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Food Food & Drink

Negroni perfects the panini

NEGRONI (492 College, at Palmerston, 416-413-0005) Open Tuesday to Saturday 11:30 am to 9 pm, Sunday 11:30 am to 3 pm. Closed Monday, some holidays. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNN


You’d think that when the day eventually came when Bill Sweete and Casey Bee – the dynamic duo behind the wildly successful Sidecar on College – opened a second restaurant, they’d simply have cloned the original: Sidecar: the $24 Prix Fixe Sequel.

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Instead, they’ve recently partnered with former Frank sous Melissa Halloran to launch Negroni, a panini shop in the heart of Little Italy. Coals to Newcastle – certamente!

“There just wasn’t anywhere to get a good Italian sandwich,” says Sweete. “We travel a lot, and Toronto doesn’t know real panini.”

The folks behind the lunch counter at nearby California Sandwiches (244 Claremont, at Treford, 416-603-3317, and several others) will likely disagree, but Negroni’s definitely doing something different: the $10 grilled cheese/designer salad combo.

The room’s as fashionable as the kitchen concept, with an awning-covered curbside patio out front and a second garden deck out back. Formerly home to Airport, Fruition and what seems like a gazillion other spots, including a driver licensing office, the breezy functional space now sports campy movie posters on the walls (The Iron Sheriff, Guns Don’t Argue, Girl In Trouble) and a facade of glass that opens to the passing street scene.

The menu’s also to the point, just four salads, a dozen or so panini and a limited wine list, including a bottle of 07 Sangiovese Farnese that goes for $7.55 at the LCBO priced at 20 bucks, a markup of only 265 per cent instead of the usual 300. The truly cheap can add a couple of cans of Limonata ($2) to the already fruity Abruzzi chianti and get twice as much Tinto de Verano, the chic Spanish spritzer.

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We not so pecunious types spring for 750 ml bottles of Galvanina mineral water ($4) before tucking into tapas-like rounds of grilled polenta dolloped with creamy salt cod brandade and tart preserved lemon. Leaving out the traditional hard-boiled egg, a riff on salade niçoise offers chunks of meaty house-cured tuna, French-cut green beans, seeded slices of halved English cucumber, baby Roma tomatoes, a handful of capers and a forest of fresh basil leaves in a deliciously lemony vinaigrette (both $10).

All of Negroni’s amply proportioned panini come composed, buttered and pressed on crusty ciabatta sourced from Boulart, the artisanal Montreal bakery that supplies chi-chi McEwan’s, Whole Foods and, er, Metro supermarkets. Best of the bunch, wonderfully elastic buffalo mozzarella gets coupled with juicy oven-dried tomatoes and pungent basil pesto ($12). Segovia of Kensington Market provides the Chilean sausage that accompanies buttery fontina and sweet caramelized onions slow-roasted in honey and balsamic vinegar ($11).

“I prefer it spicier, but it’s the most Italian-tasting chorizo they make,” says Halloran.

Blander palates will be comforted by panini stacked with thyme-roasted chicken breast, bitter arugula, more fontina and garlicky red pepper mayo ($11), while old-schoolers won’t be able to resist just-like-Marie’s bresaola with devilishly pickled eggplant ($10) or La Ferme’s prosciutto paired paradoxically with soft Taleggio and al dente asparagus spears ($11).

A lesser sandwich joint would keep customers satisfied with a side of prefab No Frills mesclun straight out of a box. Not so Negroni, which serves all of its considerable sandwiches sided with a terrific mix of watercress and arugula layered with half-moons of shaved fennel and Parmigiano-Reggiano in a sweet shallot vinaigrette.

Only Negroni’s house-made ice cream ($5) disappoints – but only because the kitchen’s much-ballyhooed peanut butter flavour is sold out and all that’s left is boring old vanilla.

stevend@nowtoronto.com

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