There has been a lot of press lately about the demise of the Entertainment District.
Encroaching condos, political pressure and skyrocketing rents have reduced the number of nightclubs in the small rectangle between Richmond, Wellington, Simcoe and Spadina, from 90 in 2005 to just 30 today. Is the party over?Not a chance. The festivities have shifted to King West, where an older, more moneyed crowd still parties like it's 1999. And these folks are just as concerned about getting their grub in as they are about getting their groove on. Crush, Lee, Marben, Brassaii and Blowfish all draw weekend revellers fuelling up before a night of $15 cocktails and broken stilettos. Brought to you by King West veterans Gus Giazitzidis and Peter Tsebelis, Buca has become the darling of the strip, booking out night after night since it opened last fall. The constant reservation rejection from OpenTable.com was starting to give me a complex.Speaking of getting a complex, Buca is not a restaurant for anyone with self-esteem issues: the sculpted, coiffed and lacquered crowd would make the Dalai Lama feel like hitting the gym and tanning bed the next day. Even the host wears a snazzier suit than I could ever dream to own, let alone squeeze into.Hidden down a laneway, the former boiler room manages to be both cozy and cavernous at the same time with the convivial cacophony reverberating off the exposed brick.A veteran of Mark McEwan's kitchens (One, Bymark, North 44), Executive Chef Rob Gentile is a big part of Buca's success. His menu may be ambitiously long, but his crack brigade delivers the goods with flawless execution.I could eat 100 of his nodini - warm bread knots drizzled with garlic oil, rosemary and crunchy sea salt - and probably the same quantity of tempura zucchini flowers stuffed with buffalo ricotta, lemon zest and mint. Even better are lightly cured fat sardine filets served on pickled green tomatoes with raw lupini beans and a fresh oregano pesto. One could do well making a meal of antipasto.Pastas continue to deliver big, bold flavours, like a bowl of hand-made orecchiette with grilled radicchio and red chillies in a white ragu of eight-hour braised pork. An Italian-style bangers and mash knocks it out of the park. Explosively juicy sausages of goat and lardo (cured pork fat) are served on soft polenta with pan-roasted king oyster mushrooms, fried rosemary leaves and a drizzle of jus. Service is first rate, as is the deep selection of Italian wines by the glass. My only complaint is that the prices are a bit steep - $32 for sausages and polenta? But amongst the glitz and glam of King West, I guess they charge what the market can bear. Buca604 King St. W. (west of Portland Street)416-865-1600Dinner for two with wine, tax and tip: $180www.buca.ca