Pizzeria Libretto

Probably the best dinner out I had while in Toronto was at Pizzeria Libretto, in Ossington. Chloaye, Tatomme and I decided to go to this incredible spot on a whim, and I am so happy that we did! I had one of the most unique, incredible and memorable meals at Pizzeria Libretto than I'd had in a while.

The spot itself was gorgeous; packed, loud, beautifully decorated and warm. The restaurant was super long and narrow, which was kind of fun, and made the place really cozy.

The service was incredible, too! We had the most lovely waitress... That always helps so much!

When we finally settled into our table after a decently short wait (apparently there is always a line, and they don't take reservations, either), deciding what to order was an exciting experience! This spot is famous for their authentic neapolitan pizzas, however I'm sure the different "flavours" of pizza were not authentic (in a good way), all the different pizzas they had were so innovative and mouthwatering! 

Another thing that was really great about this spot is that everything they serve is made from local, organic, natural ingredients! 

Some delicious fresh bread and olive oil and balsamic was quickly delivered at the table, which us girls ate up pretty quickly (we were starving this night, however that is not the only reason the food tasted so good)!

Then I finally decided on what to order. I really wanted to try a bit of everything the menu had to offer, so I went for the "prezzo fisso" menu. It was really reasonable too! A four course meal for $25 dollars. This was especially good because the meal included: an appetizer (you weren't sure what it would be), a salad to start, a whole pizza (which were about $14-20 dollars on their own anyways) and dessert! The dessert addition really drew me in...

My appetizer came out very quickly, which is understandable...

I have to say, when I laid eyes on this scarce little plate I was a little worried about my menu choice. Don't get me wrong here, these little morsels of flavour were delicious...but...just look at it!

It was fun really coaxing myself to savor each bit of food though. All the cured meats are either house-made or locally made, which was nice, too.

Then, I was quickly redeemed by the restaurant when my "salad" made it's way to the table. It was so simple, fresh and delicious. I chose the fingerling potato and celery salad on a bed of Ontario mozzarella di buffala dressed beautifully with extra virgin olive oil and Italian parsley.

Then it was time for the pizza! Tate's came first, and was gorgeous. Tatomme ordered the rapini pizza, which had goat's cheese, black olives and Ontario fiore di latte mozzarella sprinkled on top.

And then it was time for Chloaye and I's pizzas! We ordered the same thing...the duck confit pizza. I am in love with anything duck, so it was an easy choice for me. This beautiful pie was topped with bosc pear and Ontario fiore di latte mozzarella. It was the best pizza I've had in my life.

The crust was impeccable. It was so paper thin, yet somehow felt like it had so much substance to it! I ate the whole pizza and was absolutely stuffed afterwards.

Pizzeria Libretto also provided a delicious "chili oil" which I was obsessed with and doused every slice of my pizza with. Mmm.

Then came the perfect way to finish off the evening, an impeccable bit of tiramisu for dessert. This lovely dessert was not very big, but it made up for it's size in flavour. I have no idea what they did to make their tiramisu so incredible, but it was definitely unique and tasted unlike any other tiramisu (and trust me, I've consumed many) I've ever tasted!

Just when I thought the meal couldn't possibly get any better, our adorable little waitress came over and let us girls know that the manager (I think that's what she said) would like to buy all us girls a little after dinner drink! Thank you for the flirtatious eyes with him all night, Tate! We all got a substantial glass of a delicious red dessert wine, which "went great with chocolate". I cannot remember what it was called though! But that was really fun, and definitely added to my love for the place!

So if you are ever in Toronto, you need to go to Pizzeria Libretto! It was so much fun, and there was such a variety of people there. Couples on dates, girls nights (like our table), tables full of man friends having a good meal together... I loved it! It really would be the perfect date spot, though.

Anyways, I'm off to pack up my things to head back home to Edmonton. This week went by so quickly I can't believe it!

xoxo

Mariel

Valentine's Day in Toronto

Hello lovelies! Get ready to read aaall about my wonderful Valentine's Day spent in Toronto with two lovely women! It was such a good first day in Toronto, from start to finish! Us girls started off our day fairly early, and went out for a nice little Valentine's breakky! 

Tatomme took us to the cutest, and busiest little breakfast/brunch spot/hole in the wall I'd ever seen, Aunties and Uncles. We got there at the perfect time as we just missed a HUGE line that formed, practically curving down the street.

See what I mean? This place does NOT look like it would serve incredible breakfast...but looks are deceiving! The line was way past the little white golf you see there at one point!

After a not-too-long wait, we got to enter this adorable little spot! As we fought our way through the crowds of major hipster/scenesters to crawl up the most dangerous set of stairs I've ever climbed, we walked past the tiniest little kitchen I have ever seen! They were whippin' out the food (gigantic servings and all) in this place too! I was impressed.

The interior was a perfectly eclectic blend of bizarre art, 50's/60's diner and just...knick knacks really!

We got a table on the 2nd floor of this two level little restaurant. It was so cozy, you actually felt like you were at your aunty and uncles!

Tucked away in the corner of the upstairs was a cute little sink/counter area where the waitress served up our coffee from. So homey.

Pretty quickly, our food arrived! It looked incredible! All three of us ordered the same thing...because it just sounded too good not to order (I know, we must have looked SO boring).

What we picked was: the omelette of the day which was roasted vegetables and goat cheese, which came with incredible, sweet challah toast, amazing home-made hash browns and "greens"(a yummy little breakfast salad). We ordered some fruit too, which was stewed pears.

I can honestly not get over this toast! It was so, so, melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

To make things even more incredible, they make their own home-made ketchup at Aunties and Uncles. Mmm.

After breakky we went for a brisk stroll down to the Kensington Market area, which I fell in love with.

There were so many adorable vintage shops, unique restaurants and great little health food stores and bakeries!

We wandered into Wanda's Pie in the Sky, which Tatomme told us we "had to see".

This packed little pie shop reminded us of what day it was with adorable little conversation heart sugar cookies!

Loved them.

The pies were so pretty!

Then on our little adventure, we came across the most incredible little kitchen store ever, Good Egg. Stores like this are really detrimental to my wallet...

They even have all sorts of classes going on all the time! This one looks so tempting and right up my alley! I wish I was here for this! 

Also, here's a little fact for you! Apparently Rachel McAdams took some knife sharpening/cutting classes at this spot! I liked her even more than I already did after hearing that!

Before I knew it, we were in what I'm sure was "little mexico"...which was filled with dried fruit stores and graffiti-ed alleyways. Don't I have such gorgeous cousins??

After our slightly chilly walk through Kensington, we headed to a grocery store to pick up a good load of groceries for the week!

We got home and were all majorly cravin' some nachos...so we whipped up a large batch. 

We made yummy guac with the avocados that Chloaye did end up bringing, and a black bean dip. The salsa we bought...

After we filled up on chips we headed out to a little pub not too far from Tate's place, which had 35 beers on tap. It was difficult to choose!

I finally ended up deciding on a chocolate cherry stout, because it was Valentine's day after all, and I hadn't had any chocolate all day (which is so wrong)! It was a good choice...

It was Sunday evening though, so we packed 'er in fairly early and headed back to Tatomme's place on the trolley. 

Such a great, noms-packed day though! I absolutely loved spending Valentine's with my two wonderful cousins! I am really loving my first taste of Toronto. Look forward to many, many more food adventures from over here!

xoxo 

Mariel