Rinata Restaurant recently opened on Hennepin in a space that used to be owned by Giorgio’s Wine Bar. To be honest, it’s not the ideal space for a restaurant of any type, as the big glass doors and window in the front aren’t very conducive to an intimate eating atmosphere. It works well for Wuollet’s next door, but it’s a liability for an Italian restaurant. Rinata’s addressed this pretty well by artificially separating their space into a few separate rooms.
When we walked in to Rinata the place was a little empty—not a great sign on a Friday night, but they’re new on the scene so they deserve a little time to get some word of mouth going. We were seated in a small room to the side with about five tables. Service was quick, and our waitress had glasses of wine in our hand shortly after we sat down. Sarah went with a glass of Pinot Noir, and I decided to try something new with a glass of Barbera.
This being the first Italian restaurant we’d visited since our trip to Italy this summer, we were eager to see how they executed the dishes we’d enjoyed there. One of my personal favorites from that trip was the traditional antipasti plate of meat and cheese, which in Italy was a great, simple way to experience the local produce. The closest thing Rinata offers is an artisanal salami plate, which comes with olives, marinated artichokes, parmesan, and mozzarella. According to the waitress, it’s all locally sourced—and in fact, we learned that Rinata produces the mozzarella themselves. Not surprisingly, Minnesota cheese and salami is not quite as flavorful as the stuff we had in Italy. But it was still pretty good. And whether in Italy or Minnesota, I’ve never fully understood the appeal of unsalted mozzarella—to someone raised on Kraft string cheese and frozen pizza, it just tastes like a cube of solid milk.
After we polished off the antipasti, Sarah ordered the butternut squash ravioli, and I went for the pappardelle with duck ragu. Sarah’s ravioli was tasty, but a little boring. Also, there wasn’t much of it—not terribly surprising, given how much labor it takes to actually make the stuff. Note to value nuts: if your main concern when going out to eat is getting a lot of food for your money, then you should steer clear of high-labor dishes like ravioli and gnocchi.
My pappardelle was good—but again, not great. The papparedelle (basically thin lasagna noodles sliced into little strips) was substantial, and the duck ragu was fresh and tomatoey. But the menu had promised goat cheese, and I didn’t see any. Basically, I was looking for a little more complexity out of this dish. Simplicity has its place, especially when you’re talking about Italian food, but I still think that the dish could have benefited from an additional element.
For dessert, we decided to share an order of cannoli, and I wanted a shot of espresso. We were expecting to share a single cannoli—but when it came out, we were surprised to see two on the plate! Rather than using the traditional marscapone, Rinata uses ricotta cheese for its cannoli, which makes for a lighter taste and feel. We’re no experts, but Rinata’s cannoli is among the best we’ve had.
Sarah and Andrew’s Verdict: B-. Our first visit to an Italian restaurant since coming back from Italy was enjoyable, but not extremely memorable. The salami plate was an admirable attempt at an Italian mainstay—and it’s great that the meat and cheese are all locally sourced. The entrees were good but needed a little something extra. The best part of the meal may have been dessert. One of the things most conspicuously lacking from the Twin Cities dining scene is an inarguably great trattoria featuring authentic Italian fare. Kudos to Rinata for trying, but it’s not quite there yet.
