Via Mercanti

Date Visited: Dinner on Thursday Jul 9, 2015

Company: +Will Ives 

So this year, I gave Will the job of choosing a Summerlicious restaurant for us to try! He decided on Via Mercanto, an Italian restaurant located across the street from Sick Kids Hospital that is known for its authentic pizza. I was impressed and excited to try this place, I didn't realize how close it was to us either so we could go again easily in the future. It was a sunny evening so the patio was packed by the time we got there, we also followed suit as the inside looked fairly empty. When we first got the menu, we didn't see any Summerlicious on there so we had to ask specifically for that. The service was a bit slow, especially with water and taking our orders. We decided on totally separate items so we could share our meal. 

For the appetizer, I ordered the Caprese Salad with Fior de latte cheese, Roma tomatoes serviced on a bed of arugula with basil dressed in extra virgin olive oil. It looked very pretty on the plate and a good size also. The ingredients were all excellent but I thought it could have used a bit more flavour as it was a bit bland. Will got the Rancino Di Riso, a rice ball with Risotto, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Peas, and Beef. I was pleasantly surprised how delicious this was! There was a ton of flavour in the ball and the consistency of the rice with cheese and beef was excellent. I definitely could have had a few of these. 

For my main, I knew I wanted to try their pizza but couldn't decide between the Vegetarian or Romolo's. I read that the Romolo's Pizza, a half tomato sauce, half olive oil with Fior de latte, Prosciutto cotto and Mixed mushrooms is one of their classic dishes so I opted for that and also because Will would be more willing to eat it (without the veggies). I enjoyed the tomato side better cause I'm not really a fan of the smell of olive oil and found it overpowering. Other than that, the dough was very crispy but a bit hard, I thought it could be a bit more chewy. 

Will went for the Faggotino Di Parma, Housemade pasta in a cream sauce wrapped in Prosciutto crudo. This pasta was delicious, the sauce was extremely cheesy and the prosciutto was amazing, there was a lot of it surprisingly! I did find everything a bit salty though from the excess of cheese, great dish otherwise.

Finally, for dessert I went for the Tiramisu and Will got the Chocolate Gelato. The presentation of the Tiramisu was excellent, the piece was kind of small but they sprinkled lots of cocoa powder to appeal to the eye. The flavour was great and the cake was very spongey and light! As for the Gelato, it tasted like chocolate, I don't have much else to add to that :)

Food: 3/5 - Not going to lie, my taste buds may have been a bit off due to a bit of sickness but found a lot of flavours more prominent than others in the dishes.
Decor: 2/5 - Didn't see much of the interior decor but the the outside was a bit difficult to find and the seats weren't very comfortable on the patio.
Service: 1.5/5 - Not the best, very slow.
Willingness to go back: 2.5/5 - Would give it another shot, had lots of good options on their menu.
Overall: 2/5

Website: http://www.pizzeriaviamercanti.ca/

Toni Bulloni

Date Visited: Summerlicious Dinner on Monday Jul 8, 2013
Company: Get together of 5 girlfriends from highschool

On the treacherous evening of the Toronto flood, my friends and I happened to organize a Summerlicious dinner in Yorkville. We unsuspectingly ventured to the downtown area from the east end, very unaware of the chaos happening in certain areas of Toronto. Half of the group was stuck coming from Union Station and had to walk half-way up to Bloor Street. Fortunately, the rest of us took the unharmed Bloor subway line from Kennedy to Bay station where Toni Bulloni's was located. We arrived first at the restaurant and were able to settle in for quite a while, waiting for the rest of the group.

While walking from Bay station to Toni's I was able to check out the ritzy area of Yorkville, in which I've never visited before. It was seemingly nice, even in the pouring rain. The shops on Cumberland are all very narrow and close to each other. I was not expecting Toni's to look how it did on the outside as it had very unique and bold signage. Upon entering, the bar area in the front was very tight but the restaurant went back quite far. There were surprisingly only about 8-10 tables in the dining area. They knew us by reservation so we were seated immediately.

As we waited for the rest of the party, we ordered a bottle of the Summerlicous House White, the G.Maruis Chardonnay from Niagara. None of us are really wine connoisseurs so we didn't have much input into this decision. But the choice was actually very nice and light with a sweetness too (that's the extent to how I'm able to describe wine), we didn't want anything too strong. 
After some more waiting, we spoke to the server about ordering and he suggested that we start with the complementary Bruschetta instead. We seemingly obliged and the waiter brought us 3 pieces. The bruschetta was a flat bread topped with tomatoes, herbs and oil. It was a nice fresh, light start to our meals. I really enjoyed the flat bread as it had a nice crispiness and was easy to eat.

Finally, the rest of our party had arrived just as we were finishing our bruschetta. They were soaked, but we were all there and could start ordering our meals :) For my appetizer, I got the Mixto Platter with prosciutto, artichoke, olives, tomatoes and bocconcini. It was a very beautiful combination of Italian delights. There was a decent amount of prosciutto that was delicious. The tomatoes and bocconcini was done in a Caprese way which I hadn't had before. It was quite light with subtle hints of flavour. This plate was a great appetizer especially if you wanted to share and try different things.

For my entree, I ordered the Scallopine de Pollo. There were many options so it was really hard to decide. We were told that some dishes had even run out. When it had arrived, it was done differently then I had expected. I thought it would be more of a grilled chicken rather than baked in a sauce. They had literally just finished cooking it before they brought it out because the chicken was still hot with every bite. The chicken extremely tender and though it was delicious, I found it rather simple. There was a nice mix of grilled vegetables on the side, with one of each kind. I found there was a lot of flavour on the plate, it was heavily seasoned but not overdone.

To end, I ordered the Tiramisu, which is something I usually don't order but none of the other desserts enticed me. When we got our cakes, I couldn't believe they were such tiny pieces. I was rather disappointed because it was probably the best Tiramisu I've ever had. The lady fingers were soaked with flavour and there was just the perfect ratio of it to cream. If all Tiramisu tasted like this, I'd have it all the time.

Food: 3/5 - Some ups, some downs, but a decent Summerlicious meal.
Service: 4.5/5 - Spectacular staff, except the one who couldn't speak English wasn't very helpful.
Decor: 3/5 - Very small, quaint and rustic. Nice atmosphere for an intimate night.
Willingness to come back: 3/5 - Their regular portions are huge!
Overall: 3.5/5
Website: http://tonibulloni.com