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| - So if you saw any of my other reviews (not that popular, I know), you'd know that this place is where Back Alley BBQ used to be. Why I'm posting that piece of 'irrelevant' information in this review is because I had made reservations to go to Back Alley about a week ago. I had sent an email reservation, got a reply back saying come on in, and when I showed up for my reservation, ended up walking up and down the street confused and bewildered...no sign of the restaurant. And so the story resumes...
Scared, confused and a little unnerved at my perceived lack of ability to follow a map, and freezing my tush off outside, I decided to walk in to what was very evidently a pizzeria (at the address of the Back Alley BBQ). I abashedly walked through the door and fortuitously stumbled upon one of the chefs (and owner's) of this new Neapolitan pizza/pasta joint immediately as I walked in.
Feeling quite foolish, I asked him if he knew the location of the BBQ place; he smiled and said that about a week earlier, they had flipped the restaurant and turned it in to a Pizzeria, specializing in authentic Neapolitan Pizzas and so on...
I typically would feel embarrassed in this situation as I was having a couple friends come meet me and had made the reservations. Thinking quickly on my feet, I thought that I'd save face and make the best of the situation; I chose to just end up staying where I was for dinner, I figured I was divined here for a reason...very glad I stayed.
First things first, while I was waiting for my friends to show, I had the pleasure of speaking with what I can only describe as a very passionate chef, dedicated to bringing his love and experience of Neapolitan food to us hapless Torontonians. He gave me further confidence by telling me that he also had helped open up another great pizzeria, Queen Margherita in the East end of the city. Bonus points awarded!
My friend showed up while we were talking and were quickly escorted to our seats. The place was a little empty but to be fair, Kensington was very quiet everywhere that evening. We sat down and looked at a one page menu with a nice diversity of food; starters, pizzas and pastas, salads etc.. They had a few draught on tap and some wines.
I'm not going to say that this is a 'review' of the restaurant as I don't think it's completely fair having opened only a week earlier; let's just call this more of some 'note-sharing'. Here are the highlights:
- service was attentive and friendly if however not fully knowledgeable about all aspects of the menu; but eager to please
- serving sizes were very good; a large sized Caprese was very generous, more than enough for 2; I would have liked a bit more flavor but the way I see it is that they may not have found all their perfect suppliers yet for the tomatoes and Mozzy - not a big deal to be honest; was still fresh
- atmosphere was very relaxed and low-key
- pizza was FANTASTIC; cooked perfectly, fantastic flavor combo which I hadn't experienced before, didn't want to share, didn't leave a crumb, wanted another one...that good
- my friends were equally satisfied with their pizzas and reluctantly we all shared a little of our pizzas with each other; if not per the social code of pizza eating
Anyways, as one of my friend's put it, she was excited that they had this style restaurant open up in her neighborhood. She seemed absolutely elated and had little doubt that she'd be coming back soon.
So there you go, not really a review, but a few 'notes' well-shared I hope.
Go, eat, enjoy...Mangia Mangia.
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