The ‘duck test’ states that if something looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck. Similar inductive reasoning can be applied to Al Bar Italia. Because here – and this relates to any type of item found in the cafe-slash-bar – if something can be seen, tasted or touched, it’s probably Italian.
Practically everything has been imported, from the premium olive oil to the high-design chairs. Even the tricolor Smeg fridge has made the same long journey as Marco Polo, from a boot-shaped peninsula far away.
Put simply: Al Bar Italia (which is Italian for ‘At Bar Italy’) couldn’t be more Italian. It shares a space with Xindong Lu’s Italian Center. Its Italian owner, Fabio Falanga, runs an Italian cafe at the Italian Embassy. He also imports Italian produce wholesale and runs a catering company, Aurora International, which serves Italian food. A neighboring Italian wine merchant can see to your alcohol needs, though Falanga also has his own bottles – Italian ones.
So while the word ‘authentic’ is exasperatingly over-used in the food and drink world (normally by the people who call anything hand-made ‘artisanal’), these guys should be allowed to deploy the term as freely as they want. Even the layout has Italians in mind, with a long bar designed especially for drinking coffee (all reasonably priced: espresso RMB12, Americano RMB15, and latte RMB25, among others). As Falanga explains: “In Italy, you sit at the bar, drink your espresso and leave.”
But by night, the bar returns to a more familiar role, hosting a decent range of cocktails. The limoncello-based ‘Yellow Fever’ (RMB45) is a standout – with more taste than its name would suggest. Al Bar’s food menu is also worthy of note, consisting largely of bruschettas, paninis and salads. Of the latter, we try the tuna variety (RMB45) which is positively saturated with fresh flavors. The mixed cheese and cold cuts selection (RMB110) is, literally, little slices of Italy on a plate. Amid this delightful platter, we find the best Parma ham we’ve tried in Beijing.
As with all great Italian food, these dishes rely on a simple two-step preparation. First, source some quality ingredients. Second, put them together. And if the produce is this good, then why not?
Herein we find a flaw in the duck test: Al Bar Italia looks, tastes and quacks like it’s in Italy but it’s not. Xindong Lu is one of the least Italian places on earth. Well it was, at least.
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