Ovino in Turin, review: pizza and arrosticini

Sheep Brace Bene Brothers

Ovino: If the "sheepish" intentions of the name aren't clear, the subtitle reinforces the point: Brace Bene Fratelli. The restaurant, however, located on Corso Mortara, a former industrial area of ​​Turin now home to shopping malls, is anything but an old-fashioned trattoria. The space is modern and simple, with a generous front area and about seventy seats (perhaps a bit cramped) inside. Special praise goes to the logo's lettering, which forms an ambigram, meaning a word that can be read even when rotated 180 degrees (try it).

The Ovino menu

Ovino's offerings are varied, as mentioned. The menu is complex but not confusing, and we could ideally divide it into two parts: meat and pizza. The welcome is provided by the arrosticini, the classic Abruzzese skewers of mutton, also offered here in a chicken version: you can order them in any quantity you like (minimum 5), and you pay per piece. This is followed by three side dishes and a curious "our chili" with mutton ragù. Then there are the hamburgers (9), with homemade buns: equally divided between beef and mutton, plus two fish ones.

The section more specifically dedicated to leavened products opens with a selection of focaccias (7), with cold toppings added raw. And finally the pizza page, divided into white (10) and red (12). The types include traditional classics and modern classics (burrata and anchovies, anyone?), or revisited pasta toppings (carbonara, amatriciana, even those now widespread in pizzerias); with some curious additions such as ventricina, and above all with a praiseworthy and well-signposted vegetarian choice, important and not to be taken for granted given the imprint of the place.

Industrial beers on tap (Poretti) and non-craft beers in bottles (Birra del Borgo). A small but honest wine list, focusing on regional wineries (Abruzzo).

Ovino's pizzas (and arrosticini)

The arrosticini are excellent, and the mutton shows off all its wildness: perhaps a little overcooked, but still delicious. The burgers also look succulent. We'll try them again, but we're here for the pizzas.

Ovino's pizzas are, as mentioned, Roman-style, made on a peel: the concept is perhaps not far removed from that of the Roman-style pan pizza—crispy on the outside, soft on the inside—though the construction and the very history of the two types are very different. Ovino's is more of a shovel than a peel: a single, single-portion version of a pizza originally long and ready to be sliced; it arrives at the table complete with a pizza cutter. A peek into the large open kitchen doesn't show the dough being rolled out, so the pizzas are pre-formed, if not pre-cooked: nothing wrong with that, of course, especially given the type (with a classic Neapolitan pizza it would be more difficult), and as always, the outcome is the deciding factor.

It's good: the softness is just right, the bite is bready in some places, airy in others, always pleasant; the crunchiness is lacking, the base remains a bit soft and whitish, perhaps undercooked, perhaps too breaded with semolina. The toppings are balanced: on the buffalo mozzarella Margherita, just a thin layer of tomato, raw cherry tomatoes nothing special, but the mozzarella is excellent. The carbonara bucks the contemporary trend: almost all pizza chefs use egg custard as a base, but here there's a layer of fiordilatte and the egg yolk is used as a topping along with a very savory but not boring combination of guanciale and pecorino.

The quantities are satisfying, but digestion isn't a problem. The prices aren't those of a trattoria, that's all.

Opinion

A great place to enjoy Roman-style pizza and/or grilled meats with a twist from Abruzzo.

PRO

• An unexpected place in a less gastronomic area.
• A place dedicated to meat lovers, yet veg-friendly.

AGAINST

• Discounted beer selection.