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| - This restaurant is tucked away on the corner of Harbord and Manning Ave. Where Ici Bistro used to be.
It is small and reservations are definitely recommended.
About a third of the seating is bar stool type so be specific if you want a table.
The wine list has a reasonable selection, with a preponderance of Italians in the red list. We had a good Sancerre, $75 and an excellent Rhone, $110.
We thoroughly enjoyed the food, and they were very open to and facilitated the fact that we shared everything.
Some olives stuffed with anchovies and a decent little salami appeared without asking soon after we sat down.
The Tartine, not something we would normally order, was outstanding. Hot mushrooms and cheese on essentially toast. Crisp!
We had ordered Sea Bream, but they ran out and offered Groupa instead which did not appeal; so we had the Octopus which was the smaller ends of the tentacles and a fine mild flavour but compared to the rest of the meal this was not the highlight. They are still worth trying.
The Duck Pappardelle were full of duck, rich, very tasty with fine pasta.
The quail were very garlicky, warm and moist and the french fries were good, hot and herby, recommendable.
The owner was present , attentive and very solicitous. He reminded me slightly of Basil.
Overall this is a good find.
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