Showing 1-20 of 20 results
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65 Degrees
This relatively new kid on the Little Italy block seems to be making good, serving grilled steaks, lamb, chicken and seafood, along with classically-hewn pasta and risotto dishes. We can recommend the gnocchi with Alaskan lobster, mixed peppers, baby spinach and cherry tomatoes in a zingy lemon saffron sauce (around C$16 ). The interior design is downright sexy.
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Auberge Du Pommier
A culinary college for Toronto's best chefs, graceful Auberge du Pommier is constructed from a pair of 19th-century woodcutters' cottages. Plates of roast lamb loin with olive tapenade and Provençal vegetables (around C$38 ), and butter-poached lobster glazed with citrus and tarragon (around C$40 ) look like they should be in a gallery (or at least a cookbook). Wine selections focus on French vintages, plus a few Niagara labels.
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Bar Italia
Trendsetters come and go, but Bar Italia remains a place to be seen and to relax. Grab an excellent sandwich or lightly done pasta, with a lemon gelato and a rich coffee afterward - while the entire afternoon or evening away. You might need to pay the mob for a seat on the deep-set street-front patio.
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Biff's
A short flight from the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts, Biff's is a super-friendly, welcoming place for all occasions: a high-stakes business lunch, a pre-theatre supper or a romantic full-course meal spent lingering over champagne on the sidewalk patio. Chef Basilio Pesce's specials include roast wing of skate with sauce vierge and preserved lemon (around C$22 ).
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Bistro 990
Ground zero for Toronto International Film Festival starlets bunking down at the Sutton Place Hotel, Bistro 990 feels a bit lost on a blustery reach of Bay St, but continues to serve fine French standards like duck in blackberry jus and rabbit fricassee, as well as meticulously made desserts. The wine selection is excellent, but unless you're Sean Penn, service can be surly.
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By The Way Café
An Annex fixture, this faded yellow corner bistro has a daily-changing menu of Mediterranean and New World fusion dishes, with plenty of creative choices for vegetarians. Service is A+ and the wine list features Niagara ice varietals and labels from far-flung Oregon and Australia. Why do people forsake the cozy booths inside for the claustrophobic patio?
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Celestin
Chef Pascal Ribreau's imaginative French cooking triumphs inside a converted 1920s bank, where tantalizing amuse-bouche (amusements for the mouth) precede artful mains of succulent duck confit, pan-seared giant prawns with smoked pepper compote or roasted Québec squab. Celestin's atmosphere induces serenity, with widely spaced tables and superb waitstaff who are on a first-name-basis with the wines cellared in the old bank vault.
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Chiado
Classy Chiado sits amongst laundromats and used car dealerships at the not-so-classy western end of Little Italy, but it's well worth suffering the surrounds. Start with the grilled tiger shrimp with piri-piri, roasted jalapeños and banana peppers, then move on to the grilled octopus with roasted sweet-pepper salsa. Service is formal and faultless; framed oils enliven the walls.
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Focaccia Restaurant
Focaccia fills a woody room in a cute yellow Victorian house just off Yonge St. Oddly enough there's no focaccia on the compact, well considered menu, just contemporary Euro fare with a fusion twist. Start with the grilled calamari with parsley pesto and tomato jam (around C$9 ), followed by bison striploin with merlot and black grape sauce and yam gratin ($28). Good stuff.
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John's Italian Café
John's classic joint wouldn't look out of place in New York's Little Italy, or even New Jersey. The tree-shaded patio is the perfect summer-night stage for a bottle of Chianti and a fresh cornmeal-crust pizza piled high with toppings. The coffee's good too. Hard to beat.
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Kit Kat
A saving grace near the Theatre Block is Kit Kat, where the vibe manages to stay low-key (dare we say, bohemian) despite the surrounding glitz. It's a cute Italian shopfront restaurant, complete with red-and-white checked tablecloths, serving traditional southern Italian pasta and meat dishes like osso buco Milanese (around C$22 ) and spaghetti pescatore ($20).
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Leão D'ouro
This place has been here for 30 years and, except from the odd hockey game on TV, remains unflappably Portuguese - pretty Portuguese staff, 100% Portuguese wine and a superb Portuguese menu. Try the signature Seafood Rice for two with whole grilled fish (around C$60 ), or maybe the Santola à Leão - steamed crab with house special dip (around C$35 ). Delicioso !
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Mercatto
One of an effervescent string of Italian deli cafés, Mercatto serves up creative panini, pasta, risotto, frittata and pizza dishes at a central dining bench beneath entirely out-of-place chandeliers. No one's much concerned with what's above them though - faces are focused on the plates. You'll find a cappuccino bar and a toasty patio nook off the sidewalk. There's also a branch in Old York.
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Midi
Romantic in a restrained, sophisticated, Gallic kind of way, Midi serves trad faves like Alberta lamb shanks, fresh market fish, steamed mussels (done seven different ways) in its crimson-colored room. Couples purr over tables at night; business types discuss tomorrow's takeovers during lunch, which focuses on quiches, salads and terrines.
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Myth
Inside a converted movie house, Myth serves the Danforth's chicest mezes beneath bizarre medieval machinations suspended from the ceiling. Small portions of mezes approach mythical prices, but its balsamic-marinated octopus with roasted peppers or Mediterranean stuffed calamari might be the best you'll ever have.
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North 44°
All deluxe mosaics and sculpted metal, Mark McEwan's sleek North 44° is still one of North America's top tables (Toronto sits at a latitude of 44° north, if you were wondering…). Solid main courses, such as a whole seared BC halibut baked in banana leaves with leek hearts, braised onion, coconut and coriander (around C$41 ), are paired with selections from a mind-boggling international wine list (17 pages, excluding bibliography). Magnificent.
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Ouzeri
Sensibly priced mezes and sophisticated seafood endear this friendly place to local families. Roasted eggplant with a Greek salad and a cold beer will set you back around C$15 . There's live traditional Greek music on some nights (avoid if escalating bouzouki music isn't your thing).
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Pan On The Danforth
Colorful, casual Pan serves unpretentious fare with traditional Greek flavors, like Santorini chicken stuffed with spinach and feta, served with cracked pepper, new potatoes and seared veggies (around C$18 ). Finish with a chocolate baklava for dessert.
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Papa Ceo
Papa Ceo seems to be winning its age-old pizza war with Cora Pizza two doors away. Gourmet slices here are enormous - grab a chunky slab of 'Marlon Brando' (mozzarella, pesto, ground beef, onions and mushrooms) and retreat to the back tables where Italian Serie A soccer dances across TV screens beneath air-conditioning vents.
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Serra
Serra is an unassuming neighborhood joint with funky retro lighting and cute staff, managing to be hip without straying too far from classic Italian stylings (on the walls and on the plates). Try a wood-oven pizza with grilled tiger prawns, scallops, artichoke hearts and ricotta (around C$14 ) or a herb-rubbed free-range chicken breast with sweet potato, spinach and mustard jus. Perfecto !
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