We finished visiting Jean Talon Market and wanted to grab some lunch. I had read Impasto was good for pasta, so we headed there. We were seated on arrival. It was fairly busy but not full. The space reminded me of other Italian restaurants I've been to. It was clean and simply decorated. We tried the following: - Focaccia: Good. A little less fluffy and more crisp than most. The olive oil was excellent - very fragrant. Server was nice and provided a second complimentary portion, having seen my kids gobble it up. - Burrata: Very good. The standout was the corn that was so fresh and sweet. - Scallop (daily special): Very good. Letting simple, fresh ingredients speak for themselves. - Gnocchi: Excellent. Some of the best gnocchi I've had. Gnocchi was pillowy soft, and tomato sauce was incredible - Rigatoni Bolognese (daily special): OK. It was fine, but compared to the gnocchi, it didn't have the same punch Service was very good. Pleasant and attentive. Bonus points for the additional focaccia. Overall, good food and good service, no regrets going here. read more

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Fabulous food Chef created a blind tasting menu for us. Service was exceptional . We highly recommend this a a wonderful dining experience. read more

This place is phenomenal. Some of the best homemade pasta I've ever had (and I've had a lot). Don't miss the ricotta with honey and truffle - it's intoxicating! read more

We sat outside and it was a great ambience. Service was excellent. Our waitress was helpful, attentive, and very nice. We ordered the Insalata Di Pomodoro, Focaccia and Tagliatelle and all of it was excellent. Wine and desert was also very good. Definitely would do again. read more

Wonderful small Italian restaurant walking distance from the Jean Talon Market. It's popular so I made a reservation. I was able to arrive a little earlier and called the restaurant. They were able to accomodate my party. The food was so delicious. I had the burrata to start. It was so smooth, creamy and mixed with rapini and pesto sauce. My companion had the poached octopus which he enjoyed because it was cooked in the Japanese style. We had the tortelli and tagliatelle pastas with a glass of wine. Both were excellent and hit the spot. We could feel the love from the chef and the kitchen staff. We ended with a classic cannoli which I haven't had in a long time. The meal was a relaxing and satisfying end to a long day. read more

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The food was pretty good, lots of flavour,and colourful. The ladies/men working there were super nice!! Our server was exceptionally well mannered, and was talking up the entire menu. It was a good volume in the restaurant lots of people as well very busy place, but a little cramped and too full for me but that is probably because I live in a small town. read more

Impasto - Gnocchi - Italian Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

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Glorious lunch we stumbled upon whilst exploring Little Italy. The gnocchi is to die for: soft pillows that melt in your mouth. The wait staff was lovely and our meal was luxuriously paced. read more

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We ate here for American Thanksgiving. Started with the fried delicato squash, the stuffed calamari with lentils, and burrata with eggplant and tomatoes. All delicious. Then came gnocchi, cavatelli and branzino. Loved the pastas. the branzino was good and flavorful; potatoes a bit dry. Finished with chocolate mousse, cannoli and a boozy cake that was divine. read more

Impasto - Cannoli - Italian Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

Stylish Ambiente with marble-mosaic-tile bar front. We stopped for lunch after visiting the Jean Talon market. Get the gnocchi. Delicious. Good, attentive service. Best to arrive right as they open. Hopping by noon hour. read more

Impasto - Gnocchi - Italian Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

Fantastic food, , great service, our party ate the steak and also had pasta, highly recommended!

This was an amazing Italian restaurant in Petite Italie just off St Laurent on Dante. Very bright and charming interior, felt like a modern Italian restaurant in Italy. We came here to celebrate my boyfriends birthday and he was very pleased with his meal! The service was excellent, the waiter was very attentive and gave us some recommendations. We started off sharing the focaccia with olive oil. This was very good, the olive oil was some of the best I've had, wonderful deep flavour. Then we had the mozzarella di Buffalo which was served with some marinated leek, radicchio, beets and orange. This was a lovely twist on the typical mozzarella and tomato salad. Next my boyfriend had the linguine di sepia and I had the ricotta gnocchi. Both were excellent. The linguine was served with plentiful seafood and an olive oil sauce. The gnocchi were little tender pockets of ricotta in one of the best tomato sauces I've ever had. I could literally eat spoonfuls of that sauce. The only complaint we had was we wish there was more of it! To finish off, we shared two of the waiters recommendations for dessert: the semifreddo which is basically ice cream and the ricotta doughnuts. Both were delicious and were a good pair to eat together. The doughnuts came in a milk chocolate sauce. Thé cocktails were also quite unique and good albeit it a little strong! It is a little pricey, but well worth it. Thus, I strongly recommend it for a special occasion or if you're just really craving some good Italian food. read more

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Montreal's little Italy is packed with many wonderful restaurants, cafés and bakeries - @impastomtl is certainly in the right place. A comfortable and trendy ambiance matches the expertly prepared, creative, just downright excellent recipes. Every single meal we tried, every ingredient, every combination thereof impressed us completely. read more

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Still my favourite Italian restaurant in Montreal. A bit pricey but worth it. The service is perfect. read more

Wow! Fantastic food and even better service. I don't often leave a review but I felt obligated to do so. Super friendly and attentive. The food was terrific. Beginning with the Focaccia bread, followed by an exceptional berry salad. My wife had the Seabass and I had the Gnocci. Both were up there with the best we've ever had. We topped it off with their homemade cannolis and cappuccino. The cannolis were outstanding. A light, crispy shell with a super tasty filling. Just a perfect meal. Excellent ambiance in a quaint setting as well. read more

My forever best Italian in Montreal , it is expensive but in my opinion it's worth it. We have been there this week for my husband birthday, You need to book at least 2/3weeks in advance. I wanted to be in the terrasse. We had a spot at 8:30pm a little late but It was lovely. We had an amazing service by Sabrina. Great wine and as usual fresh and outstanding plates. The crudo de Tuna was Waou. The pasta simply perfection and even if I'm not a big fan of lamb, I loved it. And of course I never skip a desert, the semi credo is a must. 8 years at Montreal, tried most of them and Impasto is still my number one read more

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Took the starter (Crostone) which is homemade bread and mozzarella: very tasty. Then the signature dish (Porchetta) and explosion of savoury in the mouth (with the filling very flavoured) and perfect cooking. Then finished with Canoli made with mascarpone filling a bit like a tiramisu. One of the best Italian in my experience in Montreal, short menu carte but the talent of the chief is here. Definitely a try. read more

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This is probably the best Italian resto in town. If you wanna try some decent Italian food, you really should go here. We had the seared octopus and beef tartar for appetizers, the seared octopus was extremely delicious, there is no word in my mind to describe it. Also, the tartar is the best I've had. For the main course, we had a roasted piglet shoulder served with poached pear and some veggie. The juicy pork meat and crispy pork skin was a great combination of flavor and texture. We also tried the squid ink linguine. It was very tasty. The dessert was so sweet that cloyed. The waitress explained the menu specifically and served warmly. Anyway, it was really pleasant experience. read more

Came here for dinner last week with my boyfriend and my mom who was visiting from out of town. Overall, the food was good but the service was a bit questionable and there was a huge miscommunication issue where they sat my mom and I first, sat my boyfriend on the other side of the restaurant when he arrived shortly after us & we were both waiting for each other for 20 minutes! (my phone was dead so I couldn't tell him). Both of us came in and mentioned the same name the reservation was under, too. The only redeeming factor was the food itself, my mom and boyfriend had the duck papperdelle and I had the grilled mackerel. It was good! We shared the cannoli for dessert (comes in two small bites). We thought they would at least comp part of the dinner or offer something for the mishap that started our evening but they didn't. Alas, we probably will not be returning despite the food being good. There are other good Italian restos in mtl! read more

