Osteria 3249 Yonge Street; 416-545-0000 (Number of visits: three or four)

The decision by owners of Sapori, one of our favourite neighbourhood restaurants, that it was time for renovations and a change of name caused some dismay hereabouts. What was going to happen to the cozy ambiance and the food we had come to like so much? Well, we  happened to be the first diners on the opening night of the restaurant's new incarnation and we've been back two or three times since. Which should tell you that all is well. We're especially pleased that the same two charming and welcoming young men oversee the proceedings.

The room has been opened out by the removal of the wine storage area, making the place somewhat more airy and roomy. And most of the pricier items have been removed from the menu. The overall impresssion is of a less tony, more accessible eatery. The makoever seems to have worked; it's rapidly becoming very popular. To make sure of a spot, you should get reservations or arrive early, as we always do. So far, we've tried only the pastas and they have been excellent. One dish of melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi turned out to be the perfect treat for a member of our party who was recovering from periodontal surgery!

[Note: Several restaurants in the Toronto area have some version of "Osteria" in their name, so make sure that you've got the right one if you're phoning.]

Price range: Medium

Richlees (1959 Avenue Road) (416-483-9818) www.richlees.com Number of visits: several [Note: this place has had an over-hauling and a revised name but we haven't yet had a chance to check out the changes.]

Occasionally, I have found the "Mediterranean cuisine" here a bit too elaborate, in a sort of European style -- for instance a salmon that was gucked up with too much overlay. But we enjoyed a recent visit very much. Strangely, though, all the bread (with a liver pate) was hard and dry in a way that didn't seem intentional. Then came a very good mixed green salad with pear and a tasty dressing. For main dishes, a sirloin steak with veggies for one of us, and gnocchi in a cream sauce for the other. The gelato for dessert -- mango and raspberry -- was bursting with flavour.  

This place has a decidedly Old World ambiance -- chandeliers, wood, mirrors, carpet. It's a magnet for the well-heeled geriatric set of North Toronto. You'll have to decide for yourself whether or not you're comfortable with that. The service is classy and smooth, the only discordant note being cutlery that I find rather chintzy.

Price range: Upper Medium

Delux (92 Ossington Avenue) (416-537-0134) Number of visits: 2

Normally, we like to visit a restaurant more than twice before committing our impressions to this website. Since this eatery, however, is situated in a part of Toronto that we don't often visit, we're gonna make some comments now, in case it's a long time before we return to it.

A very stylish, hip place -- bare brick walls, minimalistic furniture -- this one dishes up what appears, for the most part, to be very good food. On my recent visit, I had steak frites. The latter were not the skinny French ones I was hoping for but they were good. It disconcerted me a bit that the steak was presented sliced but the flavour was acceptable. A pannacotta for dessert -- pretty much a bland, pudding-like thing -- was sweet but not very interesting. On my first time there, I had a more enticing pastry, as I recall.

The service by the young wait staff is professional in a cool, casual way: tight-fitting t-shirts and designer jeans on the guys. Only problem on my recent visit was that, being the first customer of the night, I had to listen to their chatter and their heavy rock music while they sat at the bar, warming up to their duties. Later in the evening that, obviously, wouldn't be a problem.

Price range: High Medium.

Chega (3391 Yonge Street) Number of visits: four or five

We were among the early patrons of this place when it first opened about three years ago. We liked it at first but, on subsequent visits, the menu seemed to be getting too fancy: unnecessary stuffings and so on. Also, as it began to get popular, it became very noisy on a weekend night.

A recent visit turned out to be more pleasant than some in the past. The menu seems to have been pared down to simpler dishes. The mushroom puree soup was very dark, with a strong, earthy flavour. Everybody in our party enjoyed their entrees very much: steak frites, trout, liver (served in Venetian style, i.e. cut into bite-sized pieces) and gorgonzola gnocchi. The creamy sauce in the latter dish, however, was so rich that it couldn't be finished.

Non-food issues: It was great for the first hour (6:30 to 7:30) but, as the place filled up, the noise became horrendous -- to our ears. The service was professional and brisk -- almost, one might say, to the point of being brusque. (Mainly because our waiter was too loud.) The large room is attractive, apart from the noise, but the white upholstery on chairs and banquettes needs cleaning.

Price range: high medium.

MoRoCo 99 Yorkville Ave, Toronto. 416-961-2202 (Number of visits: 2, plus some takeouts)

I stumbled on this place by accident. It’s off the street and up a few steps, in the interior mall that also houses Yorkville’s venerable The Coffee Mill. The MoRoCo premises used to be occupied by an art gallery. Now it’s a taste of Old World elegance – all black and silver and grey, with sparkling chandeliers. You sit at a table on one of the velvety banquettes and you feel swathed in quiet, luxury. The service is discreet and smooth.

