Fratelli Village Pizzeria

http://www.fratellis.ca

We actually passed Fratelli many times on our way to visit our sister&brother who lives in the area. Unfortunately we never noticed it before. Might have been a narrow sidewalk or us simply not expecting a restaurant around there.

APPEARANCE
Nothing much to boast about here, a clean and simple front with a fair amount of glass. Their word mark is written in not easily readable script font with an oven illustration which does the restaurant no justice. They only reason we know it's an oven and not a bee hive is due to the tagline "Classic Wood Oven Pizza". We parked on the side in a somewhat dark alley, plenty of parking spots though. There was no direct way to get in from the lot, so we took a small trip around the building looking for the entrance. Later on we noticed a rail garage door shut for the season – it was actually well integrated in the interior and lead to the parking area. We should check the place out in the summer to see how that changes our experience.

NOSE
We were welcomed by a man smiling at the bar, we believe the owner. He was there all night, looking very content to see us. We passed by a wall with a window-like opening, giving a great panoramic view of the restaurant - a live painting. On the way to our table, we also passed their open kitchen area with a chalk board filled by specials above - not a very obvious place to be read, but a good idea.
The interior was very open, walls were painted a warm brown with stone faced sections, stone-tiles floor and black furniture. They had interesting wine storage shelves with wood lettuce, but we didn't think its a good idea to have them near the ceiling with direct light at them. Unless they were decorations, this is not the best way to store decent wine.

SWIRL
Our waitress quickly brought us up to speed on what’s new and exciting at Fratellis. We asked our waitress to recommend us some dishes and perhaps what's popular. She strongly suggested Victoria's pizza and their salads. She also mentioned sharing an appetizer and a pizza is a good idea.
Their neatly organized menu seemed to be geared towards pizza selection more than anything else although we noticed a decent selection of pasta dishes with home-made sauces. There was a side Wine List cart, dominated by Italian and Californian one at reasonable prices. Their house wine was available in a variety of sizes from 5oz all the way to a little carafe. We made a mental note to get a glass or two next time we are here.
At last, we ordered their White Pizza on special and Milan's Pizza, there was no choice on size all are 11". Their daily soup also appeared quite appetizing - creamy bacon, potatoes and leek.

PALATE
As we waited, lounging music was playing in the background putting us in the right mood. As we were quite hungry, we did miss not having bread or something to munch on. Perhaps the appetizer recommendation was not to be ignored.
It took a little bit over fifteen minutes for our pizzas to arrive, but we were hungry enough to dig in at once, burning ourselves a bit against the hot crust fresh out of the oven. That wood-burning oven was in the corner, open for viewing as one of the restaurant attractions - it was topped with little mosaic-like stones. The pizza's crust itself was thin and floury. We found White Pizza quite an interesting and remarkably flavorful choice. It came with copious areas of ricotta cheese, smoked salmon, the dish was adorned with plenty of spinach, red onion and some delicious fried capers (the most original ingredient for us). Although there was no sauce, this pizza felt quite filling. Milan's Pizza was more traditional - tomato sauce base, red onions, grilled chicken, feta and a tad of mozzarella. The best part were the sundried tomatoes - an intriguing addition.

FINISH
Fratelli is quite a place for the neighborhood. Definitely a restaurant to visit with your family in the evening, or even on a date. We found it not pretentious, but wholesome. The service was great and staff very knowledgeable. Check it out if you are in the area!

ps In retrospect, we regret not checking their dessert menu.

Pizzeria Libretto

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Lo Zingaro Ristorante Pizzeria

http://www.lo-zingaro.com/

What a crazy, muddy, wet week this was… We were looking for a small evening snack to enjoy after our weekly volleyball game and passed by Lo Zingaro Ristorante Pizzeria.

APPEARANCE
dark ruby, in an old style bottle
We noticed the old fashioned pizzeria sign first. It had yellow blinking light bulbs all around and looked like an anachronism here. It is however, not difficult to pass unfortunately. Few flower baskets outside add some country charm to the appearance. A narrow and long space with few tables wide open to Queen Street – doing their best to capture some of the summer weather while being bound to a tight downtown location.
We were lucky to grab a seat right next to the window. Ma Cherie ventured inside to survey the premises while taking a few photos.

NOSE
dark cherry, red fruit, needing more attention and aeration
The impressive bar corner had preserve jars and bottles on the wall. There was also an open kitchen with a very active chef visible at the end of the long corridor, at the back. Beautiful incandescent light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, a flower basket by our window and…lounge music?(not the ultimate fit) A great atmosphere other than that! Some muttered chattering at the table nearby, noisy Queen St and a warm July evening. We had a candle on our table in a branded Remy Martin glass (not sure why). What else to wish for? Maybe a bit more attention from our host. He seemed very preoccupied with making espressos and lattes for other guests. We did have to call him a couple of times.