Impasto is the place to go if you want to experience authentic Italian fine dining in a classy modern setting. This is a perfect location for those "special" moments in your life such like an anniversary, a promotion at work, an engagement or making up to your significant other after screwing up big time. This place is the real deal when it comes to those special intimate moments, so make it count. So, let's talk about the food, eh? Impasto runs a very select, limited menu that they excel on. They do sometimes make changes to their menu but they go with their tried and true and deliver fantastic expectations to your taste palette. I went with their "Chef's selection of artisanal charcuterie" board as an appetizer, their Porchetta plate (Roasted piglet shoulder, rapinis and poached pear) as a main and the chocolate flan for dessert. The charcuterie board was beautifully presented with about 4 slices of a variety of homemade cold cuts, there was also champagne pate and olives. It was all in all totally delicious! I particularly enjoyed their mortadella and champagne pate. While I did really enjoy the board, sharing it with another person basically limited my portion to about 2 slices of each meat. The price-tag is set at $32....and that pricing is painful for the amount provided. The Porchetta plate was simply PERFECT!!! This is what gastronomy is allllllll about. The porchetta was crispy on the inside and moist and flavorful on the inside. OH MY GOD. The rapinis were spicy and tasty and the cold poached pears were just the right amount of sweet. I did taste circles around this fantastic dish. I went from the porchetta, to the rapinis to the pear and went back. Salty to spicy to sweet. MARVELOUS 6 STARS and worth every penny of the $36 price-tag!!!!! Good portion size. For dessert I had their chocolate flan and it was just OK. It was an ambitious spin to one of my favorite dishes but I tried to be too many things at once and my taste-buds were confused. I also tried their cannoli as well and I'll freely admit it was nowhere to close to the best I've had elsewhere. The service was on-point all night long, very attentive, very efficient. Not necessarily friendly but all in all very good service. As for the price-tag... heh.... let's just say that some of these items are quiiiiiite pricey. Some menu items are priced in a way it actually hurts looking at it... for example the cold cuts plate priced at $32. While I certainly appreciate some of these are signature dishes there's a little exaggeration going on here! While I'd love to come back for seconds one day, the price-tag makes it more of rare special thing and maybe that's exactly what ownership wants to accomplish. Either way, I recommend to try Impasto out. Do it if you want to impress your significant other but be ready to pay the price for your evening. read more

Impasto - Canollis - Italian Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

This place has been on our list for a long time and I can see why.  We really enjoyed our dinner here, we started with the octopus on spicy puré of tuna, then a seasonal vegetables. Our  second course was the cacio peppe pasta and the braised rabbit pasta. For our main, we shared the porchetta. Every dish had a unique taste and was a hit. Really liked that the staff acknowledged our requests and made us feel comfortable. They had some really interesting wine by glasses which paired well with our different courses. read more

Situated in little Italy, this place serves market oriented authentic Italian cuisine. From roasting their own porchetta, to hand made pasta and privately imported Italian wine, this place brought me back to Tuscany without the airfare. The decor is casual trendy; think rustic wood with modern lines. The ambiance is jovial as it hosts quite a diverse and entertaining crowd. From families to couples and some (I'm pretty sure) Italian mafia... it's your typical little Italy spot! ;) The food is however what really makes this place shine. We started with the venison carpaccio served with arugula, roasted peppers and shavings of provolone. The venison was insanely tender and paired perfectly with the salty provolone cheese. Cleanse the palate in between bites with a sip of Nebbiolo wine and it was heavenly bliss! We continued the tasting with an entree sized portion of their home made gnocchis, which were served with a stracchino cheese sauce and braised cabbage. This dish is definitely on the heavier side but worth all the calories. The gnocchis were perfectly cooked as they were fluffy in texture and just melted in your mouth. For mains we ordered the Nonno's porchetta as well as the lamb shank.The porchetta is not the usually thin slice meat you'd get in a sandwich, but a thick piece of juicy pork roast prepared with tender, love and care. The meat inside was moist and bursting with herb flavour while the skin outside was crispy with a hint of sweet on savoury. Definitely the best I've ever had! The lamb, although very decent, fell short compared to the pork roast. It was well prepared as the meat was fall off the bone, but didn't standout in taste. As for price, it's in the mid to higher bracket. However, servings are generous and the food is so good that you'll feel like it's money well spent. In summary, this place is 'ça coche'! Just go! But make sure to reserve in advance as the word is getting out and this place is becoming increasingly popular. read more