The specialty of the house is chocolate. As you enter, there’s a display counter where you can buy all sorts of chocolate treats. In fact, the first time that I dropped in, to investigate the place just out of curiosity and to check out the menu, the attendant at the counter presented me with a just-poured glass of hot chocolate as I turned to leave. It was a very different kind of hot chocolate from what we’re used to at our skating rinks in North America: not nearly as sweet and milky but packing a much stronger chocolate hit. MoRoCo’s truffles are squarish with hard, shiny exteriors, not the buttery, soft kind, but they’re very good. The chocolate croissants, the only items not made on the premises, are from Rahier, on Bayview Avenue – possibly not the best in town but certainly much better than what you get at your neighbourhood Starbucks.

The menu for meals seems to emphasize somewhat lighter fare but there are some more substantial dinners. On our recent visit, Jane had stuffed chicken breast. The chicken itself didn’t have tons of flavour but the stuffing and the accompanying veggies were very tasty. My steak sandwich on a baguette (with salad) was unbelievably good – very tender meat, dripping with flavour. The baguette was crunchy, airy perfection.

But it’s mainly the elaborate, imaginative desserts that get your attention at MoRoCo. We’re always complaining that the North Toronto restaurants have completely run out of good dessert ideas. (Any one for: Tiramisu? Crème Brulé, Tartuffo? No thanks!) And yet – irony of ironies – we didn’t order a dessert at MoRoCo. We did take home some delicious cookies but we must return sometime just for the desserts. They look amazing. Expensive though: about $14 each. But they look bounetous enough for satisfactory sharing.

Price Range: High medium

Simple Bistro 196 Mt. Pleasant Road, Toronto. www.simplebistro.com (Number of visits: 2)

Our first visit was on a warm summer night when the small premises were so crowded and noisy that we de-camped to another place up the street for dessert. Which is not to say that the fare at Simple Bistro wasn't worth putting up with a bit of commotion. It's  good French cooking, within a relatively moderate price range. The service is lively, efficient and professional, without over-emphasis on charm. My second visit was early on a winter night when I was the sole occupant until two businessmen arrived. The steak/frites were everything I dreamed of. Given that there was no problem with noise this time, I felt it my duty to give the dessert menu a try. A lemon tart was exquisite.

Price range: towards the higher end of medium.

Il Fornello King Street, Theatre District, Toronto. (One visit)

If your idea of a good experience of Italian cuisine is a quiet little place, where the sweaty proprietors exert themselves over delectable dishes which they personally deliver to your table, Il Fornello ain't for you. A huge place, bustling with activity, it appears to specialize in serving the middle-class couples and family groups who want a not-too-expensive, but fancy-seeming feed, before heading for a night of theatre. The plates are arranged with great style, the service is brisk and the atmosphere is hopping.

But the food disappoints. My penne with chicken, spinach and mushrooms was supposed to have an oil dressing but it seemed watery. I didn't like the taste but maybe there was some spice in it that doesn't agree with me. Jane's spaghetti carbonara with chicken was very bland. Carrot cake was hearty, though. Bread was good too (two slices brown, two slices white).

Not having reservations, we were escorted to what was obviously one of the less desirable tables -- right in front of one of the main serving areas. But Jane loved being able to watch the preparation of salads, pizzas and desserts. In fact her many questions about it all elicited some smiles and good cheer from our middle-aged waitress who, otherwise, seemed disinclined to show any sign of friendliness whatever.

Price Range: Medium

Some Background re North Toronto Eateries:

Ever since Dante Rota closed his fabulous "Dante’s" at 3353 Yonge Street, about eight years ago, we have been looking for a new favourite in the neighbourhood. "Dante's" was perfection. We constantly marvelled at our good luck in that the distinguished Signor Rota had, in his last years before retirement, deigned to open a little eatery near us. In his heyday, he had been the chef at the "Three Small Rooms" at the Windsor Arms Hotel in downtown Toronto. No less an authority than the Globe and Mail’s restaurant critic, Joanne Kates, had credited him with bringing Italian cooking to a much higher level in Toronto.

We loved popping into "Dante’s" on a moment’s notice, weeknights or weekends. We usually went early, so reservations weren’t obligatory. Not being the gourmand in the family, I can’t supply an elaborate explanation of what made the cuisine so good. But I do remember hearing rapturous sighs about the fact that everything was very fresh, very original, very authentic. It was here that a culinary stick-in-the-mud like me was encouraged to try something as daring as calamari deep-fried in batter. I actually got to enjoy them and haven't tasted any as good since.

