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| - Talk about getting the formula right. This place is wonderful, offering high value to customers, in a customer focused concept.
Food, quality, service, atmosphere - all set to exceed expectations.
The old Bestellen, this place has really been transformed. The interior's designed by the guys who did Buca, so you're left with clean and industrial, with touches of wood to give you a real retro, romantic and city feel to the space.
Service wise, these guys just get it. Staff are dressed crisp, and behave in a warm yet extremely professional manner. There's pride in this location, and you can see it in the way servers talk about food and the recommendations they make. The place does tend to get packed up and service does slow down slightly as a result, but it's not in an unacceptable manner.
The added touches of free sparkling or flat water really show that the restaurant is customer focused, and not focused on the ego of the chef. They're full and drawing in customers because they clearly get the sustainability of that model. Menu wise, Chef Rob Rossi is knocking it out of the park with a traditional yet sophisticated Italian menu.
Stand out dishes include the octopus, the seafood pasta, the goat and almost all the contorni. What's really impressive is the price to quality ratio. For example, I'm not sure where else in the city I can get a whole small octopus for $20, or an entire plateful of mushrooms for $12.
The place has really lifted up my food spirits for the Toronto food scene, after seeing repeated fluff restaurants open up city wide.
Bravo guys, you really are doing it right here.
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