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Location: Little Italy - on Dante, right off of St. Laurent. Street parking only - look out for the resident-only parking zones! The place: Loved the simple but modern decor, with its large windows that offer up perfect lighting. What can I say, you notice light when you're into photography! The restaurant isn't huge by any means, but they do make good use of the floor space. That said, you'll need reservations if you want a table, and you'll want to book well in advance. I was unsuccessful in getting reservations when I tried to book 1-2 weeks ahead of time (twice) so.... you've been warned. The food: OK - I think my expectations were set excessively high due to the reviews, and as such, I felt a little disappointed. Don't panic - this isn't a crappy review. My date and I started with the buratta and tomato, which was both fresh and delicious. It's not very heavy either, so is the perfect starter because it won't fill you up before you receive your main. We decided to share the appetizer and from my perspective, it was perfect for two people. Now, if you're a 200-pound male, you might want to get your own appetizer. My main was pasta with lobster. Do I remember the name of the pasta? Nope, but it's very similar to Strozzapreti, which is a short, thick noodle that has a bit of a twist. The pasta was al dente and perfectly cooked. Personally, I felt that there was enough lobster in my plate, BUT others may not feel the same for the price point. The lobster was fresh but I found it to be somewhat chewy. In terms of overall flavor, it pains me to say that the dish was underwhelming. I was expecting the dish to burst with flavor but sadly, it did not. Flavor was almost non-existent. My date on the other hand, really enjoyed the Casarecce so maybe I just ordered the wrong dish or the chef was having an off-night. I ended with the Tiramisu, which was delicious. Perfect balance of coffee and cream - I would have bought several jars of these to bring home, had they been for sale =-D Service: Great. Our waiter was friendly, took the time to explain the menu, made suggestions on what to eat and drink, and patiently waited while we decided on what to order. Price point: A little painful. Considering the size of the portions (small), and also taking into consideration the quality of the food (great), I feel that the menu is a little overpriced. For a glass of wine, appetizer, main and dessert, it cost me $73 (excluding tip). At this price point, I would perhaps expect complimentary Prosecco or something. Verdict: I enjoyed my overall experience so I'll give these guys a redo. read more

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Like the food very much!!!! Unlike other Italian food which is very salty, Impasto is perfect. For sure I will come back. read more

Impasto - Very good..... recommend! - Italian Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

I finally got to try this place. It's been on my list for quite some time. If your budget is tight, go for lunch: they offer 2 courses for 21, or 3 courses for 27. Note: they make their own fresh pasta and they change the menu every week. You can find it on their website. The bread they serve at the table is to die for, the entree was on point, the pasta was perfectly al dente and the coffee+desert were the perfect ending. I will def go back again. read more

It was the best meal I had in a while. I came in for lunch and it was amazing. The service was impeccable, I got s table right away without much waiting and the waiter came by table after each dish to make sure everything was all right. I got the warm smoked salmon as a starter. It was slightly grilled, which elevated the taste of the salmon with a little bit of melted fat. The whipped cream cheese and the salad with refreshing vinegar and oil made this starter very impressive. The waiter recommended a glass of white wine from Sicily, it was a good compliment to seafood, it really brought out the freshness of the fish and the upcoming shrimp main dish. The main dish is a sort of pasta(I forgot the name), it got the right amount of chewiness, along with the shrimps, pine nuts and the wine, it was superb! The only regret I had was I didn't have their dessert, I bet it must be good as well. read more

Impasto - Warm smoked salmon starter, very refreshing - Italian Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

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One of the best restaurants in Montreal. Every dish was better than the last. We started off with a mozzarella and pesto app and dumplings, then had a calamari pasta and ended with their signature dish, the piglet shoulder. The shoulder was served with a pear and cherry sauce that wasn't too sweet but made the fat on the shoulder one of the best things I've ever tasted. Amazing. Can't wait to bring other people here to try the piglet. The ambiance was very nice. We sat at the bar and had a great view of the restaurant and the other customers. read more

First time here and only regret not visiting earlier. Every item we ate was world-class. Great place for a date to remember. Try some of their private importation wines as well. read more

