Lovely touches set Brix apart

It's a long way from St. Louis Park to St. Peter's Square, but Brix Bistro and Wine Bar does a surprisingly good job of capturing the flavors and spirit of Italian cuisine. I was so impressed by my first two visits to the new restaurant at Excelsior and Grand that I invited friends along who spend half of every year in Rome. Their verdict: Brix can hold its own against their favorite trattorias in the eternal city.

That's not to say that Brix is just like the restaurants you will find in Rome. The style of eating is more American than Italian, with appetizers (many of them enormous) and generously portioned entrees, rather than the Italian-style sequence of small courses of antipasti, primi and secondi. And the young servers bring a cheerleader enthusiasm to their work that I have never encountered with Italian waiters. The decor is attractive, but not especially Italian. And you will rarely find restaurants in Italy that offer dishes from different regions on the same menu. But the flavors that come out of executive chef Cory Henkel's kitchen are magnifico. And prices are remarkably reasonable.

The surprise is that this restaurant seemed to come out of nowhere. When Mojito closed, the space was snapped up by Marty Collins, owner of McCoy's Public House next door. When I reviewed McCoy's a couple of years ago, I thought it was OK, as upscale suburban theme restaurants go, but nothing out of the ordinary. Collins had announced that Brix would be "a kind of Italian chop house." But it's a lot more than that.

Over and over again, there are lovely little touches that distinguish Brix from the usual upscale-mall Italian. Let's start with the starters. One of the least expensive is also one of the most memorable: a portion of fresh goat cheese from Donnay Dairy in Kimball, Minn., crusted with pecans and lightly drizzled with warm rosemary-scented honey, served with toasted slices of Italian bread. Every element of this composition contributes a note of flavor and texture, but none overwhelms the other.

Next, a composition of sweet jumbo sea scallops, pan-seared with a purée of butternut squash, crisp leaves of fried sage, brown butter and a sprinkling of tiny bits of pancetta. The sausage starter was simple but delightful: slices of spicy Italian pork sausage and a mild chicken sausage, combined with a lively sweet-and-hot ragout of red peppers and fennel.

Carpaccio has become a staple on restaurant menus, and everybody prepares it pretty much the same way: paper-thin slices of lean raw beef, drizzed with olive oil. Brix does it much more imaginatively, combining raw beef and cured prosciutto, leaves of arugula and mission figs stuffed with Gorgonzola.

Same goes for the bruschetta: Brix's generous platter offers three variations: olive tapenade, tomato-basil-and-buffalo mozzarella, and a grilled vegetable ragout. Even calamari got a twist: a hint of Parmesan in the crust.

Super salads offer a tasteful fit

We were equally impressed with the salads: the Caesar and caprese (tomato, basil and mozzarella) were pretty standard renditions, but the combination of roasted red and gold beets, goat cheese, baby pecans and arugula was a treat for the eyes and the palate. Also recommended is the unusual smoked duck and spinach salad, a pile of baby spinach leaves tossed with raisins, candied walnuts and apple, and topped with a generous mound of lean, smoked breast of duck.

Most of the pastas are homemade, including black and white ribbons of strichetti, tossed with lobster, scallops and crab in a savory vodka cream sauce. If you want to get picky, the strichetti were supposed to be pinched into little bowties, and these just lay flat, but that's no big deal. I would have preferred more sauce and less hot pepper in my linguine with clams, but it, too, was a well-crafted dish. Vegetarians have several attractive options, including fettuccine Alfredo, penne primavera and delicious house-made butternut squash cappeletti (if you order it without the sprinkling of pancetta).

Fish and seafood dishes appear on a nightly specials list, which didn't seem to change much between visits. The striped bass over fennel confit with a beautifully balanced grapefruit beurre blanc was a marvel, but the combination of delicate char and hearty vegetable ragout was less successful.

The steak Toscana was another favorite: a marinated New York strip, served sliced with asparagus, Yukon Gold potatoes, cippoli onions and a head of roasted garlic. But the roast chicken was pretty boring, though the accompanying bacon lentil ragout had a rustic charm.

For dessert, you can skip the fussy versions of tiramisu and semi-freddo, but don't miss the light and delightful raspberry mousse or the chocolate budino, a molten chocolate cake.

You don't have to spend a lot to dine well at Brix. Most pastas are priced below $13, and most appetizers are big enough to share. The extensive wine list includes a big selection of Italian wines in all price ranges, more than 20 wines by the glass or carafe, and 20 bottles priced at $20 each. During happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays, a small-plate menu is offered, and all of the carafes are half-price.

Jeremy Iggers • 612-673-4524 • jiggers@startribune.com