Essential Toronto Magazine 2017 | Page 42

Food & drink L’Unità Terroni on adelaide Street Piano Piano Italian Fare Terroni Terroni has been a Toronto dining institution for 25 years. Its owners pride themselves on Italian cooking techniques that emphasize simplicity and quality ingredients, and a menu fine-tuned to mimic a true Calabrese dining experience. Look no further for fresh handmade pasta and classic cut-it-yourself pizza. 720 Queen St. W.; 1095 Yonge St.; 57 Adelaide St. E., terroni.com Pizzeria Libretto Pizzeria Libretto helped kick-start the Ossington strip’s restaurant boom, and has flourished to five locations. The thin-crusted pies, which include duck confit and Bosc pear–topped Bianca, mix Old World pizza-making traditions with daring experiments. 221 Ossington Ave.; 155 University Ave.; 545 King St. W.; 550 Danforth Ave., pizzerialibretto.com 42 where EssEntial toronto Ardo Plates at this east-end spot are steeped in the Sicilian kitchen customs of chef Roberto Marotta’s family, emphasizing coastal, seafood-forward options and flatbread-esque pizzas made with grandma’s time-tested sourdough recipe. Save room for the heavenly pistachio-dusted cannoli. 243 King St. E., ardorestaurant.com Splendido into this mellow trattoria. The makeover, featuring a room playfully decorated by local artists, has been nothing short of brilliant—from the first antipasti to the final dolce, every dish displays a wonderful burst of colour and flavour. 88 Harbord St., pianopianotherestaurant.com Sotto Sotto A-listers and high rollers discovered this snug home for Italy-by-way-of- Mediterranean flavours back in the 1990s. Today, Sotto Sotto endures as a world-renowned culinary destination and celebrity mainstay. 120 Avenue Rd., sottosotto.ca Piano Piano Chef Victor Berry recently converted fine-dining institution 7 Numbers Nonna Rosa Marinuzzi keeps her midtown cucina humming along with simple, soulful cooking, while her son Tony mans the stoves at their Danforth offshoot. Both locations nourish patrons like family, with hearty lasagnas, osso buco and pastas smothered in Rosa’s famous tomato sauce. 516 Eglinton Ave. W.; 307 Danforth Ave., sevennumbers.com Queen Margherita Few follow the laws of Neapolitan cuisine as stringently as this local chain of homey pizzerias. Nothing but perfectly chewy, blistered thin crusts, topped with ingredients from Italy and an exclusively sourced fior de latte exit Queen Margherita’s Naples-imported wood-fired ovens. 1402 Queen St. E.; 785 Annette St.; 772 Dundas St. W.; qmpizza.com L’Unità This intimate, exposed-brick dining room in Yorkville doles out generous portions of authentic seasonal fare in full view of an impressive wine bar. It also boasts one of the best cannolis in T.O., but other desserts, such as panna cotta and tiramisu, are equally exquisite. 134 Avenue Rd., lunita.ca Dylan you’ll feel like one of the family at these hearty restuarants By Shazia khan