Globally inspired plates (and paper boxes) wow at Danilo’s Pasta Bar | Review

It is early evening on a Sunday, and I am parked at a small table just outside the door to The Neighbors, where live music jams, all seats are taken and drinks are flowing all over the place, including our little two-top.

I enjoy the cocktails here: the color and freshness, the city pride in their names and the engagement level of the staff. I’ve had several goodies since the place opened (and you definitely can’t complain about a $5 old-fashioned in a spot this trendy), but the Ivanhoe, with its smoky mezcal and spicy jalapeno, is usually my jam.

And it was this pineapple refresher that I carried to my seat at the chef’s table, where there’s a new name on the figurative shingle. What once was Camille, which recently flew this East End Market incubator coop for its very own Baldwin Park nest, is now Danilo’s Pasta Bar.

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Sounds Italian, right? Well, it is and it isn’t. Chef Dj Tangalin describes the fare as “globally inspired.”

This means you’ll find dishes that rep Nonna’s table pretty solidly — the big ol’ bison meatball ($15.25), for example, which melds lean bison with rich pork and a flurry of Parmesan — and those that draw from all corners of Tangalin’s personal and professional experience. Surf & turf pancit ($23.25) touches on his Filipino roots but also employs spinach tagliatelle and sweet, toothy lap xuong sausage to tell its story.

And if you’re noting those bracketed a la carte prices, that’s another thing that’s changed. What was once solely a chef’s counter is now open to the whole room. (And more affordable no matter which way you go.)

“That was in our mind even before we opened,” says Tangalin. “The set up here is obviously made to be a chef’s counter, but The Neighbors has a lot of customers who also want to eat. So, we wanted to make sure that the guests sitting along the window would also have a dining option while we’re serving those at the counter.

The result: something of an a la carte, fast-casual, Tangalin calls it. The ample menu offers some of the same high-level dishes guests at the chef’s table enjoy. The casual part denotes the more relaxed seating, “and they’re getting single-use, eco-friendly containers instead of ceramic plates.” Leave it to the minds behind DomuLab to turn Wagyu Bolognese ($25.50) into walking-around food.

Though I’d certainly recommend trying the reservations-only eight-course tasting menu at least once — at $70 per person, it’s a major drop in price from Camille — the a la carte option has its advantages. One: No reservations necessary; if Danilo’s is serving at the counter, they’re serving everywhere, and two, (for you photo-takers) the light by those windows is going to get you shots far superior to any I managed. And the plates here are really quite stunning.

The confit duck course, for example, showcased beet cream and orange peel gel in MOMA-like fashion, adorning a plate piled with fall-apart, crispy-skinned gams —quite possibly the best duck I’ve had to date. You won’t find this one on the a la carte menu, though, which is another reason the chef’s counter has its own allure.

You can, however, get Danilo’s luxury “bumps” no matter where you dine (caviar, $25; truffles, $45). If you’re only in the market for one, I vote for the latter. A generous blanket of shaved truffle funk only elevated Tangalin’s take on carbonara — a beautifully balanced version featuring that same Chinese sausage — which was creamy but light, bordering on brothy.

“You have to think about the first bite but also the last,” Tangalin explains as we discussed the propensity for such dishes to turn pasty as they cool. “It’s a balance of the cheese, the pasta and the pasta water.”

Asian influences abound here. The exceptional seafood pasta ($27.75) evolved from its earliest incarnation — an al vongole dish with white wine and butter — into a multidimensional maritime experience.

“Squid ink spaghetti, uni butter, marinated crab, shrimp crackers…” Tangalin recites. A bright wad of uni and a dollop of marinated ikura take it from looker to stunner on both plate and palate.

Tangalin’s ease behind the counter (or when he ventures out to shave those truffles) makes the place feel like your favorite checkered tablecloth local, but his chops showcase a resume rife with experience.

Trained in classical French cooking, This career has flown him all over the map, literally and figuratively, schooling him in styles from Spanish to Italian to Asian to Mexican. Thirteen years in San Diego afforded loads of farm-to-table. Time spent at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia netted him not only experience working for famed chef Eric Ripert but what is now a 15-year friendship with Orlando’s own Michelin man, Michael Collantes.

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“He had just finished working for Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas and was the sous chef, and Jennifer Carroll from “Bravo Top Chef” was our chef de cuisine. I went there as a line cook and learned from so many great veterans and got three-Michelin-star training before I headed west. That was the last time I saw snow,” he says, laughing.

“Mike has watched my career progress from line cook to sous chef to chef de cuisine to executive chef to corporate chef to running my own business. And when he had his consulting gig for AVA, they needed a chef.” Collantes made the connection. Tangalin spent about six months running the kitchen before meeting the Bento Group’s Johnny Tung at the city’s annual Ramen Rumble, where he was cooking on Team Collantes just for fun.

Then they had coffee, and the seeds for Danilo’s were planted.

One amicable split later, and Tangalin’s jump from Winter Park to Audubon Park is now fully-fledged. Will it fly like Camille? Time will tell, but Tangalin’s in no rush. Two months in, and they’ve got regulars. And a no-reservations option has me dreaming of a box of those roe-slathered noods by the window. Next time, I can use my own pics.

If you go

Danilo’s Pasta Bar: (located at The Neighbors inside East End Market): 3201 Corrine Ave. in Orlando, instagram.com/danilos_orlando

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.