Impasto - Pasta - Italian Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

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The appetizers were the best part of the evening. We had the Quebec Mozarella and the Octopus. So goooood. Since it's kinda fine dining, the portions were really small but I feel that was important in enhancing thw taste of each dish. You could feel each element of the mozzarella and the sweet potato burst into joy in your tastebuds. The octopus was pan fried with lentils and had a sweet and sour kinda taste. Such a graceful dish. For maincourse, I had the lamb shanks which was so perfect at first but slowly lost its charm by the end of the meal. The meat was tender,almost falling off its bone and was paired with a side of spinach( i think), chickpeas and cream cheese. I loved that pairing and the gravy also had a bit of tomato. It was great! But i don't know why it didn't feel the best at the end, could be because the dish wasn't as hot and I don't like eating cold-ish lamb. My sister took gnocchi and it tasted amazing. However, we also tried the cod pasta which wasn't all that great. I feel part of why my experience wasn't as fantastic was because the waiter was not too welcoming. He was friendly, yeah, but he seemed reluctant to explain things on the menu. The entire menu was in italian and we were barely understanding what to order. But he gave me an impression that I 'should' be able to understand it. But he had great wine recommendation! read more

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Went to Impasto on a late Wednesday evening (our reservation was for 8:30pm) and the place was absolutely packed. Crazy busy so make sure you reserve in advance. We sat at the bar and had great seats of the chefs working their magic. Our server was fantastic - explained the menu thoroughly and made a few suggestions on what to order. We decided to share a couple of dishes between the two of us: - Homemade Apuglia style sausage ($13) - came with rapini in an apple vinegar. Sausage was tender and full of flavour. Rapini gave a nice contrast to the sausage. - Mafalde pasta ($20 for full size) with rabbit ragu, chicory and olives. Pasta was cooked perfectly al dante. This is deliciousness on a plate. - Nonno's porchetta roast ($26) - a massive portion of perfectly cooked porchetta. Just the right amount of fattiness to it. Nice crispiness on the outside and super tender on the inside (you could break it with your fork!). Came with rapini and poached pears. - Tiramisu ($7) - small portion but you can taste the cream/liquor in the tiramisu. Perfect way to end our meal. - Glass of pinot grigio ($10) Everything was amazing - full of flavour and cooked perfectly. Wish we had ordered more so I could have tasted more of the menu. If I lived in Montreal still, I would be back! Especially for their lunch menu which I believe is very reasonable (2 for $19, 3 for $25). Great spot in Little Italy. Go go go. read more

I have tried many times to come to this restaurant but its always full. Finally one night around 9:30 we were passing by and decided to take a chance and see if they had a table available lucky us they did. Waiter sat us down, and gave us the menu. The restaurant itself is very nice, great ambiance, nice decor, dim lights, I truly enjoyed the atmosphere and was excited to order. The drinks were truly spectacular, I had the lemonade mojito and it was out of this world. We ordered grilled calamari for appetizer and i order the half portion of tomato basil gnocchi. To be honest the portions were too small for the price you are paying and it was oh so salty. I mean veryyyyy salty, at first I thought maybe it was just the calamari, but both our main dishes were too salty. I swear I thought I was go blind. So be fair I can't really judge the taste of the food because the salt overwhelmed my taste buds. I am giving it 3 stars for ambiance, drinks and good service. read more

Made a reservation to Impasto as it was listed as top 10 restaurants on a food blog I came across. It was a Saturday night and the place was packed. We were seated in an awkward location in the middle of the hallway (our other option was by the door which we declined). Service was ok - there were times we were waiting for our server. I would say the food was ok too. I would describe the food as Italian with a French twist, kinda like a fusion. If you are expecting a true Italian place - Impasto is not it. read more

We tried this resto only after Pizzeria Gema had no place for us. Appetizers were just OK. Main meals not so great. When we complained all we got as an answer was that chef had been advised. That's it... Never again. read more

Great service, amazing food, loved loved loved itAccommodated w/o reservations, had terrific tasting menu, go here.

