Pasta

FAMIGLIA BALDASSARRE

February 20, 2020February 20, 2020Leave a comment

Famiglia Baldassarre – Pasta fresca
22 Geary Ave, Toronto, ON

Famiglia Baldassarre hand-makes 27 traditional types of wholesale fresh pasta from scratch for some of Toronto’s best restaurants, and also turns into a restaurant for a two-hour lunch service four days a week. There are typically just two pasta shapes with two sauce options on the dine-in menu from 12-2 PM, Tuesday to Friday, but nearly 20 varieties of pasta are retailed on the same days from noon until 5 PM.

Look at how aesthetic the plates are, my inner self is screaming and trying to resist stealing them.

As a first timer, I could see why visiting Famiglia would be off putting to some as they don’t take reservations, the line up starts 30 minutes before the doors open and there are literally 5 two-seaters. We got here around 10 minutes before they opened and still had to wait about 20-30 minutes to be seated. Generally, everyone orders, eats and leaves since there is a line up of hungry (possibly hangry) patrons waiting just starting at your food. I enjoyed the experience of waiting for a table as I watched the kitchen work their magic along with just the ending of the pasta production.

I would definitely recommend ordering the seasonal side of vegetables and the aged prosciutto along with your pasta. It’s a nice break from the whole plate of pasta. While you wait for your food, there is a basket of bread and some olive oil & vinegar for dipping.

I would highly recommend dinning in at Famiglia Baldassarre at least once. An alternative otpion would be getting take out and enjoying the food at a nearby brewer where they allow you to bring outside food in.

FRANK’S KITCHEN

May 28, 2016September 16, 20192 Comments

588 College Street, Toronto

http://frankskitchen.ca

When people ask me what my favourite restaurant in Toronto is and without flinching I tell them Frank’s Kitchen. I didn’t know casual fine dining actually existed, the atmosphere of the restaurant is relaxed but still classy. I’ve seen customers dine in shorts, suits, sandals, etc.

The service is outstanding, the servers are very knowledgeable, friendly and a tentative.

We started off with the daily complimentary amuse bouche, tomato bisque with a side of housemade focaccia & dip. The bread was lightly toasted, I enjoyed the small portion of starters so you don’t actually fill up on bread before your meal.

The daily appetizer special was the Deep Fried Squash Blossoms stuffed with Homemade Goat Cheese & Spinach. It was my first time having squash blossoms and they were delicious! Light and crispy with a creamy sweet and savoury filling. I would definitely order this again but it’s hard to find squash blossoms on menus because it’s such a seasonal item.

I also got the Kobe Beef Tartare with Fried Egg, Shaved Black truffles, Pickles and Guiness Mustard, $21. Look how beautiful the plating is. The truffles paired very well with the beef giving it an earthy element to the dish. The pickled vegetables cut through the fattiness of the beef, I could eat this over and over again. The dish was also served with truffle brioche

The main courses were outstanding.

Catch of the Day: Salmon with lobster sauce, $26 & 12 oz Aged Beef Striploin with Shaved Truffles in a Shallot Jus with a side of Parmesan Frites, $40

The steak was perfectly cooked, the jus was flavourful without being too salty. It was everything anyone could want when ordering steak frites.

BUCA OSTERIA & ENOTECA

September 9, 2013September 16, 20192 Comments

602 King St West | Toronto, ON
http://buca.ca/

For my last birthday dinner celebration, a bunch of us headed to Buca. I’ve heard amazing things about Buca so why wouldn’t I want to come for my birthday and what better excuse to get a bunch of my friends together to join me a restaurant that I want to try?

The restaurant is quite hidden and you won’t be able to find it from street view, it’s in the basement behind a building. There are two different seating areas; one with 30-feet ceilings with gorgeous natural sunlight. The other area is more like a cellar, there’s an impressive meat fridge. The overall space is rustic but elegant. The menu is updated daily so they don’t have a menu online.

