Photo by Michael Gardiner
Melenzana Affumicata and Fiori di Zucchine
Italian food is simple food, and that’s by no means an insult. Italian fare is all about good ingredients prepared with skill and caring. It’s just as much about balance and patience as it is about time and elegance. That is what is offered up at Little Italy’s Civico 1845 (1845 India St.) and it is remarkable.
San Diego is a city with a neighborhood called “Little Italy” and a Gaslamp District that, for decades, sported wall-to-wall Italian spots, many of which put out cookie cutter Italian-Top-40 food from nearly identical menus. There may (or may not) have been genuine Italian accents in evidence at those places, but few of them made it onto plates.
Not so at Civico. Take for example the Caprese starter. Caprese salads are ubiquitous on Italian restaurant menus and, for that matter, on plenty of non-Italian menus. Most aren’t good. Civico’s features incredible burrata (think mozzarella plus cream), gorgeous large orange heirloom tomatoes, fruity cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, black lava salt, peppery arugula, a bit of balsamic vinaigrette and fresh figs. Civico gets what the dish is about: extraordinary ingredients presented simply with just enough intervention from the kitchen to show them off to their best effect.
Another starter, the melanzana affumicata, is a different take on the simplicity theme: eggplant, smoked Buffalo mozzarella and a tomato sauce. The smoked mozzarella is the star of the dish and, in the hands of a less talented chef, the urge to do more would yield less. Instead, the slight sweetness and acidity of tomato sauce—that Italian staple—perfectly highlights that star.
Co-owner brothers Dario and Pietro Gallo are from Cosenza, Calabria in Italy’s far south and Civico’s food reflects that region. Casareccia alla calabrese is pasta and ricotta dumplings with house made fennel sausage, wild mushrooms, calabrian ‘nduja and a parmigiano sauce. The casareccia and dumplings are highlights, but it is that ‘nduja—a spicy, spreadable Calabrian take on French Andouille sausage (hence the name)—that ties together and makes the dish.
Calabria again plays a big role in the scialatielli civico, which features handmade fettuccine-like noodles, Calabrian chilies, cherry tomatoes and wild arugula. But it is the Caledonian (think Scottish) prawns that are the dish’s focus. The brininess of those prawns is perfectly balanced by the peppery arugula.
Pietro Gallo, co-owner and kitchen manager of Civico, is in the odd position of being a vegan passionate about a cuisine that isn’t always vegan-friendly. That’s what makes it all the more remarkable that in addition to Civico’s usual menu, he and Chef Alfonso Pisacane put out a complete vegan menu. Go for the stuffed pasta. A couple examples: The ravioli boscaiola, house-made ravioli filled with truffles and wild mushrooms is excellent, but the Ravioli al Basilico (stuffed with a vegan pesto) from an earlier menu may have been even better. The key to both, and to a lot of Civico’s food, is really good olive oil.
The food at Civico is infused with a spirit that imbues all great Italian cuisine: good ingredients cooked simply but with care, skill and patience. It’s a formula that’s often been missing from San Diego’s Italian food. It’s a spirit that Civico 1845 has in spades.