Modern setting Good wine list Small portions Overrated. Nothing really blew me away, food,mediocre at best. Pricey considering the portions. This experience Left a whole in my wallet. read more

Great service, great menu. It was a bit loud, but that happens sometimes. I had the cod antipasti, the linguini vongole as a primi, and the caciucco with squid ink frascatelli in an herb broth as a secundi. The cod was delicious - very light and bright and flavorful, but underseasoned to my taste. Not only is this easily rectified, but as an American, my taste seems to run to a heavier hand with the salt than most Montrealers. The linguini was excellent. I'd come back here for this dish alone. It was beautifully cooked and bursting with flavor. The last dish was problematic for me. The broth was amazing. I would have liked more frascatelli than there was. The fennel bulb was cooked beautifully, as were the clams and the shrimp. However, the grilled octopus, which was the central protein didn't do it for me. I thought it was overcooked and overcharred, making it kindof useless on the plate. But because the rest of the dish was so wonderful, this ended up being a serious ding rather than a complete derailment. read more

I'm not sure I have enough space here to explain how good this meal was!! My fiancé and I stumbled on this restaurant tonight, as we wandered around Montréal for the last night of our trip and since it was 5pm we were able to be seated even though we didn't have a reservation. They let us know they had full reservation at around 8:30 so we'd need to be done and both of us assumed, 3 1/2 hours, we will be done and gone in an hour! If we could have fit any more food we would still be there!!!! This was by far not only one of the best meals of our trip but one of the best meals of our lives!! First, the waitstaff were phenomenal. They know the menu and are able to guide you to the most amazing selections that matched our taste while helping us be a little adventurous too! We started with the octopus and short rib appetizer and were absolutely blown away!! We also had two pasta dishes and both were amazing! The gnocchis melted in your mouth while the other pasta (I can't remember the name) had such wonderful flavor combinations that we licked both plates clean!! At this point we had not order a main dish but decided that we couldn't leave without trying the chef's main entrees as well. We shared the cod dish and it did not disappoint!! The fish was cooked perfectly and the flavors were simple but matched beautifully to the fish! We also got the dessert which was a spice cake with dulce de leche and hazelnuts that worked amazingly (I'm running out of synonyms for phenomenal!!) the only downside of this restaurant is that it is in Montreal and we live in Massachusetts!! But we have already decided that weekend trips to come back will definitely need to happen!!! Please treat yourself and come here and be sure to listen to the staff! Their recommendations will not steer you wrong!!! read more

Impasto - Our full meal! The short rib and octopus appetizers, gnocchi and another delicious pasta and then the cod main dish! - Italian Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

Our Impasto experience was like a good expensive wine, end to end joy and complex flavours. The restaurant has an opened kitchen and we were offered seats at the counter in front of it. I think this kind of made the dinner complete, it is so much fun to eat well and watch how the same food is mastered in front of you. Impasto had a brand new menu when we came for dinner and our careful reading of reviews all over the social media, as to pick dishes in advance, was in vain. The menu definitely has seasonal orientation and I love surprises. My appetizer was an amazing beet salad, so carefully presented that I felt bad eating it, the scallops of my partner in crime were pretty good too. If I could I would have tried all the four pasta dishes, it was difficult to choose between the ink linguini, squash and quince options. My friend ordered the cavatelli with spicy sausage, heavenly! I went with the quince, partridge and mushroom dish as recommended by our host. I love quince and the flavour in the pasta was pretty amazing, but the entire dish somehow didn't come fully together. The pasta was cooked really al dente. If a manage to come back, my next choice would be definitely the ink linguini with clams, they looked so attractive when delivered over the counter for other customers. We also like to share our adoration for the pasta chef, he was a madman when it got crazy busy in the kitchen. The main corse was amazing, the porchetta is a must try dish. We did wise to share, it is heavy, but don't you even think of not eating the fat. My first bite is the reason I will come back to Impasto, so full of flavours and spices. Dessert comes in little jars, the tiramisu is five stras, the white chocolate panna cotta was ok. Wine list is long. We were in for a treat and my date ordered an expensive bottle of red, which was just perfect with the food. We also finished with dessert wine, private import from Italy with peach flavor, so good and again recommended by the wonderful hosts that took care of us. Yes, service is actually six stars. Back to our counter top seats with special view of the kitchen. This is a brave decision of the owners, the kitchen should be impeccably clean, the cooks have enough pressure to deliver, when curious eyes are staring at them. I would always pick the same spot when coming back to Impasto, as I loved to watch how the rhythm picks up and how it slows down as the first round of servings is done. Was it an expensive dinner, yes it was, because we chose so, we took the full package of this restaurant and without regret. Yum! read more

