Sugo on Surrey

The bolognese at Sugo on Surrey is built from wagyu beef and ground pork, folded into tomato sugo and bechamel and finished with grana padano and a scatter of thyme pangrattato. It is the dish to order first, because it shows the whole kitchen in one bowl: the sauce is the point, and most of the menu is a variation on how to use it. This is a Guelph Italian-influenced dining room run by Alex and Marisa Tami, and the name says as much — sugo means sauce, by local accounts from Alex Tami's family table.

A meal here tends to start generously. The antipasti run from Nonna's Meatballs — veal and pork braised in San Marzano sugo over polenta custard — to a scallop crudo dressed with charred peach vinaigrette and Calabrian chili oil, to a chef's-choice board of cheese, cured meats, house focaccia and Calabrian hot honey. Even the olives get specific: Castelvetrano and Taggiasca, marinated with fennel and preserved lemon. It is the kind of opening stretch that rewards a table willing to share before anyone commits to a main.