SWIRL
light spices, vanilla
After exploring the simple and well organized menu, we decided to go with their Quattro Stagioni to share - ma Cherie was enthusiastic as it is not a popular one outside of Italy. We wanted to get Italian beers, so asked for Peroni and Lozi. It turned out Lozi isn’t, so we instead wanted to ask the 666 Devil’s Pale Ale.
As we waited, we settle in and enjoyed the small and stylish interior. The light bulbs were lightly dancing in the air. It made us reflect and talk, while feeling awfully romantic.
Our beers didn’t take long to make it to our table. The Peroni is light, yeasty and malty with light bitterness near the end - nothing out of the ordinary. On the other hand, the Ontarian 666 Devil’s Pale Ale is dark, very hoppy and a bit sweet - on the intense side.

PALATE
full bodied, ripe-tasting
It took maybe 10-15 minutes to get our food. Chef himself brought our order in, a very nice touch (although he could have spend few more minutes with us to make it perfect).
Our pizza was sizzling hot and fresh from the oven. The crust was thin and the dish was not overloaded with ingredients. It was lightly cut, so we had to repeat the lines. It was a perfect meal to share - slightly burned Italian ham, olives and mushrooms accented the simple crust dough just enough not to overshadow the cheese and artichokes. The ingredients were separated into four areas (hence the name) and we had a chance to experience the difference. Overall it was mouth-watering.
Ma Cherie couldn't help but share the main mushroom slice, even though I am no fan of them. We had to clarify what kind of mushroom was used, as we liked it so much. Turned out to be cremini. Jumping ahead, we made a cremini rizzotto the day after.
To top the meal off, we got panna cotta. Quite interesting although not as exciting as the pizza (which is good, it is a pizzeria after all). A traditionally made desert with some fresh berries on top. Hopefully made in-house, but it was hard to tell on the spot. Should have gotten an espresso as well in retrospect...

FINISH
spicy, tobacco addition
If you are looking for an authentic pizza place - Lo Zingaro should at least be on your list. It is reasonably priced and very accessible. Being tucked in a bit, it is easy to miss. We hope more people will have a chance to enjoy its flower decorated tables by the window and artisan pizzas.


Overall, a close-to-heart Valpolicella.

Atomic

http://www.atomica.ca/

It's been too recommended, for me to miss this place out. Plus it sounded perfect for mon cheri's birthday, knowing his interest in Italian wines.

APPEARANCE
 clean, widespread
And so I made a reso days ahead. Tried changing the time, the same day but it was impossible, they are ridiculously busy. I just dropped off the cake earlier, and hoped for the best.
From the outside the place seems clean, geometric and organized. The word mark is horizontal and simple. There is a few places with a logo of an atom, believe the old one, thankfully it's not prominent.

NOSE
mishmash - many weak hints at ones
We came a tad earlier than our reservation. It was busy, we waited for 5min standing, the host offered us to sit next to some couple, while we waited.

It is a small, and cozy place. However we couldn't stop noticing the fluorescent wall behind the bar, which kept on changing colours. I felt like I am in a club and too many of the colours were clashing with the rest of the room..  it wasn't hard not to notice that the red-orange seconds of the light were the only appropriate ones. Even if one was to turn away from the bright wall, there is a lovely mirror on the wall across, reinforcing it.

SWIRL
unresolved, simple
They sat us at a booth, the place felt a bit rushed. We ordered two glasses of Primitivo-ca'del doge. Followed by a pizza we put together - salmon, sundered tomato, basil pesto cream, fior di latte, artichoke and onions. The waitress seemed stressed and distracted. They serves us some bread as we waited. We continued our discussion on what possible major our waitress is doing.


PALATE

easy to like, light, pleasing
Our pizza came quickly - small, thin-crusted but delicious.
I went to the washroom, checked on the waitress who was fully on board with bringing out the cake. Cheri didn't know what was coming, so I asked for the wine list again while he asked for the dessert menu.. the waitress looked at me and was confused. Made him feel inadequate, as he didn't understand why its so hard bring out a dessert menu.. I smiled and said yes, can you bring it out. We ordered two glasses of Prosecco. The waitress brought out a bottle, started opening it and its a good thing mon cheri spoke up and told her we only wanted two glasses. He entertained himself with the dessert menu while the waitress brought out the cake with two candles. I brought 24 more and the poor cake was fully lit by the time we finished putting them all on. He blew the candles, our waitress took the cake back and then cut two pieces for us.

FINISH
light and short
At the end, she brought back the cake fully packed. All the warnings I got that there was a fee on the service of serving the cake, was definitely worth it. We paid and left.
Honestly, perhaps I was too distracted by the event to really take a good look at the menu or even order anything apart from what cheri wanted. This place is worth visiting again in a few months, but not at a busy night with that hideous lit up wall.

overall..  a young Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc blend