October 9th, 2009
Italian Job
It’s not just French women who don’t get fat. Italian women gorge on garganelli and guzzle Chianti and still stay svelte. The secret? They keep everything piccolo (Italiano for “small”).
The guys behind the Local Kitchen and Wine Bar have portion size just right. Little white dishes come laden with butter-soft gnocchi coated in taleggio and rapini. The breaded olives stuffed with rabbit are scrummy and the Ontario buffalo mozzarella is to die for.
All ingredients are sourced from local farmers using sustainable methods. Arctic char is fresh from Georgian Bay and the mozzarella is from Thunder Bay.
The atmosphere is decidedly local too. Vintage community newspaper covers one wall, a wild boar’s head hangs above the door, and old milk crates substitute as wine shelving.
“If I owned a restaurant, it would be exactly like this,” says the diner to our left.
What better compliment?
Local Kitchen and Wine Bar, 1710 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-534-6700, www.localkitchen.ca