Mostly what I remember, though, were the desserts made by Signora Rota. Her homemade tiramisu was nothing like the ersatz version that restaurateurs now try to pass off as the real thing. Hers was a heavenly cross between cream and cake, oozing chocolate. Simply to look at a plate of it told you that it was too rich to finish by yourself; we usually shared one. Another of Signora Rota’s concoctions that I loved was her zuccotto, a dome-shaped thing, with, as I remember it, a chocolate outer shell and a creamy filling involving sponge cake.

Regarding this dessert, one evening the Rota’s son Carlo, who is now a very successful actor (Little Mosque on the Prairie, etc.) but who often waited on tables then, explained to us that the word zuccotto came from the same root as zucchini, the latter being a smaller version of a somewhat similar shape of thing. Carlo’s presence on the scene exemplified the family-aspect of the enterprise. Quite often, there was a gathering of relatives and friends at one of the back tables. Whenever the Rota’s other son (I don’t remember his name) arrived with his wife and baby, all business had to stop while Signora Rota paraded the baby from table to table to be admired.

Trying to put those happy memories behind us, we keep heading out to sample whatever pleasures the neighbourhood eateries have to offer now. Although we’ve never hit on anything as wonderful as what we experienced at "Dante’s", we have found some places that we enjoy on a regular basis. Here follows mention of some of them. Lots more to come soon.

Sapori 3249 Yonge Street [Re name change and other innovations, see review of "Osteria" above]

This is one of our favourites, for now. As at all Italian restaurants, we usually have two pastas: one chicken and one seafood. One time recently the chicken pasta was unbelievably good; the next time it was good but not superlative. Beforehand, they bring you a crispy little loaf, just out of the oven, soaked with garlic. Like all Italian restaurants hereabouts, however, there’s no imagination or flair whatever when it comes to dessert: the monotonous run of things like creme caramel, creme brulé, various ice creams and sorbets, and, of course, the inevitable tiramisu (so-called).

The Sapori service has a personable, professional, upscale feel to it. We like the ambiance very much (except for the kitschy art). It’s cozy, with lots of dark wood, walls painted to look like stone, high-backed wooden chairs. With the wine cellar on view at one side, it has very much the feeling of a hideaway tucked back on some side street in Europe. I especially like the hefty cutlery. Usually we go early, when the sound level isn’t any problem. On one occasion, though, when we dined later (around 8 pm), the place was packed and the noise, to our consternation, was intolerable.

Price range: Medium

Ristorante 101 3265 Yonge Street, 416-481-8101, www.ristorante101.ca (Number of visits: several)

OUT OF BUSINESS

Parmigiano 3186 Yonge Street, 416-489-6688, www.parmigiano.ca (Number of visits: several)

We loved this place when it first opened, about five years ago. It’s in the spot where Ranleigh Avenue ends at Yonge. The location is a bit notorious because, when the previous establishment occupied the premises, a car driving along Ranleigh went straight through the intersection and ploughed into the restaurant, ending up in the back of the room. (I don’t recall whether there were any casualties.)

You’d never guess at that history, given the current ambiance. It’s warm and welcoming, with linen tablecloths, tables quite close to each other. The food has always been good. But it became much too popular for us within a few months of opening. It’s nearly always too crowded on weekends. Some people like to be in the midst of a hive of activity at a restaurant; we prefer to crawl into a quiet corner. We have always found the service to be fine but I recently went for lunch on a weekday with a friend and the waiter was a bit snippy.

Price Range: Medium

Soho Bistro 3202 Yonge Street, 416-488-676 www.sohobistro.ca (Number of visits: several)

This is the place we drop into when we want something simple and casual. They do a very good burger, with fries or salad for $10.95. The burger’s thick and tastes homemade, not like the processed burgers you get most places. Sad to say, though, we haven’t much liked anything else we’ve tried here. The pizza’s fat and soggy. To look at the website, you’d think the place was the epitome of style and flavour but it strikes us that the menu is far too ambitious (all sorts of meat and fish dishes) for anything other than the microwave treatment. Besides, you don’t get the impression of any vast staff in the kitchen. The service, however, is cheerful and unpretentious. If the room gets full, the noise can be terrible, as there’s nothing to absorb the voices bouncing off the hard walls and floor. But you can avoid that problem in the summer when the patio’s open.

Update: We've tried some of the salads, with chicken or seafood, and liked them very much.

