Ecco
Bill Addison
The toniest of the Fifth Group Restaurants (which also operates South City Kitchen, La Tavola, and the Original El Taco) dubs its food as “European,” a vague description that brings to mind the dreaded C-word (Continental) and doesn’t do the cooking justice. I see it more as Cal-Ital, with Spanish and other Mediterranean influences occasionally tossed in. Among likable cheese and meat plates and wood-fired pizzas, I seek out the riskier payoffs: capellini tossed with mustard greens, lardo, and fennel pollen; mussels given a Moroccan makeover with preserved lemon, coriander, and smoked paprika; and, for dessert, sticky toffee pudding paired with a doppelbock ice cream that delivers a sweet, malty thwack.