Tag Archives: Italian beer

PATIO LIT EATS: Smoked salmon on a pizza? Don’t mind if I do…

Well, the big heatwave we were having is over, and it looks like patio season will be winding down pretty soon — so it’s time to make the most of it while we still can. We’re hanging out on the rooftop patio at Terroni on Price (not to be confused with the one downtown), which is definitely one of the nicest patios in the area north of Rosedale, but not quite Midtown.

Now, when you’re here, you’re probably getting pizza — they’ve got over 20 pies to choose from. Last time we were here, we chowed down on a coupla real-deal pizzas in the dark, and it may be a bit brighter outside this time, but we’re about to funk it up a notch with this pizza al salmone:

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Now, I like smoked salmon, and I like pizza, so when you put ’em together, it’s gotta be good, right? This pie came flying outta the kitchen in like five minutes — I hadn’t even finished my bread — but it still wasn’t super warm… which is OK, considering that smoked salmon is usually served cold. But the crust was still crispy and the cheese was still melted, which made for a nice vessel for the salmon, onions, capers and tomatoes.

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Menabrea Bionda, we meet-a again-a. I’ve had this Italian beer with pizza before, and while it’s nothing too fancy or hoppy, it gets the job done.

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Now, speaking of deja vu all over again, I have ordered the flourless chocolate cake — torta calda al cioccolato — at least three times at two different Terronis, so it’s definitely my go-to dessert. I mean, warm chocolate cake with an oozy, chocolately centre… you can’t go wrong with that at all!!!!

GRAND REOPENING: Who needs Canoe when you’ve got CANO?

Now, one place that hasn’t been able to reopen at all during the pandemic is Canoe, the fancy-smancy, fine-dining restaurant at the top of the TD Tower. I mean, you can’t really put a patio up on the 54th floor…although I would totally check it out if they did. But in the meantime, the similarly named, yet totally different CANO Restaurant on St. Clair West is packing ’em in on their front and back patios, bro! The only time we could even get a table was at 6 o’clock, making this place almost as hard to book as Canoe during Winterlicious…

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So, we’re starting off with the Cozze al Bianco — I would sooo vada a bordo for these, bro! The mussels from PEI-ussels are cooked in a white wine and garlic sauce, with shallots, chili flake and cherry tomatoes. Plus, you’ve got these thin slices of Focaccia on the side to soak up the sauce… Dude, you could put that on a flip-flop, and it would still taste good!!!!

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Up next, we’ve got Vitello alla Griglia, a grilled veal chop with smashed potatoes, wild mushrooms and broccolini. This dish tastes almost as good as it looks, son! The only problem was the piece of meat was too thin for them to cook it medium rare, and I thought it was a little overdone. I mean, I’ve definitely had a better veal chop at Blu Ristorante, pre-pandemic… but man, this was some of the best broccolini I’ve ever tasted (by default, almost, but still…)

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Now here’s a beer I’ve never seen ’round here before. This Birrificio Otus Pilsner is coming straight outta Italia, where it won a bronze medal for German and Bohemian pilsners at the 2019 Birra Dell’anno Awards. And I gotta say, it’s got everything you want in a pils — a nice crispness, not too malty, pairs well with Italian food. It’s also 12 bucks a bottle, but hey, it’s not like you can get it at the LCBO, so, y’know, when in Rome, bro!!!!

 

 

 

20 BEERS BETTER THAN CORONA: 19. Menabrea Bionda

Y’know, I kinda blame Italy for getting us into this mess. When the Coronavirus came, they did nothing — and now their hospitals are overloaded, they’ve got the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world, and every other country is in lockdown, too. But even if I wouldn’t wanna visit Italy anytime soon…I’d still chug this Italian beer before taking a single sip of Corona.

19. Menabrea Bionda

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You know those European beers that all kinda taste the same, whether they’re from Poland, Portugal or Greece? This is also one of those beers. It’s tastier than, say, Molson Canadian, but you don’t remember much about it the next day. It does go pretty good with pizza, though — and I ain’t talkin’ bout Delissio, bro!

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Pizza slice and Italian beer @ Sud Forno

So, we’re hanging out at Sud Forno, this funky Italian cafeteria on Yonge St. This place has counters stocked with soup, salads, sammies and desserts…but you know me, I headed straight down to the pizza aisle, bro!!!

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This here’s the Spicy Cacciafore, with some hot soppressata and mushrooms on a crispy crust. I don’t like how they sliced it so that you get soppressata on one side and mushrooms on the other, making me take one bite out of each piece instead of scarfing a whole slice at once. But other than that, it was pretty tasty. At six bucks a slice, it’s a step up from Pizza Pizza, that’s for sure!

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Now, you KNOW if I’m eating pizza, then I’m also drinking beer. And this Italian cafeteria is serving up Italian beer from Birra Menabrea, straight outta Italy. Their Bionda is light and crisp, with a slightly malty finish. Pretty sure I could pound six or seven of these…but then I’d hafta polish off a whole pie!!!

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