Enoteca Sociale

Dundas West, the budding street of trendy restaurants is home to Pizza Libretto's owners' newest project - Enoteca Sociale.  While the restaurant is bustling, it remains cozy with checkerboard decals, with no air of pretense and we feel very lucky to get seated right away without having made a reservation.  The menu is nonna inspired with classic comforts of Italy and there are so many choices.  With a description to "enjoy dinner as you would in Nonna's house, served family style", we naturally select the reasonable tasting menu at $45and wine pairing for another $22 and we were set!
The food on the menu is definitely made for enjoying with wine and vice versa.

The meal was served with fresh baguette-textured bread and a delicious olive oil for dipping and a glass of Sicilian rose- which made me very nostalgic of my recent trip to Sicily.  Our meal started off with an antipasto misto which is the chef's choice and we had a selection of Ontario buffalo mozzarella, pickled green beans, grilled corn which is a nice sweet combination; a white bean and garlic dip which was a tad salty;  citrus and garlic olives with thyme (amazing), and duck prosciutto which you can never go wrong with! The antipasto is served with a nutty chardonnay (Norman Hardie, Prince Edward County)  which cleanses our palettes well.
The pasta is a house made perfectly al dente duck liver ravioli in a sage and grape musk in brown butter sauce.  While the sage and grape provided sweetness, it was still gamey and I'm a huge fan of duck liver (foie is my very favourite thing to eat).  The portion size was modest which was great for a second course.  Our wine was an italian roso which was savory.  Our waiter sang our main dishes out to us when serving us which was a nicely braised lamb which was so juicy and savoury.  The rib eye potatoes were a great compliment , and our 2 selected sides were kale, white bean & guanciale which was nice and beet, seasonal greens, stracciatella & balsamic reduction - and I found the beets tough.  Pete, my dinner companion, loved it.  Inconsistent beet texture made it more interesting for him.  We hardly finished this dish when our next robust wine came - which was a favourita as our waiter told us.  It's a favourite grape amongst a region of Italy (At this time, I was a bit tipsy and forget the name) but mmm!

Now came our cheese course.  A comment here is that Enoteca has it's own fromaggi cave where their carefully crafted selection of local and italian cheeses are showcased and real tender love, and care are dedicated to them. We had a chance to try an unpasteurized and aged cheese with rock salt from Quebec- unbelievable - as I love salty cheeses; a Gouda that was aged for 3 months that was washed with the delicious olive oil that melted in my mouth and the crowd pleaser of Parmesan reggiano.  By this time, our stomachs were complete!   But of course, next came the a dessert course almond biscotti with Niagara peaches and ricotta paired with a sparkling sweet wine from Asti.   A nice touch is that they give you a postcard with your bill with a print that matches the art on the walls.  This is definitely a place that I will continue to visit to get some good 'nonna' cooking!

**** stars

Enoteca Sociale www.sociale.ca
1288 Dundas St. W., (West of Ossington)
Reservations yes.               416-534-1200      end_of_the_skype_highlighting;

Open Monday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight