer section of vegetables, “overlooked at the beginning,” according to Menapace and born of Vetri’s dissatisfaction with the early menu’s kale salad.

Alla Board [City Paper]
Alla Spina [Official Site]