We started off with a Salumi Di Buca ($18) which is basically their charcuterie made in house and Formaggi ($19) (a selection of three local and imported cheeses), You have a choice of three meats and three cheeses and is served with preservatives. Our server also served us bread knots without telling us it wasn’t complimentary. I was a little taken back with the size or at least quantity of the board. I’ve had better and bigger charcuterie boards (Black Hoof) at other restaurants so I wasn’t that impressed with Buca’s. We also got two orders of Nodini, warm bread knots with olive oil, rosemary, garlic and sea salt, $6. Who doesn’t like warm garlicy bread?

Ravioli Doppi, double stuffed ravioli, braised duck and foie gras, goat cheese mousse finished with good crackle and citrus & lovage sauce, $26.

Gnocchi Alla Cenere, hand rolled dumplings made with onion ash served with pecorino and parmigiano cheese, $21.

Carbonara Di Mare, bronze die-cut mezze maniche from abruzzo with parmigiano reggiano cheese, fresh italian chili, sea urchin, mullet bottarga and trout caviar, $25.

Seafood special of the night was ricotta stuffed squid.

Salumi Di Buca, smoked pizza dough with buffalo cheddar, eggplant and salumi di buca, $21.

Out of all our dishes, I think mine was hands down the favourite with the group.

All the boys weren’t full so we all headed to Wvrst after! Our server wasn’t very attentive and when we asked him to recommend some dishes he kind of trailed off without even suggesting anything. I’m not sure if it was because my friends and I all still look like we’re 16 but he was much more attentive to all his other tables.

At the end of our meal we were served individually packaged amaretti cookies with the bill, which were absolutely delightful. Everything at Buca was tasty, innovative and flavours you wouldn’t normally find at Italian restaurants. Having said all that, I wouldn’t pick Buca as my favourite Italian restaurant and would probably only be back if someone else picked up the tab.

Buca has tasty innovative food, a lovely place for date night but too pricey for me to call my go-to Italian restaurant.

GUSTO 101

May 23, 2013September 16, 2019Leave a comment

101 Portland Street | Toronto, ON
http://www.gusto101.com

I’m just going to do a quick post before I catch my plane! Last weekend Jess and Cherry decided on going to Gusto 101 for dinner before my trip. Gusto 101 opened their doors early 2012, there was so much hype about it but I never got a chance to visit until now.

We were situated on their roof top patio which was absolutely perfect for the weather. Pops of red, black and white is gorgeous against some of the wood furniture. There is also bar style seating around each skylight window and one important thing I must mention is that their roof top patio is now open all year around.

We started with the Polipo,char-grilled octopus, with olive tapenade, organic micro salad, basil citrus emulsion, $14.50.
I love octopus, I probably take after my father, and whenever I see it on a menu I tend to order it. The octopus was tender, with a little char on the outside to give it some smokiness.

I loved the Carpaccio,beef tenderloin with truffled cannellini beans, arugula, pecorino, $13.95. The beef was paper thin and delicious but my favourite part of the dish was probably the truffled cannellini beans, so good!

Jess ordered the Spinaci Pizza, loaded with spinach, buffalo mozzarella, pecorino, fresh ricotta and sliced garlic, $15.50. The crust was paper thin and crispy, it was loaded with lots of spinach but the fresh ricotta was probably the star of the pizza.

Cherry Spaghetti Chitarra allo Scogliomanila clams, shrimps, mussels, baby scallops, white wine, tomato sauce 17.95.

I got the Fettuccine ai Funghi,portobello, porcini, oyster mushrooms, truffle paste, light cream sauce, $17.50.

We all agreed that my pasta was the favourite entree of the night, it was rich and full of mushroom-y goodness, somewhat resembling cream of mushroom soup but in a good way. The pasta was way too much and heavy for me to finish by myself though but good thing Kevin finished it off for me (not like he would complain though).

