Graffiti’s Italian Eatery and Saloon

$$+
The only thing more fun than eating is eating with a group of people who love food as much as you do. You immediately eliminate the awkwardness of eyeballing what everybody else is having and jump right into sharing each other's dishes. That's what happened to me the other night when grouped with a few local foodies that I had met at the food bloggers event Tuesday night.

Because Shari of Whisk food blog organized this lovely meal out, I had the honour of dining with some of my favourite food bloggers. Shari, who of course has the most beautiful photography or “food porn” I've ever seen, Don and Jenn of foodiePrints whose write-ups are so wonderfully detailed you feel as though you were actually there, and Paola whose amazing personality and contagious happiness had us engaged the entire evening. Paola does not have a blog, but she does tweet on a regular basis (http://twitter.com/cestboncooking).

Now onto the restaurant!

Given that Graffiti's has been nominated in the Kanata Chamber of Commerce People's Choice Awards, it seemed like a great spot for foodies to unite. I parked myself on the comfy bench at our table and began skimming through the menu. A few dishes caught my eye but I finally settled on the veal, goat cheese and sun dried tomato strascinati.

A lovely serving of bread, olives and oil were set in front of us. I went for the olives but held back on the bread, saving myself for the pasta dish. I figured a ceasar salad wouldn't fill me too much so I decided to start with that. A crisp salad with their homemade dressing, pancetta bits and a baked parmesan cheese crisp. Shari's trio of bruschetta looked very interesting, a selection of green olive and garlic tapenade, traditional roma tomato with basil and fresh parmigiano reggiano cheese, and pureed garbanzo bean with lemon and cumin all served with crostini. Although offered, I didn't try any, again, saving myself for the main.

We had barely finished our apps when the server arrived to say our meal was ready and if she could remove our plates. I quickly shoveled in the last few bites of salad and handed her my plate. Once we were settled with our food, we decided to try a bit of everything. All 5 of us started a production line of plates to be filled with tasty bites from everyone's dinner. What a fun way to try everything. Spaghetti, seafood linguini, chicken and ossobuco filled my little plate. Unfortunately, most of them were unexceptional, including mine. The ossobuco was tender and the flavours ok, but the risotto it was paired with did not have the hint of truffle the menu promised. The chicken was average and my strascinati fair. The seafood linguini with clams, scallops and shrimp was nice but sadly a bit too oily. The spaghetti I found to be quite insipid, overcooked and mushy with a tomato sauce that tasted as though straight from a can. And once again, before many of us had even finished our meal, the server was by to remove our plates.

We decided to share dessert. I'd have to say that this was the best bit of food of the evening. A yummy, warm apple dessert wrapped in brittle phylo pastry and served with creamy vanilla ice cream. 

I did have a wonderful evening despite my disappointment in the dishes. Good company will do that! But I don't think I will make the trek out to Kanata for this middle-of-the-road restaurant again. It was ok, just not stellar.

Prices range from $5 to $10 for apps and $12 to $32 for mains.

www.graffitis.ca