Best Italian restaurant in Toronto

Zucca

2150 Yonge St., 416 488 5774
For 2 decades, this upscale Midtown haunt has been the benchmark for exceptional food that is Italian. Chef Andrew Milne- Allan was doing local, seasonal cuisine before it had been trendy, and also the eatery’s professional waiters could educate Parkdale’s cool youngsters a thing or two. Made in-house every morning, the ever-changing pastas are an evident strength, such as the hand-cut red wine tagliatelle in a duck-and-bunny ragout—a wonderfully rustic dish. Elaborate plates, such as the seared muscovy duck breast with a lemon risotto, bitter treviso and roasted figs, showcase the kitchen’s deftness at balancing flavours. A good wine list is broken down by area of Italy, and classic desserts like affogato, panna cotta and biscotti are perfect endnotes to a romantic meal.

Buca

604 King St. W., 416 865 1600
Few places where executive chef Rob Gentile prepares several of the city’s dining culture is ’sed by encapsulate Toronto better than Buca most original and complex plates in a bare-bones industrial room. Creamy smoked burrata tops spicy pig’s blood spaghetti with sausage and rapini. Truffle shavings adorn ricotta-filled fried zucchini flowers—a dish that’s described (correctly) by a closeby diner as “better than sex.”

Bricco Kitchen and Wine Bar

3047 Dundas St. W., 647-464-9100
Using its midcentury Scandinavian furniture, intricately patterned ceramic plates and whitewashed brick, this lovely 45- seater in the Junction is readily among the prettiest areas in the city. The polished-but- aesthetic that is unfussy applies to the cooking also, with nuovo rustico dishes in the Piedmont area highlighting substantial flavours and both fashionable demo. The antipasto board departs in the conventional meat-and-cheese spread to add chickpea fritters, blue cheese–filled superb lonza dates and prosciutto-wrapped bread sticks. Lemon rind balances creamy Arctic char that is raw, and large, fluffy gnocchi lend starchy support into a rich braised rabbit. Wine rotates every two weeks, and the trios of two-ounce pours are a great approach to sample the many all-natural, small-company choices available.

Campo

244 Jane St., 647-346-2267
A lot of Italian kitchens in this city appear to believe that any spaghetti with meat sauce could be passed off as bolognese, but only at that Baby Point trattoria, it’s done right. Ground beef and pork are cooked for 48 hours with a veggie mirepoix, milk along with tomatoes to produce a strong-flavoured sauce that goes over exceptional pasta. The kitchen also scores points because of its handcrafted gnocchi, smaller than normal but the perfect mix of airy and compact, coated in a delicious ’ and tomato nduja sauce. The wine list is modest but features choices from some less-heralded regions of the boot, and also the digestif selection contains some uncommon amari.

F’Amelia

12 Amelia St., 416-323-0666
The kitchen of the Cabaggetown favourite continues to wow with its creativity, while preserving the Italian soul of simplicity. Appetizers are excellent: an tasty fig salad is livened up by smoky grilled radicchio, and lightly battered and grilled calamari comes brushed with garlicky pesto. Chef Riley Skelton provides a distinctive take on carbonara—possibly the most sacred dish in the Italian canon— adding sautéed red onion crisped prosciutto and spinach, and using handcrafted tagliatelle in place of spaghetti. Creamy eggplant is the star of a spicy lamb sausage pizza. In warmer weather, the patio is the perfect area to drink a glass of wine and take in the neighbourhood sights and doubles the size of the restaurant.

Aria Ristorante

25 York St., 416 363 2742
The room is a showstopper, with tremendous starburst light fixtures and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Maple Leaf Square. Translucent pink sheets of soft veal dressed with anchovy, tuna and caper sauce make for the city’s vitello tonnato that is greatest. Desserts are lusciously conventional (a pistachio tart with macerated strawberries) or brilliantly non-traditional (a creamy popcorn, pine nut and sweet corn ice cream bar). Unless there’s an occasion at the ACC, closed Sundays.

Toca

181 Wellington St. W., 416-572-8008
The Ritz Carlton’s fine restaurant has finally found its basis. A pair of burrata on soft curds of scampi perch that is barely cooked held in place by the natural bowl of an artichoke heart. Bitter, mellow sautéed mushrooms in a heating autumn salad tame vivid red radicchio leaves. Arrayed and slit throughout the bone, the sup remely tender, slightly fantastic steak Fiorentina is one of the city’s great cuts of meat. Airy and smooth Roman gnocchi, made with semolina rather than potato, make a great accompaniment, as does a bowl of glistening braised escarole studded with raisins and hazelnuts.


Amalficoastrestaurant

Mistura

265 Davenport Rd., 416-515-0009
The good-looking, gray-on-grey room is scanned in the comfort of a plush booth. Chef Klaus Rourich sends refined interpretations of classic northern Italian dishes out. For seasoning a brilliant salad of orange slices, shaved fennel and uses ricotta and niçoise olives, and almonds for feel. Puttanesca that is earthy, with no trace of mush, offsets octopus. Textbook bolognese, barely bound with milk, is strong with flavour.

Enoteca Sociale

1288 Dundas St. W., 416-534-1200
Its chefs may change, but at its center, the restaurant will not. Between the faux-wood panelling, the genuine warmth toward returning celebrations by the pub as well as professional staff, shown ’s extraordinary choice of unique, quaffable Italian wines, this cozy place stays Toronto’s of dining by the Tiber, most authentic replica. Chef James Santon captures the soul of a pillowy foundation for sour tomato, chilies, the boot in his gnocchi and a languorous pool of smoked ricotta that reads achingly easy, but is soul-food substantial. Dialogue restarts only after every last morsel has been scraped from the plate and licked off the spoon, and pauses for chocolate terrine, a trinity of spritely olive oil, candied hazelnuts and dense chocolate mousse.

Bar Buca

75 Portland St., 416 599 2822
Several measures chef Rob Gentile’s King West osteria, from Buca proper, is everyday Pub Buca and his comfortable. Carve the gran fritto misto, a two-tiered snack tray piled with lightly battered and deep-fried baby artichokes, rock shrimp, twists and miniature smelt of pigskin. Each bite is flecked with fennel and absolutely crispy -flavoured salt or chili. For dessert, there’s old-fashioned Italian pastries: ricotta-stuffed cannoli, lace-patterned sugar and pizzelle -dusted apple butter bombolone.