Kevin finally decided to get the Rigatoni Lucani, after jumping back and forth from different entrees. It was rigatoni pasta with shredded braised lamb shank, tomato, fresh herbs, green olives and shaved pecorino, $16.95.
He said it was too salty but I think it was okay, It wasn’t anything special in my opinion though and he would probably agree with me.

If you go to Gusto, you must sit on the patio and that’s coming from a girl that hates sitting on the patio. They have four different seating areas: roof top patio, inside the restaurant, the basement and the ground level patio. Note that the stairs that go from the roof top to the basement are incredibly dark so watch you’re step.

ROSEWATER

March 25, 2013September 16, 2019Leave a comment

19 Toronto St | Toronto, ON
http://www.rosewaterroom.com/

A few weekends ago Cherry, Jess and I headed to Rosewater for our bi-weekly girls dinner. They choose Rosewater because Cherry had a $50 gift certificate she got during the holidays and Cherry was nice enough to spend it on appetizers for the table.

The interior of the restaurant is incredibly spacious and airy, I didn’t think the interior was going to be so large. They also have an upstairs area for private parties which is cool.

Jess and I got there early so we spent quite some time trying to decide what to get but Rosewater’s menu isn’t that big, probably 8 appetizers and 8 entree choices.

We started off with the Seared Scallops with risotto of baby spinach, parmesan tuile for $17. It came with three perfectly cooked scallops which was delicious but the rest of the dish was just average. Nothing really popped or was memorable.

Our second appetizer choise was the Seared Tuna & Salmon Tartares (black sesame tuna & curried tandoori salmon cones, Asian slaw), $14, It came with 6 cones but 2 were filled with slaw. I’m pretty sure I enjoyed these the most out of everything else we ordered.

Cherry got the Pan Seared Quebec Duck Breast with Yukon gold potato rosti, orange ginger flavoured carrots, caramelized grapes late harvest reduction sauce $30

I got the Coriander and fennel Crusted Rare big eyed Tuna with a salad of wild mushroom and Asian greens, orange & ginger essence, $32, The tuna was fresh and delicious but everything else on the plate was too sour and salty for my liking. There was also two pieces of deep-fried tofu which were incredibly crispy but somewhat bland.

Jess got the Lobster Ravioli with sweet corn, smoked bacon, confit potato and truffle butter, $28.
Normally served as a appetizer, Jess added an additional $10 to make it her main course. There were three raviolis, seems like a steep price to charge for $28. It was lacking in lobster and lobster flavour and the sauce that accompanied it was way too salty. Needless to say she was quite disappointed.

A few things that Rosewater does have going for them is the increiable service and the lovely space here, it would be perfect for private functions or company parties.

SHISO TREE CAFE

March 1, 2013September 16, 2019Leave a comment

3160 Steeles Ave. East Unit 1 | Markham, ON

Last week I visited Shiso Tree Cafe with my family. This little restaurant is located in J-town, Shiso tree mainly serves up Pasta with Japanese flavours. Shiso Tree is run by two brothers who had no prior experience in the restaurant industry but I must say they are doing a pretty darn good job.

We started off with a complimentary salad which was good but anything spectacular.
We also got the soup of the day which is our case was a creamy tomato soup with dill. Normally cream soups are really heavy and filling but this one was light and delicate and the dill flavour was a nice surprise.

After looking through a bunch of posts on Shiso Tree, I felt that I needed to try at least of the fries options. We got the Nori Fries, $6, fresh cut fries tossed with homemade Wafu dressing & Japanese Seaweeds. I thought the nori flavour wasn’t going to be very predominate but you could really taste the seaweed flavour on each fry, the fries were crispy and perfectly cooked.

My mom ordered the Shrimp Okonomiyaki, $14, spaghetti sauteed w/ bacon, onions, garlic dressed shrimp, homemade steak sauce, Japanese mayo & bonito fish flakes. I wasn’t a fan of the combination of flavours of this pasta because I’m not really a fan of okonoiyaki to begin with but the shrimps were perfectly cooked and my mom seemed to enjoy it.

