Last Friday we brought you Phaedra Cook’s first look at the brand-new Coppa Osteria in Rice Village, the sister restaurant to Coppa Ristorante on Washington Avenue. Debuting at nearly the same time, but across town in The Galleria area, was Osteria Mazzantini, the new concept from Mockingbird Bistro chef/restaurateur John Sheely.
I learned earlier this year, before the temperature was above 90 degrees and the summer’s wet-washrag mugginess had yet to set in, that Sheely was opening an Italian restaurant on Post Oak Boulevard when he suggested I try pappardelle and meat sauce, a recipe that he had been playing with while quietly working on Mazzantini’s new menu. We were eating lunch at Mockingbird Bistro, and I was thinking about ordering something entirely different. But when the chef has a suggestion you go with it, right?
I’ve known John Sheely my entire adult life, but I didn’t know he had an Italian background, being only accustomed to his French-with-a-Texan-accent approach to food. The man is full of surprises apparently, because he shared that his mother’s family (the Mazzantinis) immigrated from Tuscany to Galveston in the late 1800s, so he grew up eating the Italian food that inspires this new restaurant.
In July Sheely hired chef Paul Lewis to head the Mazzantini kitchen. I wasn’t really familiar with Lewis’s work, but years ago he had worked with Tim Keating at Quattro in downtown’s Four Seasons Hotel. He also worked within the national network of Four Seasons Hotels for nearly a decade before (and most recently) taking on the role of executive chef at Cullen’s down in the Clear Lake area. A friend who worked at Quattro during Lewis’ tenure raved about the British-born chef’s talent with Italian cuisine.
The Mazzantini menu is one of traditional Northern Italian fare rather than Italian-American classics like large bowls of spaghetti and meatballs and lasagna. Antipasti such as roasted bone marrow (photo above) with a garlicky herb sauce and crostini or creamy burrata with crisp cubes of pancetta are probably intended to be shared between two or four people, but would make a perfect lunch. Also lunchable: extremely thin and crispy pizzas. In particular we liked sweet onions and fontina cheese studded with sizeable chunks of wild mushrooms. Enjoy this in the fall sunshine out front on the terrace with a glass of rude red wine.
An order of risotto came with a few bites of succulent quail and what the menu describes as a huckleberry demiglace. It was dark brown and drizzled atop the risotto, adding a savory quality to the creamy risotto. But I didn’t get the huckleberry.
(For the record, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for when it came to the taste of huckleberry, so I googled. Huckleberry is related to the blueberry and is generally sweet. The risotto’s demiglace wasn’t sweet so much as it was savory and comforting. If you’re one for using food jargon in everyday speech, you might be interested to know that a huckleberry over my persimmon was a common phrase used back in the day to mean “a bit beyond my abilities,” according to Wikipedia.)
On my second visit for a weekday lunch, my Saturday night waiter remembered me and suggested that I try the bucatini alla carbonara. I predict this pasta will become one of the restaurant’s signature dishes. Bucatini is long skinny tubes — hollow in the middle, like straws — and generally regarded as the messiest get-sauce-on-your-face
Among the secondi entrees, braciola di maiale (photo left) stole my heart. I shared it with a friend on my first visit, and it set the bar high for any other pork chop that I have in my future. Very large and about an inch and a half thick with the bone in, the chop sat on a bed of sweet cooked purple cabbage. In my first few bites I skipped swiping my bites in the gorgonzola fonduta that circled the plate before I realized what it was. It offset the nearly candied cabbage with a tangy buzz and soft, creamy finish. If you’re going to get serious and order the pork chop, go easy on antipasti. The portion is large and the cabbage is abundant, and you might find yourself forfeiting your last few sips of wine for a petite macchiato to help your stomach digest your gluttonous expedition. (Ladies, this is a Spanx restaurant. ‘Nuff said.)
If you’re wondering about the parking situation at the BBVA Bank building — Osteria Mazzantini is on the ground floor at the west end — I have learned that at both lunch and dinner the valet is easiest. But there is also a paid parking garage, if valet is not your thing.
Reservations are practically required for dinner service: Your table may not be ready the minute your reservation time arrives, but the large bar area is comfortable and an ideal location for guests looking to partake on the happy hour. Just like at Mockingbird Bistro, Osteria Mazzantini offers “5 at 5” during the week with food and drink specials for $5 between 5 and 7 pm. Additionally, late dinner service is available after 10 pm at the bar.
Lastly, brunch began last week and is served 10 am to 3 pm on both Saturday and Sunday. For more information about brunch and menu additions, check out the Osteria Mazzantini Facebook page.
OSTERIA MAZZANTINI 2200 Post Oak Blvd. #140 713-993-9898 osteriamazzantini.com