Brix Bistro & Wine Bar

Italian food had already gone from molto chic (oooh, pesto!) to ultrapedestrian shtick (humph, another Olive Garden) before carbohydrates, and thus pasta, went out of fashion. What has diners coming back to this cuisine, locally at least, is a mini-renaissance of neighborhood restaurants that focus more on Italian flavors than on heaping mounds of pasta. In fact, Brix doesn’t even bill itself as an Italian restaurant, though its menu says otherwise. Most of the pasta is made fresh in-house, and the dishes are riddled with rich Mediterranean flavors: tomato, pancetta, anchovy, saffron, olives. Here osso buco, which can go horribly wrong, is executed perfectly, with fall-off-the-bone tenderness. Plump roasted figs stuffed with gorgonzola sit majestically atop the carpaccio antipasto. And instead of checkered tablecloths and wicker-wrapped Chianti bottles, Brix’s space is modern yet warm, which speaks well to this next generation of Italian eaters. 4656 Excelsior Blvd., St. Louis Park; 952-698-2749; www.brixwine.com/home.cfm”