My uncle got the Seafood Tomato, $15, scallops, shrimps & clams in a garlic tomato sauce. He mentioned that the sauce was incredibly garlicy but not in a complaining kind of way.

Both my aunt and I got the special which was the Tarako Spaghetti, cod rose spaghetti in light cream sauce with daikon, nori and shiso for $14. By the time I got to my entree I was pretty full but the pasta was perfectly al dente and the flavours were delicious.

Their dessert menu changes from time to time and they sometimes serve up a black sesame cream brulee that I really wanted to try but they didn’t have it on my visit. So I will probably make my way back again.
They also have an awesome weekday lunch menu where you can get salad, soup and a pasta for only $8, what a steal!

GRAZIE

May 17, 2012September 16, 2019Leave a comment

9100 Jane Street | Vaughan, ON
http://www.grazie.ca/

The last time I visit Grazie was probably 3 or 4 years ago at the Yonge & Eglinton location. I’m quite happy they opened another location up in Vaughan so I don’t need to trek down there for a good bowl of pasta.

The menu has a large variety of pizzas and pastas to choose from. It definitely took me a while to decide on what I wanted, everything looked so good!

Free bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar!

Kevin got the Margherita Pizza (Tomato sauce, basil & mozzarella), $10.00. Margherita pizza is probably the most basic pizza you can get but this particular pizza was anything but basic. The crust was super thin, crispy and thin at the same time. There was the perfect amount of sauce and cheese, just wished there were more piece of fresh basil.

I got the Penza Pizza (Rigatoni pasta with vodka, pancetta, green onions & a touch of chili pepper), $15. Perfectly cooked pasta with a rich creamy sauce and bacon, how could you go wrong with that?! I had a slice of Kevin’s pizza so he helped me finish up my bowl pasta. The portions don’t look like much but boy are they filling! I highly recommend this one.
Tip: I also used the pizza crust to dip into the sauce, fantastic.

A picture of the inside dinning room. Kevin and I sat on the patio cause it was such a nice day but I do warn you the patio is facing a busy street with loads of construction trucks.

ORO RESTAURANT

May 14, 2012September 16, 20192 Comments

45 Elm St | Toronto, ON
http://www.ororestaurant.com/

I’ve been to Oro Restaurant once before and the food was delicious, Cherry took me here for my belated birthday dinner and I was quite happy about that. We came on a Saturday night and it wasn’t as packed as I thought it was going to be.
They did a really good job on creating a warm atmosphere with brick walls, comfy chairs and dim lighting.

We started off with two appetizers to share.

Sweet Shrimp Ceviche, $13.95, Fresh citrus, serrano chili, green apple, radish and fennel. The shrimp were so good but we both felt that everything else was way to sour, to the point where it was kind of hard to eat. It was my first time ever having ceviche so I’m not sure if it was supposed to be that sour.

We also got the Grilled Octopus Salad, $14.95, Kalamata olives, roasted garlic, arugula, marinated red pepper, grainy mustard balsamic. The octopus was super tender but the salad was slightly over dressed and we both thought that was octopus salad from Fabbrica.

Cherry got the House Made Sausage Tagliatelle, $19.95, Nagano pork sausage, basil pesto, Unionville mushrooms. The pasta was earthy and filling, even though it looks like such a small portion. Also Cherry didn’t complain and gobbled it all up so it was good! She probably just got it cause of the “Unionville mushrooms” (haha).

I opted to get the Ricotta Gnocchi,$19.95, Amatriciana, house made guancaile, basil and Grana Padano.

(sorry for the blurry picture)
The gnocchi was soft and melt-in-your-mouth good! The sauce had a little kick to it, which I absolutely loved. Oh! Did I mention the pieces of bacon? Fabulous. Everyone must try the gnocchi! And to think I was going to pick the Carbonara over the gnocchi, I’m so silly.

We were definitely too full to order dessert.
Super good meal, great company, and a very adventurous night after, what else could I ask for?