Canto VI May Be in Chatsworth but the Wines Make It worth the Drive

Canto VI is tucked in the northwest corner of the Valley on scrappy Devonshire Boulevard in Chatsworth. No shops or eateries are within eyeshot. A Holiday Inn Express is its next-door neighbor.

Brian Kalliel, who was the wine director at Melisse for 15 years and also worked at Augustine Wine Bar in Sherman Oaks, is co-owner and operator. He wasn’t planning on opening in that region of the Valley but his daughter lives there, and he stumbled upon a good deal with the location. (His partners own the building as well as a nearby wine store.) The bar’s name comes from the Italian poem by Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, that follows Dante as he awakens in the third circle of hell where Cerberus stands over the souls of the gluttons. “It’s that situation when you eat and drink too much,” Brian laughs.

He realizes that for most Valley dwellers, Chatsworth is a trek. “But the fact is you drive all the way to Chatsworth, and you are gonna drink fantastic wine,” says Brian. “Every wine here is from a great winemaker. And hands down we have the best prices in LA for the varietals I pour.”

As at Augustine, the more stellar wines at Canto—predominantly French and Italian varietals—are printed on a big chalkboard that hangs over the wine bar. (There is also a full liquor bar.) “I don’t do hype-heavy wines or fat California cabernets,” notes Brian. For reds, he much prefers, say, robust cabernet Francs from the Loire Valley region of France.

The wine list rotates weekly, with glasses starting at $18. Higher-priced offerings (typically $27 to $30) might include uncommon French bottles like a Meursault white burgundy by Jean-Philippe Fichet, a rare Benjamin Leroux pinot noir from Burgundy, or a Lys d’or Condrieu by Christophe Semaska from the Rhone Valley.

Also mimicking Augustine, Canto VI has no waiters or bussers. You order everything at the bar; food is brought to your table. Chester Hastings, previously a chef at Joan’s on Third, heads up the kitchen. For appetizers, my husband and I went kind of crazy. You can order all kinds of combinations of cheese plates and salumi boards. We opted for a decadent hunk of the buttery French triple-cream cheese Brillat-Savarin (“You don’t even need crackers with it!” said Brian while enthusiastically dipping my fork into it), a deliciously savory fennel sausage atop a crostino, a tasty dish of hummus with black tahini and za’atar flatbread, and two wallet-sized squares of semolina bread topped with Normandy butter and Sicilian anchovy (the only app I didn’t care for—too much butter). For our main course, we shared the boneless game hen cooked under a brick. We both loved the dish, but quite honestly, I couldn’t stop staring at our neighbor’s meal:  perfectly cooked New Zealand lamb chops with a side of crispy frites-style fries. Next time.

Above Cannone di Capra goat milk cheese with bee pollen and honey

•••

Despite its off-the-beaten-path location, Brian aspires to have Canto feel like prime Santa Monica. “I take my Melisse-ness to any place I operate. Look, I know how to run a dining room with a 15-course wine dinner. Everything needs to be in perfect harmony to carry that out beautifully. And we do that here. Plus we have a doorman and free valet parking. And there is a dress code: no flip-flops, no cutoff shorts.”

We enjoyed our experience at Canto VI immensely and easily let go of the unsexiness of the region. We totally get and appreciate what Brian is bringing to the table. We like adventure when we go out. Sameness bores us. Will we be able to drag some of our Ventura Boulevard-tethered friends out there for a weekend night out? I’m not sure. But I hope so. With Brian’s effervescent enthusiasm and bold willingness to try something different, you can’t help but root for him—and Canto VI. In Chatsworth.