About a week and a half ago, Mallory and I and another couple met at Chef Bryan Voltaggio's newest establishment, Aggio. The same concept as Aggio in Washington, DC (though this one is stand-alone as opposed to within another restaurant concept), this is Chef Voltaggio's first foray into Baltimore.
His timing is perfect, with the dearth of good Italian restaurants in Baltimore (Cinghiale aside!). And the evening was near perfect as well.
Aggio is located just outside the "gates" of Power Plant Live, where the Asian restaurant Tatu was once located. It is a couple of storefronts down from the Power Plant Live plaza, which limits the noise and the hullabaloo and hopefully restricts some of their patrons from stumbling in. Entering the restaurant seemed to challenge some people, as we saw more than one group attempt to come in via the patio doors, which were locked. A series of planters block the main entrance, funneling diners entering from the west onto the patio. When you go, make sure to enter underneath the awning!
The footprint of the space is the same as when it was Tatu, though there is new lighting, upgraded seating, and a new color scheme. I'm not quite sure why, but Italian and Italian-American movies were being projected onto the wall near the front entrance.
Mallory and I sat down at the bar to wait for our friends and ordered a quick drink. The first thing we noticed? The lights are bright. If you don't like to feel as if you're in the spotlight, the bar proper may not be for you. Ask to sit at one of the tables against the side wall if that's the case. The second thing we noticed? The bar is top shelf. No displays of flavored vodkas or Pucker; just lines of top-notch Italian apertifs and digestifs, fantastic high-end spirits, and an upper shelf of quality whiskey and Scotch.
After our friends arrived, we were seated at our table. Again with the lighting! It was a great table far from traffic patterns and the bar area, but directly underneath a seriously bright, undimmable (trust me, we asked!) CFL. I'm all for lowering your energy costs, but a good doc could have operated by that light! After a few minutes, we spoke to our server and he graciously offered to relocate us to a darker section of the restaurant. We were much obliged.
After being handed the menu - and having a few minutes to look it over - our group decided to forgo main courses and instead make a meal of piccolo piatti, antipasti, and primi. It was a decision we did not regret.
Note: As I cannot speak to the plates our friends had, I will only be commenting on dishes Mallory and I had.
Upon placing our orders, we asked to meet one of the Sommeliers, Chris Coker, who happens to be a bit of a legend on the Baltimore wine scene. Chris has a history of working at some of the best wine-centric restaurants in the city. From Corks with Jerry Pellegrino, to Blue Grass in South Baltimore, to Jack's Bistro before moving to Aggio, Chris has a reputation of finding spectacular bottlings for the price point that pair amazingly well his chef's menus. He did not disappoint! We simply told Chris that we wanted two bottles - a red and a white - that would pair reasonably well with what we were trying to order (not an easy task when we had six plates total, and eight different dishes, to pair). His choices turned out to be perfect.
After we had ordered our food and wine, a server started the meal off on a high note with bread for the table accompanied by housemade whipped ricotta cheese and a Parmesan funnel cake. Yes, you read that right. Parmesan. Funnel. Cake. Now the housemade ricotta put any other ricotta I've had around here to shame. But this was Parmesan funnel cake! The same consistency of the stuff you get at the state fair (though not nearly as greasy!), but with a tangy twinge of Parmesan that elevated it to massive heights!
A few seconds after we were done fighting over the scraps of funnel cake, our wine arrived. Chris had chosen a 2013 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis to match our first few courses, and a 2011 Passopisciaro Etna Rosso as the red to round out dinner. The Roero Arneis went amazingly with the Burrata courses we had. The full bodied white wine matched the creaminess of the burrata and was unfazed by the peaches and prosciutto the cheese was resting on. Fantastic dish + wonderful wine = happy couple! Everything on the plate played off of and enhanced the other ingredients while leaving the burrata as the star attraction. The beets paired well with the wine also, as the combination of pine nuts, rosemary, and beets along with peppery arugula simply shined.
After a bit of a break, the first course of pasta arrived. First the Lasagna, then the Ricotta Gnocchi. We counted at least nine layers on the lasagna dressed perfectly with a lamb bolognese and accented with a unique smoked pecorino. Certainly the most labor intensive lasagna I've ever seen, and one of the best too. Next time, I'll take a double! Then, the Ricotta Gnocchi, which had just the right amount of heat on the back end thanks to chili flakes in the pomodoro, and just a bit of fat from pancetta that made it great with the Etna Rosso and not too bad with the Roero Arneis.
This is where the evening became a bit more interesting. As Aggio has pretty much impeccable service, they employ a team technique to your table, which means you are taken care of by a number of servers, seemingly without one in charge. It makes for a wonderful service, but holes can develop - which is what happened to us. Seemingly our team forgot to fire our second course of pasta! However, after about 40 minutes (thankfully the company - and the wine - was wonderful) Chris returned to our table, apologized for the delay and offered us complimentary dessert and another glass of wine to accompany our final savory course. This was completely unexpected, most welcome, and really topped the evening off. And the wine, a 2012 Bruno Rocca Nebbiolo Langhe, was spectacular, not to mention off-list. Oddly enough for a Nebbiolo, this was bright and fruity with only a hint of tannin for structure.
A few moments later, our final pasta dishes came out. First, the Corn Cappellacci. If anyone has ever been to Volt (Chef Voltaggio's first restaurant, in Frederick, MD), you know how wonderful the Corn Ravioli can be. This is just as good; seemingly summer on a plate with some basil and slowly cooked tomatoes accompanying a bright, fresh pillow of pasta stuffed with corn and ricotta. It was the highlight of the meal. Then onto the Strozzapretti, with an oxtail ragu highlighted by a bit of orange flavoring and bittered by dark chocolate that really hit it off with the Nebbiolo.
We wrapped up the meal with two wonderful desserts, Affogatto and Tiramisu. The Affogatto was the traditional dessert, with a perfectly pulled espresso poured over salted caramel ice cream (our choice!). It was a unique combination to say the least, but one that worked pretty well. But it was the Tiramisu that really surprised us, as when it arrived it looked absolutely nothing like traditional Tiramisu. Instead, it took a page from the Volt book of whimsy and came to the table deconstructed, with mascarpone ice cream, a coffee "cloud", and coffee-chocolate "soil" topping the dish. It was presented wonderfully, and came together rather spectacularly at the end.
After a wonderful evening, our group departed Aggio happy, satiated, and ready to return. The night was incredible, and Chris Coker and the rest of the Aggio team made a group of everyday people feel like the most important table in the restaurant. Though not perfect, Aggio took responsibility for their mistakes, and made things right - something not many restaurants are willing to do nowadays. For that reason alone, we would return. But the food, the wine, and the service made it an experience we soon won't forget. Aggio, we will be back.
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