Price range: Medium (except "Low" for us, given that we usually have just burgers)

Mezza Misto 3202 Yonge Street, OUT OF BUSINESS

The Monkey Bar and Grill, 3353 Yonge Street, 416-486-2288, www.themonkeybar.ca (Number of visits: a couple)

This is the restaurant that took over the premises of "Dante’s". We understand that the chef/owner is a protegee of Signor Rota’s. We visited the new place once or twice when it first opened, about seven years ago. The food was very good but it’s too pricey for us on a regular basis. We might go back once in a while, on special occasions, except that it’s always packed. It’s one of those places that has really caught on with the cognoscenti of North Toronto who have lots of $$ to throw around.

Price Range: High

Piazzetta 3441 Yonge Street, 416-440-1777 www.piazzetta.ca (Number of visits: several)

The pizza’s especially good, coming from a wood-burning brick oven roaring away at the back of the room. The pasta’s ok but we tend to shy away from this place because it has become very popular with families and it can get terribly noisy. The service always seems a bit frantic. Don’t be fooled by the home page pictures on the website which will make you think you’re looking at someplace on a piazza Italy.

Price range: Medium

Trio Ristorante 3239 Yonge Street, 416-486-5786 (Number of visits: 5 or 6)

The former occupant of these premises was "Mangia". The young owner had had trouble with his opening, about seven years ago, because, for some reason, neighbours objected to his obtaining a liquor licence. Once he got going, though, it was a very classy place, with excellent food and an understated elegance. The original owner left after a couple of years and the chef took over as chef/owner, offering pretty much the same fare. The place deserved to be very popular but, in the inexplicable way of the restaurant business, it wasn't.

Now the place is re-incarnated as "Trio". I get the impression that the former chef/owner is still involved in the kitchen. The new place (about two years old) is slightly less pricey than the former one and has become extremely popular, especially with family groups. For that reason, we don’t even try to get in on Friday nights. But one evening during a heavy snowstorm last winter, we were the only ones in the place and it was delightful.

Price Range: Medium

Gamberoni 3238 Yonge Street, 416-482-3063 (Number of visits: 5 or 6)

This place is hugely popular. That may be partly due to the "typical trattoria" decor: small tables jammed closely together, red and white checkered tablecloths, dark walls with touristy views of Italy. Lately, the restaurant is undergoing renovations around the front window to make it look even more quaint from the street. As far as I can recall, we’ve never had any problem with the food there, although I do remember that spaghetti and meatballs came with very little of the latter. The main reason we don’t patronize the place much – apart from the crowding – is that we have found the service negligent. We’re willing to accept that there’s something about us that causes that but a friend recently visited the place on her own and had the same negative impression.

Price range: Medium

Previous Reviews:

Cravings 3393 Yonge Street, Toronto 416-322-2200 www.cravingstoronto.ca Number of visits: 3 or 4. (Date of posting: Nov 3/08)

This Asian restaurant has a somewhat upscale feel about it in every way except for the prices, which are – surprise – relatively modest. In the short time since its opening, it has become very popular, so you might need reservations on a Friday night.

On our recent visit, we had an appetizer of dim sum with shrimp and spinach. Very tasty. A "very spicy" sauce that came with it turned out to be untouchable, as far as I was concerned. Our main courses – fried rice with chicken and shrimp, and mango stir fry with chicken – were delicious.

We found the service to be charming and discreet. The decor is smart and sleek – mostly black, white and beige. The only problem is with the chairs in the front room, should you be sitting on one of them rather than on a bench against the wall. The back of the chair is low and slanted backwards. That doesn’t matter when you’re leaning over the table to eat; if you try to relax and lean back at any point, however, you find yourself sprawled at a very uncomfortable angle.

Price range: low medium.

The White Truffle 139 Broadway, Orangeville, Ontario. 519-941-7583. www.thewhitetruffle.ca (Oct 27/08)

On a recent Thursday evening, a friend and I were strolling the main street of Orangeville, Ontario, looking for a decent place for dinner. After passing up various fast food joints and pubs, we zeroed in on The White Truffle as possibly our best choice. But I entered somewhat warily. From the window, there appeared to be a heavy emphasis on gleaming white linen and shining glassware. That reminded me unfavourably of gussied up small town restaurants that try to pretend they’re dishing up haute cuisine when the only thing haute about them is the prices.

Since there was only one other table occupied, we got a large round table in the window. The waitress told us that the special was salmon and that it was very popular tonight. I was much tempted by the duck breast, as that is one of my favourite treats. But it seemed risky to me to order it in a place where I couldn’t be sure of the quality. Too often, duck breast has appeared with a soupçon of the microwave not far behind. So I ordered the salmon; my friend ordered Arctic char.

