“Can it be that good?”
“What is all the fuss about?”
“I don’t know what I’ll have!”
These are snips of conversation Michael and I had while we waited for our month-in-advance reservation at Corso 32.
Well my friends, if you heard my Tweets last night, you might have thought I was experiencing some pleasures more apt to come from the activities going on in Penthouse Massage which is located next door to Corso 32. There was lots of moaning, toe curling and oh my gods coming from our table last night.
And yes, it really was that good.
I’ve walked past the place hundred times. I’ve peeked in the windows during the day, and the room appeared long and narrow. White chairs, white walls with a grey mural. It seemed a bit of a chilly place to me.
The buzz about Corso 32 was positive, right from when it opened. A low rumble. You got to try this place. It’s amazing. It’s different.
Meh. Heard all this before, and put it on the back shelf, thinking one day we’ll try it out and see if the buzz is right. One day arrived. It was yesterday.
The long narrow room that appeared cool in the day time, was warm and ablaze with candlelight by night. We were greeted quickly, and given a choice of two tables! Choice! Wow. So lucky to get a reservation, and now choice. We tucked ourselves towards the back of the room at Table 22, where it seemed coziest.
Tables are close together, and very reminiscent of Europe. But with a difference. There was still room to maneuver, so if prone to claustrophobia, I promise you will still feel you have your own space and room to escape.
Our server was beside us immediately. Smart. Attentive. Knowledgeable. Quick run down of the days specials. Two glasses of Prosecco ordered, and we were on our way.
Starters were a bowl of green olives with shaved fennel that were so delicious I stopped eating them to take some home with us. We also shared an extremely generous plate of prosciutto and a few slices of hearty rustic bread.
Wine was a pleasant bottle of Fontodi Chianti, recommended by our server, and it was a perfect fit for each of our mains. Michael opting for the pasta special, cleverly called Trotter and Tail ravioli – ravioli stuffed with 8 hour roasted pig feet and ox tail.
I selected the fried short rib. I don’t know if I was expecting a Flintstone’s sized brontosaurus rib to land on my plate or what, but what I got was a Borg cube of meat along with arugula and shaved pear. Seriously. It was a cube.
But before Lucutus of Borg would emerge from my cube of short rib, I destroyed the cube into a pile of the most delicious, succulent, rapture inducing food I’ve ever eaten IN MY LIFE. It was tender, succulent, beefy beef, with those delicious flavourful bits one scrapes from the pan and eats when no one is looking.
Dessert for the gentleman was a lovely pannacotta which Michael was reluctant to share with me. Mine was a chocolate torta that was the moan inducing toe curler of the evening. And after an experience like that, one normally lights up a cigarette, takes a long drag and looks at their lover in the eye and says, “Was it good for you?”. But since we don’t smoke, I finished with a Poli Miele grappa, and Michael with a Offley 20 year old port.
I have a few words to describe the evening we had last night. It was magical. It was medicinal. It was therapy. We celebrated food, our marriage, our friendship. We talked about life. We wept about life. We laughed about life. It was an intense evening. It was a memorable evening.
Corso32 seems to attract a mostly younger than us crowd. But we didn’t feel out of place. The ambiance is sotto voce, you can hear a most awesome playlist in the background, but not enough to drown out your own conversation. A few rectangles of smart phone light dotted the room, but no one was obnoxious about it.
The food was simply the most amazing food I have ever eaten in my life. I’m so excited that we have this place in Edmonton I finally feel a sense of genuine, button-bursting pride for this city. If I lived in another city, I would travel here, just to eat at this place. Calgary may have its mountains. Toronto has its CN tower. Edmonton has Corso 32. And thank god for that.
Location
10345 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton Alberta Canada
Phone
780 421 4622
Twitter
@corso32
Reservations required
LRT stop
The Bay/Enterprise Square
Edmonton Transit stops
1622 Westbound, 1271 Eastbound
Nearest airport
Edmonton International (YEG)
For friends in Calgary – take the Red Arrow to their downtown stop
You will arrive one block south of Corso32
Walsh Cooks - An Edmonton Food Blog 