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| - Panino Cappucino, buon appetito! Nom nom nom!
Thank you previous reviewers - you were well on point when you said the food was fabulous here. I doubted you when the service started off slow but, man, did it finish with a bang!
I usually like to order a fresh soup before a meal but I was informed they don't normally offer soups until the winter season. Ok. But whatever disappointment I temporarily felt quickly dissipated once we started devouring the Italian Spring rolls our server had recommended instead of a soup. Well, who needs soup?!? My angry growling stomach became much friendlier after sharing those four crispy Italian spring rolls loaded with bocconcini cheese, proscuitto, roasted red pepper, and basil dipped in a balsamic vinegar redux. I just might upgrade from my devotion to open-ended egg rolls for this sophisticated roll. Yum!
There weren't any meatballs on the menu so I was a bit unsure of how to appease my need for good Italian tomato-y comfort food. Thankfully I opted for the daily special, the Ravioli, and when this dish came into view it was love at first sight! You see, I couldn't rely on the crutch of previous Panino Cappucino food porn since no one had uploaded any photos so I was taking a bit of a gamble that Yelp has shielded me from doing for some time - but the gamble paid off. Both my Beef ravioli and my friend's Penne Rustica with chicken smelled and tasted delicious. The Penne dish was an all around enjoyable dish that I would recommend to anyone craving a lightly flavored, heavier cream sauce with their pasta - it's a safe bet. The Beef Ravioli is perfect if you're looking for a zesty home-cooked tomato sauce and miniature bite-sized morsels of meat crammed inside al dente pasta. I was pleasantly surprised that this joint had better Italian fare than La Vecchia. If you want sexy ambience and decent italian, go to la vecchia, if you want that real authentic Italian taste - you come here :) And clearly someone agrees because this little family-owned restaurant received the award for best restaurant in North York in 2008, I believe. I will note just as an FYI that the overall "feeling" of the restaurant is relaxed, familiar and a bit intimate. Apparently, many family friends are regulars here and I suspect they have been trying to keep this great place all to themselves hehe. Lighting is a bit dim & tables in the back are a bit more private so you can enjoy a good date here as well...
While there were a few hiccups here and there, I can say again that the service overall was very good. Our server was charming, funny, accommodating and personable - again, another difference in comparison to my recent visit to La Vecchia. Service is great and super attentive at La Vecchia but lacks "it" - that unique personal touch to service that helps make the experience and diner-vendor rapport that much memorable. Good food, good conversation, good company, a little knowledge shared about Italian cuisine, Portugal, Burt Reynolds' cocktail, breakfast faves and Arnold Schwarzenegger movies = an excellent night for sure. Thank you, Robert. Also, shoutout to the chef who was incredibly engaging and informative. He was the Panino Cappucino version of that chef in the movie "Last Vacation" - taking pride in every dish, eager to inspire our palates with fresh & authentic dishes he encouraged us to indulge, happy to help us along our foodie journey through unexplored Italian territory!! He saved us from leaving the restaurant without sampling the Nutella semifreddo even though I had insisted on ordering the mixed berry flavor. Both flavours tasted absolutely deliciously & refreshing while also helping to digest the slight food coma I had growing in my belly. I would take this dessert delicacy over gelato, frozen yogurt or ice cream any day (even a DQ cookie dough blizzard and that's saying alot!). The server recommended we taste their famed coconut pie next time. We celebrated the great time with shots of La Grappa (another thing to cross of my list of "things to try") and left just before the kitchen closed at 10.
If you're in the area, and even if you're not, it's worth making the trek out to check out this "hidden gem" of North York. Don't drive too fast or you might miss it!
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