Pizza

QUEEN MARGARITA PIZZA

February 5, 2014September 16, 2019Leave a comment

1402 Queen Street East | Toronto, ON
http://queenmargheritapizza.ca

Desi and I opted for an early dinner, we arrived around 5:30pm and the restaurant was empty. The have a smaller downstairs area which is more like the bar area and a spacious upstairs with an open pizza pit area. The restaurant is super industrial looking with exposed ceilings, brick walls, and giant windows but incredibly warm and cozy.

We started off with the Grilled Baby Squid served with arugula salad. I felt like the squid was undercooked but our waitress ensured us that was how the texture was supposed to be. It wasn’t anything special or memorable.

The Giovanni Pizza, fior di latte, prosciutto di parma, arugula and cherry tomatoes, $19. The prosciutto wasn’t overly salty and it was sliced paper thin which I loved. The arugula salad on top cut through the meaty prosciutto, the pizza felt light and healthy.

The Bello Pizza, mushrooms, goat cheese, red pepper, italian sausage, red onions, $17.

Out of the two pizzas, I enjoyed the Bello more. The homemade sausage was tasty and I loved the combination of all the toppings together. The crusts were crispy, light and airy all at the sometime.

For dessert we opted for the Hazelnut Tiramisu, creamy and not too sweet.

The pizzas here are solid and the service is friendly, a great neighbourhood gem. I would probably only make another visit if I was in the neighbourhood, wouldn’t make a special trip.

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.

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.

FABBRICA

March 6, 2012September 19, 2019Leave a comment

49 Karl Fraser Rd | Toronto, ON
http://www.fabbrica.ca/

I had another food adventure last week with Cherry and her friend Darren, we or more like Cherry and I decided on Fabbrica for dinner. Another Mark McEwan restaurant at Shops on Don mills, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I guess you can’t go wrong with any of his restaurants.

We were seating in the lounge / bar area because we didn’t have reservations but I didn’t mind at all, it wasn’t the typical loud music with dark lighting bar/lounge atmosphere and we got to sit beside the windows.

Snapped a picture from where we were seated.
The dinner room was cozier but much more packed with people, there’s an open concept kitchen with a giant pizza oven.

While waiting for Darren I scarfed down 3/4 of the warm bread! I love it when they give you a bottle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for your bread, don’t get me wrong I love butter with bread but olive oil is so much lighter and I feel less guilty when i eat almost the whole loaf of bread.

We got two appetizers to share between the three of us.
* The menu on the website and at the restaurant are different so I don’t know the names of them but I’ll try to describe them as best as I can!

This was my absolute favourite dish of the night! Grilled octopus with chick peas, arugula, roasted sweet peppers and hot salami. The dressing was a bit spicy but the octopus was so tender with of smokiness and crispiness from the grill! I’m not a big fan of sweet peppers but I was digging through the plate to find them all! I also love how it was served on a wood plank, so rustic. I’m drooling while typing this, just thought I’d let you guys know.

This was the bone marrow and it’s served with crostini and a parsley & horseradish salad. So creamy and buttery, bone marrow is one of my favourite things to order now!

Cherry and I shared a pizza, good thing we did cause we were both stuffed at the end of the night!

We got the shrimp and clam pizza with a pesto base. It was light and the flavour combinations were fantastic and it had a nice amount of toppings per slice. The only thing was that I thought it was kind of greasy from the pesto. Also the crust is more bread like and soft oppose to thin and crispy, which is what I really like but I still really enjoyed it.

Darren got the seafood linguine and this is what he said about it
“Linguine could have been a little bit softer but I think that’s a personal preference. It wasn’t drenched in sauce so it wasn’t heavy. The olive oil was a nice touch. Shrimp, scallops and mussels were what I expected, not bad but nothing to throw a parade over.”

Definitely check out Fabricca if you’re in the area, good food prepared well.

UNIONVILLE CO. RESTAURANT

February 27, 2012September 19, 2019Leave a comment

175 Main Street Unionville | Markham, ON
http://www.unionvillerestaurant.com/

Had a girls only dinner here a few days ago, I’ve been here before but wasn’t that impressed so I didn’t have any expectations this time around. There were about 9 of us and we got seated at the back right beside the kitchen, which wasn’t a problem because the inside of the restaurant is pretty small (looks much bigger from the outside).

Okay. You guys should really know a few things that really annoy me when I’m out for dinner.
1. If service is bad than automatically the food points go down. I absolutely hate bad service.
2. I hate eating in the dark, I know it’s supposed to create a mood and atmosphere of intimacy but it’s not fun not knowing what you’re eating.

A couple of my friends and I were a little early so we got seated and looked at the menu while waited for everyone else but we weren’t even offered anything to drink even though the majority of us were there. We had to waved down our server a lot of the time.

Okay. I forgive him a tiny bit because he was also the bartender and the restaurant was kind of busy for a Thursday night but if you expect a good tip I expect to have at least decent service.

Cod-Crab cakes served with a spicy guacamole sauce, $12.99. Everyone loved the crab cakes, they were moist and pan fried, only complaint I had was I wish they were bigger!

Arancini italian rice balls filled with sausage, cheese and served with a tomato basil sauce, $9.45.
Nicely deep fried, hot, creamy and I wish I had a whole ball of these.

I got Vongole spaghetti, baby clams, tomato parsley, olive oil, white wine, basil.

I liked my meal, the pasta was cooked well with nice flavours and I would order this again.

Jess got the Mushroom white pizza and it had mozzarella, tomato, goat cheese, basil for $15.59. Both Carmen and I really liked her pizza, it had a super thin crust with a nice combination of flavours.

Sau got the Pollo rigatoni which has roast chicken, bacon, broccoli, parmesan, cream. She said there wasn’t enough sauce.

Overall it was a good dinner but it would have been even better if our server was more attentive. We weren’t even asked if we wanted dessert, tea or coffee!

NINO D’AVERSA BAKERY

February 21, 2012September 16, 2019Leave a comment

3120 Rutherford Road | Vaughan, ON
http://ninodaversa.com/

Decided to stop by Nino D’Aversa for a quick lunch before heading to Vaughn Mills to do some shopping.
Nino D’Aversa has multiple locations all over the GTA, the one in Vaughn is pretty new and it’s huge. I love the open concept of the bakery / restaurant, with the dark brown cabinets, pillars and seating.

We got a couple of things to share, this is the Chicken Parmigiana
and it came with two sides of your choice. We got mushrooms with pea and sauteed rapini. Perfectly cooked chicken, tender, moist and flavourful. The sides were good too even though I very much dislike rapini because of the bitterness. Also I think this giant plate was only around $11, what a steal.

As soon as I saw this I knew I had to try it! It’s a Risotto Ball all so know as Arancini di riso, it was humongous like literally the size of a softball! Nicely fried with a thin crispy crust and nice and creamy inside.

It was stuffed with pea and served with your choice of spicy tomato sauce or just regular. This was $5, I thought it was a little expensive for a ball of rice.

This is the personal sized pizza! Seriously two people could share one. The crust was incredibly thin and who doesn’t love thin crust pizza?! I had one small slice because I was pretty stuffed.
Highlight: they have a wood burning oven for the pizza!

After having lunch, we were all too full to even contemplate on having dessert but I did have a quick look at all the goodies. A copious amount of pastries and cookies but too bad the gelato section was closed for the season.
But next time I will definitely save room for dessert!