Huge apologies folks … I’ve been sitting on this one for awhile now. Last week Dad was away for a chunk of time and so Mom and I took advantage of the nice weather, caught up with a bunch of peeps and ate more than a few meals out. In fact, not only was last week a week of eating lunch out, it was also apparently Italian week. As mentioned, Mom and I hit up Il Fornello for lunch on Wednesday, and then met up with another friend of ours on Thursday to try pizza e pazzi, a new (ish) west end joint.
Pizza e pazzi, up at St. Clair and Dufferin, was a bit out of our usual dining range, but we braved the midday traffic and arrived around 12:30pm. It’s a tiny place, and we found parking right across the street, so we didn’t bother hauling my stroller out of the trunk. In fact, this was probably a good call, because I’m not actually sure you could fit a stroller through the front entrance area, due to the way the tables were set up and an ill-placed pillar. Once inside, space is really tight, so though I don’t have firsthand experience, I’d advise arriving sans stroller or you might be out of luck on where to park it. That said, we scored a table right up front, so there may have been some parking room towards the back, but … best not to chance it is my guess.
Our friend Jessica got there before us, so my highchair was ready and waiting when we arrived. Clean, standard wood, and fully functional. Service was super pleasant, and our server engaged me immediately, which is always a bonus. He gave us plenty of time to look over the menu and make our choices (we were a bit slow) without making us feel like we were inconveniencing him at all. There weren’t a ton of people there, so that may have played a part in it, but it was appreciated nonetheless. My one complaint would be that, given how (not) busy it was, we were seated at a tiny two-seater table, and there really wasn’t room for all three of us, especially once our food arrived. Mom may have had to redirect my roaming hands on a number of occasions, to prevent a pizza or two from ending up on the floor.
And the verdict is ... not yet a pizza fan.
Speaking of pizza, we were really excited to try the pizza here, as it is apparently one of only a few places in the city that can claim certification from the Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana … as in, it claims to serve a truly authentic Neopolitan pizza. This seems to involve cooking pizzas in a ridiculously hot pizza oven (think 900+ degrees) for what seems like an impossibly short period of time (60-90 seconds). Mom and Jessica decided to order two pizzas for the three of us to share, so we ended up with a basic margherita and one with cherry tomatoes and tons of arugula. Mom and Jessica favoured the latter, while if I had to pick it would be margherita all the way … I gave it three or four tries, but the arugula was just too bitter for my taste.
All in all, not one of my faves, but then I’m not entirely crazy about pizza as it turns out. Something about the tomatoes. Plus, I wasn’t feeling a-one that day, so I’ll admit to getting a bit cranky and difficult to please/manage by the end of our meal. Thumbs way up for service, but thumbs down for young kid accessibility. Definitely a cool concept, and Mom thought the pizza was great, but we likely won’t be trekking that far west just to hit this place again.
- H
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Decided to go to Pizza e Pazzi for dinner because of the positive Toronto Life review. Boy did they get it wrong. I had the antipasto and Pizza ‘nduja. My companion had the seafood scialatielli. We waited for almost 20 minutes for the antipasto to arrive which is unacceptable for a dish that needs no cooking. It finally came, and was just a pile of meat and cheese, with no accompanying olives or marinated vegetable to cut the oiliness of the meats. Then, before we finished the antipasto, the server brought my companions scialatielli. Two of the clams were closed, and when my companion asked for more mussels instead, the server merely said it was supposed to be that way, and brought it to the kitchen to pry them open. The pasta was also undercooked (not just al dente) and the server said that’s how they do it. He didn’t offer any consolations. Then my pizza arrived. It was mostly a mound of doughy crust, too-acidic sauce, and gloupy cheese. There was hardly any ‘nduja (which the sever even pronounced wrong) and it was soggy. The only redeeming factor was a different server who offered us desert and coffee on him, which we politely declined. Toronto Life stated that the pizza was on par with Libretto or Queen Margherita, but it was even close. The menu was typical Italian fare, nothing special. Too bad, it would have been nice to have a place like Libretto or QM so close to my home.