Dispatch dining reporter Bob Vitale on the North Market | Watch
The iconic Downtown food hall is a microcosm of the Columbus food scene.
Bar Italia, a new Italian bistro, has opened at Easton Town Center in Columbus.The menu includes pasta dishes, meat-centered entrees and a variety of desserts.
When Rick Doody announced plans in 2024 for Bar Italia, an Italian bistro destined for the prime real estate along Easton Town Center’s central fountain, he promised familiar dishes elevated to a new level.
Mission accomplished.
Bar Italia opened for business June 30 and already has kicked into gear with dinner service starting at 3 p.m. and lunch service from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Weekend brunches, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, are set to begin in August.
The menu delivers exactly as promised by Doody, a part-owner of Lindey’s restaurant in German Village and founder of NCR Ventures, a Chagrin Falls restaurant group that stands for “Next Cool Restaurant.”
There’s nothing on Bar Italia’s menu that you’ll have to read again or try to picture in your head. But from the bread and house salad to the pasta and entrees, it’s all pushed to a level beyond old-school Italian with little touches of refinement.
The bread, for instance, comes from Lindey’s, where it’s so cherished that it’s doled out to subscribers of a weekly bread club. At Bar Italia, loaves from Lindey’s Olde World Bakery are sliced, get a bit of char from the grill and are served with olive oil and cracked pepper (or with whipped ricotta or prosciutto for a few dollars extra).
The char is one of those elevating touches. It lends mostly a grilled aroma and a hint of extra flavor without turning the bread into toasty bruschetta. The slices remain soft and airy.
A delicious salad, although it’s placed on the restaurant’s appetizer, or primi, menu, is a combination of heirloom cherry tomatoes, pesto, fresh burrata — a soft shell of mozzarella around a creamy center — and a drizzle of olive oil.
It comes with a slice of crostini, which is good for turning a few bites into canapés, but the aforementioned grilled bread is useful for dipping.
The dish is a great take on a caprese salad of tomato slices, fresh mozzarella and basil leaves. It’s also one you’ll vow to try at home.
For main courses, Bar Italia follows the path of many Italian restaurants in Italy, offering pasta dishes as an implied course of their own and more substantial meat-centered entrees under a column of secondi.
If you want to make pasta your main dish, know that the portions — or at least the Gulf Shrimp Spaghetti that I ordered — are noticeably smaller than the bucket o’ pasta served at most restaurants.
Note to self: A good dinner for two could be individual pasta orders and a shared entree. Entrees include several lemon-sauced dishes, such as halibut piccata, roasted salmon, branzino or veal chop Milanese.
My Crispy Chicken Limone was a pounded, parmesan-crusted breast that came with a side of the pasta prepared the way every Italian child knows and remembers with love: tossed with butter and parmesan (and at Bar Italia, topped with toasted breadcrumbs).
Desserts include spumoni, tiramisu, affogato, cheesecake and key lime pie.
Bar Italia’s interior sticks to what seems to be something of a Columbus standard: light wood, indoor trees, modern furniture for an airy vibe. Its best features: a painted portrait of a 1960s Sophia Loren and garage-like doors that roll open on summery days.
The new restaurant has an extensive wine list, cocktails and happy hours from 3 to 6 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, that feature discounted versions of appetizers and pizzas.
Dining Reporter Bob Vitale can be reached at rvitale@dispatch.com or at @dispatchdining on the Instagram social platform.
Restaurant recommendations: Check out Columbus Monthly’s listings for dining options