The first North American location of Jamie's Italian opening at Yorkdale? Well done Toronto. Celebrity chef crush aside, I was so stoked for this highly anticipated new Italian resto.
Located on the north side of the mall beside Indigo and banana republic there's no direct entrance from inside the mall - we made the mistake of looking for one.
Causal atmosphere and dimmed lighting, it's quite spacious with seating on 2 floors, large bar area, a cured meat counter and semi open kitchen at the back. Nice and relaxed layout.
Food highlights
- World's best olives on ice: I love olives but normally find the sodium levels insanely over the top and fortunately the saltiness of the ones here were perfect. Not sure if they are the 'worlds best' but they were very plump and delish.
- Crispy squid: Crowd pleaser app to try, very light, crispy and flavourful. We devoured this in seconds.
- Funghi misti pizza: Yum! My fav item that night. The pizza was so fragrant and full of mushroomy deliciousness with a perfectly baked thin crust.
- Pastas: We got Jamie's sausage paradelle and the pasta of the day with mussels and shrimp. Both pastas were a tad too al dente but the most disappointing were the sauces. Flavours were overly plain and kind of forgettable..
Overall, I was expecting the place to be more family style in terms of the decor and food but it had more of a chain restaurant vibe which may be what they are going for since more locations will be opening up in the near future. However, still had a positive experience and with better managed expectations I'll be back for another shot!