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| - I love my college girlfriends and I make it a point to get together with them whenever I'm in town. We meet up to catch-up on the latest gossip that is our lives. This time 'round, the girls chose new restaurant, La Bettola di Terroni -- of the Terroni empire. Described on their website as hole-in-the-wall-esque; I prefer rustic, casual, cozy, communal, and relaxed for this "market-centric" alternative. Besides the familial ambiance, I'm loving the decor -- verses from Dante's Divine Comedy on the windows, a wall of magnetic letters for a simple but noticeable change, and another wall of just corks. I love corks and collect many of them myself. One day, I want a cork wall to match that of La Bettola's.
Their wine list is.. unique. Unique in the sense that no one at our table recognized any of the vino being offered. Wine snobs we clearly are not, but even still, many of the names seemed quite obscure. We were all intrigued. Thankfully our server was super sweet and extremely helpful. She matched our wine preferences -- a little sweet, not too dry, and Sancerre-crisp, and recommended the 2008 Insolia 'Suliccenti' from Sicily. It was light, refreshing and fit each person's palate nicely.
My starter, the smoked tuna and sword fish carpaccio, was fantastic. The lamb's lettuce and shaved fennel tasted amazing with the orange and lemon citrus flavours. Light enough to start with on your own but also great for sharing with others, it's a must-try. For my main, I chose the evening's special, taglioni with sea urchin. I'm not really sure how to describe each flavour that makes up this fabulous pasta special because at some point I decided to stop thinking and instead, I chose my very pleased tummy over my head. BUT! If you enjoy sea urchin, this dish is for you. Not fishy, just creamy deliciousness and plate-scrape worthy. Last but not least, dessert. There's always room for dessert. We chose the Nutella doughnuts with hazelnut gelato after reading the Toronto Star resto review. My stomach, honestly and truly, couldn't have been happier. I love Nutella and I love doughnuts and even though this combination is nothing new, none of us could get enough. Three and a half hours later of college reminiscing, life gossip of boys, future travels, current jobs, et al, our evening ended with single espressos and very sad goodbyes.
I'm not sure if I'll be returning with these girls, but will gladly bring others on my next visit to Toronto. It's also a great date spot, for all you romantic darlings.
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