Aventino
3206 Winthrop Ave, FW.
817-731-0711 |
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Bubblicious
Aventino in West Fort Worth has been owned by Al Paez and family since 1982. Aventino’s Ristorante, as it was known back in the day, closed last summer for expansion and remodeling. Al credits daughter Erica and son Derrick for the extreme makeover. The cozy (some say crowded) place that formerly seated 50 is now a sophisticated open space with room for 42 in the main dining room and 15 in the fancy, shiny new bar area.
Paez has turned the cooking over to Derrick, a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef. Exec chef Derrick gets props for the Spartan, inventive new bill of fare featuring Central Italian cuisine. You’ll find pumpkin gnocci and a wild boar parpadelle on the menu. Just don’t ask for pizza or anything “hospitaliano.”
But Paez says Erica gets the big ups for the newly expanded Aventino bar. Housed in the space that used to be Adair Optical, the sleek bar features some imaginative drinks courtesy of bartender Jason Shelly. As is generally true with that part of Camp Bowie Boulevard, you’ll find well-dressed people of varying ages who know their way around a wine list. You won’t find college kids or happy hour beer specials.
That’s not a bad thing, especially if you’re craving a grown-up evening. Paez calls the place an “enoteca” –– a wine library –– which is not far from the truth. Aventino’s wine list features an impressive selection of Italian and California varietals at reasonable prices. At the fancy media open house at the end of February, I discovered the 2005 Abiouness San Giovese from Napa, which goes for around $60 a bottle. It was luscious, plummy, and much superior to the house red at Chez Laurie.
The bar menu is even better than the wine list, perhaps because I didn’t need a sommelier to interpret it for me. Aventino has two cocktails that should be patented soon. The Lemongrass Drop martini is a variation of the Lemon Drop but fancier. Shelly infuses Italian Tuaca (brandy with a little vanilla and orange) with lemongrass and strains it into a crystallized ginger-rimmed martini glass. It took all of my willpower not to gulp the sweet-and-sour drink and then lick the ginger crystals off the rim.
The shocking-pink Double Bubble martini is kitschy. Who puts Double Bubble bubblegum on a bar menu? Between pouring drinks, Shelly described the complex process by which he infuses the gum into vodka.
“But,” he finished, “You could probably just put the Double Bubble into the vodka and let it sit overnight.”
Whatever. The concoction sounds terrible, but a few sips in and I was hooked. It’s not as gooey-sweet as you’d imagine, and once you get past the oddly horrifying pink color, it’s really tasty. Almost addictive. As in, “please sir, may I have another?”
Perhaps the nicest thing about Aventino’s bar is that it feels elegant-yet-casual without trying too hard to be elegant-yet-casual. Maybe it’s because the Paez family enjoys the congenial, long-standing relationships they’ve built with their Westside residential neighbors. Al will probably greet you at the door, and if he doesn’t know you, he will by the time you’re done. The majority of the hundred or so people packing the place on media night were longtime friends and neighbors. The incredibly busy bar staff never seemed inconvenienced by the questions about beer, wine, and mixed drinks coming at them from all directions. Aventino is only open evenings, with bar service until 11 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and ’til midnight Thursday through Saturday.
Contact Last Call at lastcall@fwweekly.com.
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