Chow Down in Cowtown is an (almost!) weekly account of Calgary’s most awesome eats from Ceci n’est pas un food blog.

Strangely, even though Sorrentino’s is just at the foot of my neighbourhood, my family has only been there maybe once years ago, often opting to go to Misato instead. Recently, however, Sorrentino’s has completely revamped itself, bringing on chef Giuseppe di Gennaro of Capo to create a more family-friendly (read: less expensive) menu that still stays true to its Italian roots. I don’t know if the interior has been redone as well, but the restaurant now features an open kitchen, and the main dining room offers floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Sarcee Trail mountains of loam in preparation for the construction of the West LRT. Despite the fact that it was late last Sunday, there were still many families lingering from their Father’s Day feasts, so we were given a booth off to the side.

We kicked our meal off by sharing some tiny roasted red peppers filled with creamy mascarpone risotto ($11), which was topped with a bit of greens (which of course, I ate.) Everything was dressed in peppery olive oil and dotted with balsamic vinegar and pine nuts, and we greedily dipped the crusty bread from the basket into that instead of the olives it originally came with.

My brother ordered the soup of the day also ($9), which on that day, was a stracciatella, or egg drop soup with spinach. It wasn’t very flavourful, but happily did not reflect the rest of the meal we had. He also ordered a cappellini primavera ($15) as his “main” course, which he said was not “what he expected” (I think he erroneously expected tomato sauce) but he scarfed it down anyway.

My sister probably had the best main dish out of the three of us – grilled lamb chops with roasted potatoes and cannellini beans “fiaschetto” style ($25). The lamb chops were juicy and succulent, with the right mix of lean and fatty meats. The cannellini beans were rich, with a pleasantly surprising smoky flavour and little bits of sausage hidden throughout. The roasted potatoes had crisp skins and soft, buttery centres.

Compared to my sister’s large plate of lamb chops, I was a little taken aback by how small my portion of chicken saltimbocca with sage-butter gnocchi and sauteed Brussels sprouts ($24) were.

This dish really highlights sage, a minty, peppery herb that I find usually takes a backseat to more common herbs like basil and oregano. Instead of using the usual prosciutto, the chicken saltimbocca at Sorrentino’s is stuffed with ham instead, which makes it not too salty.

I was really impressed with the gnocchi, which had a nice springy bite and was surprisingly filling. And the brussels sprouts were good, but nothing overly special.

We had treats from the bake sale waiting for us at home, but a quick glance at the dessert menu shows traditional treats, like tiramisu, panna cotta and cannoli.

Overall, I found that the service at Sorrentino’s was quite pleasant, especially given that we were just three “kids” who clearly weren’t out with dad on Father’s Day – he’s out of the country right now – I would go back again for a change from my family’s usual weekly Japanese dinner, but I don’t think it’s a place I would go out of my way for.

Sorrentino’s
308 1919 Sirocco Dr SW
Calgary AB T3H 2Y3
(403) 246-5353
Open Sun-Thu 4:30 PM-10 PM; Fri-Sat 4:30 PM-11 PM.