A few moments later, the waitress unexpectedly plunked down in front of each of us an amuse bouche. It was something in a creamy swirl on a cracker. I think she said it was some kind of a seafood concoction. (I wasn’t taking notes, having not yet decided to do a review.) Very tasty. Then came some home made brown bread with, I think, hummus. We had also, at the waitress’ casual suggestion, ordered some brocscetta, which was very good.

When the salmon came, I simply could not believe how good it was. I had never tasted salmon like it. It had some sort of creamy sauce which, the waitress told me, was a butter-lemon-herbs mixture. My friend said his Arctic char was very good too. Even the accompanying rice struck me as exceptionally good – every grain distinct and just the perfect texture. Some vegetables on the plate were fine but I seldom pay much attention to vegetables; they strike me as the kind of thing you have to eat, so you get it over with as expeditiously as possible.

When dessert was suggested, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to prolong the pleasure. Several of the offerings involved chocolate (not advisable at night because of my caffeine intolerance), so I opted for a warm strawberry/rhubarb tart. It was a long time coming but, thankfully, the waitress returned to the table to assure me that it was in the works. It arrived as a wide flat tart, on a big plate, with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on the side and some sort of coulis. The first bite exploded in my mouth with an intense strawberry flavour such as I haven’t experienced from fresh strawberries in many a summer. The crust was of the crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth quality.

Our waitress, a pleasant, casual woman around forty, stood by our table and chatted to answer all our astonished questions. She said the chef/owner had considerable experience world-wide before opening this place about two years ago. (We didn’t get his name.) I certainly hope he makes a go of it. He’s struggling a bit with a somewhat problematic venue: a long, narrow room with a huge air duct over head. The only thing I would change immediately would be the slightly chintzy cutlery. Lots of burgundy paint helps to make the room more elegant but a "martini lounge" at the back adds a slightly louche touch, I think, although it’s probably meant to help draw customers. Speaking of which, I asked the waitress where everybody was. It was 8 pm and we were closing the joint. She’d said earlier that the salmon was popular tonight. With whom? I asked. "Oh," she said, "this is Orangeville. Our busy time for dinner is 5:30."

Price range: Medium

......

At lunch time next day, the café across the street was turning away people who didn’t have reservations, so we returned to the White Truffle. My quiche lorraine and my friend’s venison burger were good. His sweet potato frites added a little something special. On the whole, though, the lunch wasn’t as exceptional an experience as the previous night’s dinner.

The Chocolate Shop on Broadway, Orangeville

Through the above-mentioned lunch at the White Truffle, I’d been debating whether to go for one of the chocolate desserts. Or would I return to the chocolate shop across the street where I’d bought a box of truffles to take home last night? I’d seen an appealing plate of brownies on the counter there. When our lunch waitress – a more business-like, less friendly one this time – plunked the bill down on our table without mentioning dessert, it was clear that the fates had decided for me.

We had to wait a while in the chocolate shop while the owner/chef finished some business with ladies who were buying several gift boxes for friends and family. A very pleasant, middle-aged lady in a white smock and hairnet, the owner had assured us the previous night that she makes all her chocolates herself. Now, when I asked for a brownie, an odd look – somewhat sly or mischievous – came into her eye.

- "They’re fine," she said, waving a hand delicately over the plate of brownies, "but I’m not selling them."

- "Pardon?"

- "They’re quite fine," she repeated, "but I’m not selling them."

- "What do you mean?"

- "I mean, you should just take one."

- "Why?"

- "They’ve been sitting out for a couple of days, so I’m not selling them, but you’re very welcome to take one."

- Determined to force payment on her, I asked, "What do you normally sell them for?"

- "One dollar, but I don’t want you to pay me."

- It turned out that I only had a $20 bill and it was finally agreed, all round, that it would be too much to ask her to make change for the $1 dollar purchase.

So I helped myself to a brownie and my friend did too. Munching them on the way back to the car, we concurred that they were very good. One can only imagine how amazing they might be right out of the oven.

Back home in Toronto, I found that the chocolates in my $10 box of eight were superb -- creamy and buttery. In fact they’re the best chocolates we’ve tasted since the demise of the Belgian Chocolate Shop on Yonge Street in North Toronto a few years go. That place turned out the gold standard for chocolates, as far as we’re concerned. I understand the owners still have a store in the Beaches area of Toronto but we seldom find ourselves out there. It’s nice to know now that there’s an alternative in Orangeville, which is barely any further away. Well, it’s actually about twice as far but, when you’re in pursuit of such good chocolates, who’s counting the kilometres?