One of the best meals we have ever had. Ate at the bar on a busy Saturday night. All I can say is WOW. Better than any Italian restaurant, even in NYC. Porchetta, the best we have ever had......... We started with burrata and caponata, so good. Shared a portion of spaghettoni with rabe pesto and guanciale....omg good. and instead of the gorgeous looking cannoli, I had the halibut crudo for dessert! (I'm weird). It was amazing. GREAT service, and great Italian wines by the glass and bottle. Wish we could go back every weekend........great stuff happening in Montreal. read more

Very delicious and lovely restaurant tucked on the best side street of family-owned deliciousness in Little Italy in Montreal. This is one of the Faita family restaurants and it prides itself on homemade pasta, homemade charcuterie, traditional Italian recipes served in a modern comfortable room. The staff are super kind and friendly and helpful. It's pricey but worth it for a special occassion. read more

After a few months of waiting, I finally had the chance to check out the Italian restaurant everyone is talking about right now - Impasto. This small space, located in the heart of Little Italy and only a short walk from the Jean Talon Market, was born of the collaboration between Michele Forgione (formerly of Osteria Venti) and Stefano Faita, host of CBC's In the Kitchen. Impasto aims to provide great Italian food with no shortcuts - almost everything is made in house. Walking into the space, that level of craft permeates even the decor. Beautiful open kitchen with wood panel walls, leather banquettes, terrazzo floors, Pelligrino bottles lining the ceiling and just enough lighting to really brighten up the room. I sat down with a Negrini in hand, ready to enjoy a wonderful meal with a group of friends. First up, we have the Insalada di Moscardini - baby octopus, fennel, potato and red onion salad. A beautifully balanced salad. The freshness of the fennel combined nicely with the bite of the red onion, the starch of the potatoes and the fatty octopus. Add a little olive oil and some herbs and you had a great starter to the meal. The other starter I got to try was the housemade Apulia style sausage with pan seared rapini and apple vinegar. Great texture to the sausage as well as great flavour. The combination of the rapini and the apple vinegar adds some nice acidity to the fatty sausage. I know rapini isn't everyone's thing but I personally love it so that worked for me. The next course was the pasta course. I went for the ricotta gnocchi with basil infused tomato sauce. This dish is probably Chef Forgione's speciality and I had heard so much about it that I wasn't sure it could meet my expectations. Well..... it blew them out of the water. The slow pillowy texture of each morsel. The rich ricotta flavour. I have never had gnocchi that literally melt in your mouth like these ones did. Lightly tossed with a simple but very flavourful tomato sauce, this was pretty much the best pasta dish I have had all year almost without saying. Bravo Chef! I also got to try another pasta dish - the mafalde with rabbit ragu, chicory and olives. The mafalde pasta itself was wonderful - great texture, indicative of people who know how to make great in-house pasta. The combination of the rabbit ragu with the chicory made for very earthy notes - a nice contrast to the richness of the ricotta gnocchi I had previously. For the next course, I went with Nonno's porchetta roast served with a vanilla pear, pan seared rapini and some candied fruits. This was an amazing roast - deliciously rich and fatty pork meat with crispy skin. The skin wasn't the crispest I've ever had but still wonderful. The inclusion of the vanilla pear and the candied fruits provided some sweetness to balance with the inherent saltiness and fattiness of the roast itself. I love porchetta and Impasto's take just reinforced my love. For dessert, we went with the Tiramisu and the chocolate tort cake. I'm not a big fan of Tiramisu due to my hatred of coffee but this one was milder in terms of the coffee taste and had a wonderfully smooth texture. The chocolate cake had more of a brownie texture - very dense but still moist. Very well executed. This was a great meal all around. Impasto aims for great Italian food and they hit on all the notes. As a party, we did find the service to be slightly slow in terms of bringing water and taking wine orders but it is a minor quibble. Now, the menu changes seasonly and ironically enough, they just changed the menu for the fall so you won't be able to try the dishes I described above. However, that should not stop you from going menu unseen. I have no doubts you will be as satisfied as I was. Now, I just want to go back to see what Chef Forgione and company have in mind for the current season. Cheers! read more