TORONTO: FAMIGLIA BALDASSARRE

Famiglia Baldassarre hand makes fresh pasta from scratch in all shapes and wholesale to some of Toronto’s best restaurants. It is quite difficult to eat there as it only opens four days a week (Tuesday to Fridays) for two-hour lunch service. Only a limited amount of pasta is served, and when it’s sold out, it’s sold out.

Cavatelli (CAD $12)

Wednesday is always cavatelli day. Cavatelli have an elongated shape with a hollow cavity that is perfect for trapping sauces. Tiny but packing a textural punch, it has a hearty, and bready texture that works incredibly well with flavorful vegetables like broccoli rabe (also referred as rapini), mushroom or a bright, bold red sauce. Both cavatelli dish were wonderful. The homemade sausage and sugo was very hearty and paired well with the unique texture of cavatelli. Rapini and pasta is a classic italian pairing and the sprinkle of pecorino adds saltines and makes the dish taste stronger.

Fresh pasta in the making
Parma D.O.P. 16 month (CAD $6)

Tortellini Bolognesi in brodo di gallina is stuffed pastas in chicken broth. These delicious stuffed pasta pouches are filled with a mixture of pork loin, prosciutto di parma, mortadella and parmigiano reggiano. I really loved how well seasoned these tortellini were. The rich, fragrant chicken broth beautifully balanced the savory tortellini. This dish is delicious and comforting especially during the chilly winter months.

I’ve always had a soft spot for long, fresh pastas like tagliatelle, pappardelle, and tonnarelli. There’s something so decadent about the chewiness of fresh pastas. Paglia e Fieno (straw and hay) is a combination of plain and green tagliatelle flavored with spinach. This colorful pasta dish is served with butter and casera d.o.p cheese. The rustic flavor of the pasta pairs well with the casera cheese and has a nutty and sweet taste.

I love just about everything pasta and fresh pasta especially. Have you ever had fresh pasta? Trust me, you are missing out on an amazing experience if you haven’t. There is a huge difference between hardened pasta from a box and fresh pasta. I highly recommend Famiglia Baldassarre and is a must-try for pasta lovers.

P.S. Expect long lineups during summer time and they take cash only.

Famiglia Baldassarre
Address: 122 Geary Ave, Toronto, ON M6H 4H1
Website: http://famigliabaldassarre.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/famiglia_baldassarre/?hl=en

Food

TORONTO: PIANO PIANO

Piano Piano is a charming Italian restaurant on Harbord Street. The interior of the restaurant feels spacious and sophisticated. The decor is very artsy with a mixture of gold, black and bold floral accents.

Our party of two each got the lunch special which includes your choice of any appetizer, any pizza or pasta and soft serve ice cream for $24 CAD. The lunch special is a good deal and the portions are quite generous.

For appetizer, we decided on Calamari Fritti (lemon, chili, parsley), and Smoked Burrata (endive, grapes, raisin, garlic, brown butter, toast). The Calamari Fritter was the most tender I’ve ever had. It was lightly battered and perfectly seasoned.

The Smoked Burrata was perfect, firm exterior with a gooey creamy center. The sweetness of the grapes and raisins softened the hit from the roasted garlic and complimented well with the burrata.

For entrees, we had the Egg Yolk Raviolo (spinach, ricotta, parmigiano, brown butter), and Mushroom Cavatelli (truffled scented oyster mushroom, parmigiano). The Egg Yolk Raviolo was recommended by our waiter and was beautiful in presentation. The oversize ravioli is packed with green spinach, ricotta and a duck egg yolk, which oozes out as your knife cuts through the pasta. The spinach and ricotta sauce lacked flavor but the yolk adds a heavenly silkiness to the filling that blended in beautifully with the al dente pasta. We also found the pasta to be a bit too hard around the edges for our liking.

The Mushroom Cavatelli was extremely fragrant and the smell of truffles very much dominated the senses. The cavatelli has a firm texture and the parmigiano adds salty creaminess to the hearty dish. However, because all the other dishes were so well seasoned, this creamy dish was less prominent in flavor profile. It kind of felt flat for me.

For Dessert, there is a choice between double espresso or soft serve ice cream. Skip the ice cream and go for the double espresso. Overall, this restaurant is well worth a visit for their great lunch special which is available 7 days a week between 11am-3pm.

PIANO PIANO
Address: 88 Harbord St, Toronto, ON M5S 1G5
Website: http://www.pianopianotherestaurant.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pianopianotherestaurant/

Food

HONG KONG: AFTERNOON TEA AT MADAME FU

Reminiscing of French salon, Madame Fu is located inside the former Central Police Station compound, Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts. Occupying the entire third floor of the beautifully restored colonial building, the space offers different lavishly decorated rooms each decked out with a distinct identity, including The Grand Cafe, The Pink Room, The Red & Blue Verandah, and The Library.

The Red & Blue Verandah

The Red & Blue Verandah is very picturesque with its velvet coaches, stunning lamps crafted out of vintage Hermes scarves and views of the Tai Kwun courtyard. The ambience of the restaurant allude exclusivity and elegance.

The Pink Room

The restaurant is the perfect example of east meet west serving food that is a contemporary take on Chinese cuisine. The menu range from lunch and afternoon tea, light bites, dinner and weekend brunch. All rooms serve the same food and drink menus. We were seated at The Pink Room and tried the afternoon tea. Afternoon tea is priced at $250 HKD for one and $450 HKD for two. The Pink Room is the perfect spot for instagrammers and fashion bloggers with its colorful millennial pink banquette, artfully distressed walls and velvet cushions.

The Afternoon Tea was served on three-tiered stand and consisted of prawn and smoked salmon open faced sandwiches on the bottom layer; a lemon meringue tart, tang yuan (sweet rice balls with black sesame filling) and tapioca pudding on the second; and chocolate tart and fruit tart on the top. The afternoon tea set also includes a dim sum of the day, and we tried the har gow (shrimp dumplings). The dim sum was brought to the table in a traditional steamer basket to keep it warm.

The heritage environment, artistic decor and ambience is great for afternoon tea but the quality of food was very average. Nonetheless, a visit to this restaurant is still a unique and worthwhile experience.

Madame Fu
Address: 3/F, Block three, Tai Kwun, No. 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Website: https://www.madamefu.com.hk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madamefugrandcafe/

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Tag Archives: Review

TORONTO: FAMIGLIA BALDASSARRE

TORONTO: PIANO PIANO

HONG KONG: AFTERNOON TEA AT MADAME FU