Advertisement

Food Food & Drink

Ferraro Diverso-fies

DIVERSO BY FERRARO (328 Dupont, at Spadina, 416-929-3388, diversobyferraro.com) Complete dinners for $40 per person (lunches $22), including all taxes, tip and a glass of vino. Average main $17/$10. Open Monday to Thursday 11 am to 10 pm, Friday 11:30 am to 11 pm, Saturday noon to 11 pm, Sunday and holidays 4 to 9 pm. Licensed. Access: four steps at door, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNN


Does downtown Toronto really need another mid-range Italian pasta and pizza joint? Not if the countless half-empty trats along College are any indication.

[rssbreak]

But up in the Annex, Diverso – the recently launched spinoff of Eglinton West’s Ferraro 502 – proves otherwise. After only two months, the subterranean trat has developed a solid customer base, ranging from the well-heeled academic types who live in the area to students from nearby George Brown and the school for massage therapists upstairs. No shortage of dough-kneaders there.

Dupont isn’t the hippest of restaurant rows, and Diverso is definitely the hottest thing to hit this sleepy nabe since the Indian Rice Factory first opened 40 years ago. The cavernous space is particularly inviting – whitewashed walls, slate floors, a cappuccino bar upfront – and welcoming servers make you feel just like family.

Ensconced in a corner banquette, glasses of Chianti (2007 Pontormo $10/$40 bottle) in hand, the Literary Device and I stick mostly to the chalkboard specials. Order calamari anywhere else and expect deep-fried rubber bands. Not at Diverso, where they’re uncut, unbattered and exquisitely grilled in lemony caper butter ($14 dinner/$12 lunch), served on a bed of organic greens splashed with house-made balsamic. We sop up every last magnifico drop with slices of warm Italian bread straight from the pizza oven.

If you hate anchovies you’ll love Diverso’s take on Caesar salad ($8/$7), a harmless pile of knife-cut romaine lettuce with little else other than a crouton or two. The pasta di giorno couldn’t be more generous, today a tangle of fettucini tossed with pesto, snap peas and a six-pack of grilled à point shrimp ($16/$13).

The blue-plate chicken ($19/$17) finds a remarkably moist capon breast overstuffed with a mix of wild rice, sun-dried tomato and goat cheese. Sauced with rosemary cream and plated over mashed potatoes, it also comes with the same roasted carrots and parsnips that side a meaty bone-in veal chop in red wine reduction and perfectly respectable hand-cut fries ($22/$20).

Somehow, we’ve saved room for Diverso’s textbook tiramisu ($7.50). Although we lose interest halfway through, a table of four or more could likely lick the plate clean, no problemo.

Unlike those at the mother resto, Diverso’s pizzas are not wood-fired. Instead, they’re baked in a gas oven on a stone slab that renders their paper-thin crusts brilliantly blistered. And what the sweet house tomato sauce ($10/litre) lacks in spicing is more than compensated for by its freshness. Parsley, perhaps. But garlic? Geddoutahere!

Vegetarians will appreciate the Pizza Portobello ($10/$13) with marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and strong Gorgonzola, while born-again carnivores can wolf down a Pizza Dan ($13), so named for a pork-loving consumatore who apparently can’t get enough sausage, bacon, ham and pepperoni in his diet. Upgrade any to a whole wheat crust for a loonie, and add another buck for a takeout box.

We’ll keep it traditional (well, white-bread Toronto circa 1973) with Diverso’s Pizza Canadese ($10/$12), a marvellously retro combo of sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, pepperoni and green pepper. No, the kids at Libretto and Terroni may sneer, but who needs the certification of the Vera Pizza Napoletana Association for a pie this delish?

stevend@nowtoronto.com

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted