Corso 32, Edmonton Alberta

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I was prodded by a fellow Twitter person (tweep? twerp?) to come out of my reclusive shell that I like to hide in and partake in a dinner at one of Edmonton’s newest places to eat and be seen, Corso 32. And I do really mean that, it seems that Corso 32 is on the lips of everyone in the Edmonton food scene, writers, eaters and chef’s alike.

If you want a reservation, I would do it before you even read this post, because it takes that darn long to get in. If you wait 5 more minutes that might be a week longer wait for you.

One of the reasons it’s going to take you so long to get your table at this Edmonton hotspot is that there is very limited seating. I was seated at the very far end of the only large seating area by the front window-seating for 8 to 10 people- and this is the view of the entire establishment:

The decor is simple, clean and bright, perfect for the small space.

Marlow Moo. He has his own food blog. Really, I just can’t explain it further, go read and check him out.

Let’s start at the beginning of the food pictures and let me add that it’s mighty nice to go out with people who don’t think you are odd for taking pictures of food. I was lucky to be one of the first to arrive and promptly sat the closest to the large front window as possible for the best natural light.

This is fried short rib topped with a  Bartlett pear salad and it did exactly what a good short rib does: melted in the mouth.  It really was done perfectly, the fat was melted away until you were left with this amazing delicate meat that fell apart at the merest touch. I enjoyed how it was cooked to perfection but to be honest the flavor wasn’t my favorite for short rib.

The house made goat ricotta, maldon sea salt and crostini was amazing. The ricotta is whipped until it is as light as air and if you aren’t expecting it, you are surprised how it spreads onto the crostini easier than butter.

I was sad to share this dish with my dinner companions and it is on my hit list to possibly share with Mike when we return.

Maybe.

This would be house cured pork loin with  shaved nectarines & wild arugula.

I think. Sigh. This is why I don’t review restaurants.

I knew this would be the one I forgot since it’s not on the menu and was a special. It was delicious.

The fonduta ravioli with edgar farm asparagus and black truffle pecorino is a dish I would return for. As much as I can wax poetic about the richness of this homemade pasta, the perfectly cooked slightly crisp asparagus and how tears came to my eye with the wonder that real pasta can be, the bottom line when you eat at a new establishment is whether or not you would return. Was it that good?

Yes.

It also prompted a rather inappropriate discussion of how I would like to chain Chef Daniel Costa to my stove.

I said STOVE, people. Sheesh.

Now, I am going to apologize for this picture.

I kinda got some flack about it. I posted it as a tease on my Facebook page the night I got home.

It was mean of me.

A taunt of chocolate beauty.

I’m sorry, but the only place you are going to find this is at Corso 32. Reserve now.

The rich, velvety chocolate torta topped with caramelized, salty hazelnuts is one of the best confections I have ever had. My weakness in this world is chocolate and hazelnuts paired together and knowing this awaited me had me fidgeting with impatience through dinner.

This is not to be shared.

EVER.

You need to be alone with this dessert.

The 48 hr porcini crusted chuck flat steak, oyster mushroom and reggiano was not my meal, but it looked so beautiful I couldn’t resist a shot.

Oh and yes, there were people there.

This handsome gent would be Addie. He’s extremely photogenic, what a nice picture of him!

He didn’t understand when I asked him the good ol’ “Whatcha Do For a Living” conversation starter that replying “I’m a physicist” raised my eyebrows.

I mean, who doesn’t want to start asking him how much fun using a particle accelerator to smash atoms is? That’s total bad villan James Bond stuff.

I decided it was better to go with talking about our mutual love for San Francisco instead.

Next time I’ll pick his brain about this:

Observer O is located in an infinite space and is bombarded by particles (shown in blue) coming from infinity and moving along straight lines in random directions. This “rain” of particles is isotropic in its directions. At large distance from the observer there is a region of scatterers S shown in red. The region contains many scatterers of the blue particles. The scatterers are not isotropic. However, their orientation is random. Can the observer O detect the presence of the region S in the space by simply observing the distribution of particles arriving at O from different directions?
Note: You may assume that the scatterers are “dilute”, i.e. a particle is not scattered more than once.

Addie, I expect the answer in my comments 😉

So when I am not awkwardly taking pictures of people, I take pictures of the back of their head. Seriously Magpie, get it together.

This is Liv, who gathered us all together at her favorite digs, writer of food and all it entails for Vue Weekly.

She has a great profile, yes?

My only complaint, also voiced by others, is that it was extremely loud in the restaurant, the narrow space gives the acoustics a not at all appreciated boost and it was hard to hear and socialize with the people that weren’t directly across from you or seated beside you. Thus I do not have pictures of Marlow Moo’s entourage nor Joanna, another tweeter/Yelper foodie.

It was a lovely evening of food, meeting new people and pushing my personal boundary limits. I went without my Mike, who had to take the kids to last minute enrolled swimming lessons and he is my buoy in social situations.  So I patted myself on the back for going somewhere not knowing a single soul.

I mean, the whole reason I married him was to have a permanent date. Am I right or am I right here folks?

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Love,

The Hazelnut Torta Haunts My Dreams Magpie