QUEEN MARGHERITA PIZZA (1402 Queen East, at Vancouver, 416-466-6555, queenmargheritapizza.ca) Complete dinners for $45 per person, including all taxes, tip and a glass of vino. Open Tuesday to Friday 5 till close, Saturday and Sunday noon till close. Closed Monday, holidays. Licensed. Access: five steps at door, another 11 to dining room, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNNN
They’re already calling Queen Margherita the Libretto of Leslieville.
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Open all of two months, the east side’s answer to the pizza wizards of Oz has packed them in from the get-go, attracting an older 40-something crowd who won’t stand in line for anything, no matter how hot the boîte. Lucky for them, Margherita takes reservations.
And they’ll need them, since the lofty 60-seat space fills up early with couples on a night out away from the kids at two-tops and groups of birthday gals and rugby teams at pushed-together tables. Where most restos would have padded banquettes, Margherita has wooden benches.
The floors are acid-splashed polished concrete, brick walls are white-washed, and wraparound windows overlook the streetcar yard across the way. A large wood-burning oven dominates the rear.
“Our focus is pizza,” says co-owner and first-time restaurateur John Chetti. “The rest is just side dishes.”
The real estate developer refers to Margherita’s controversially short card – a rotating lineup of a dozen or so pies plus a three-course pizza prix fixe. No pasta, no panini, and the menu changes regularly.
“It’s almost like getting something for free,” says Chetti of the $25 meal deal.
Ours starts with a terrific basket of peppery olive loaf from Emily’s Bakery of Vaughan – now, that’s Italian! – that we dutifully dunk into first-press olive oil splashed with balsamic vinegar, just like we did at Bar Italia back in the 80s. As if on cue, David Lee Roth-era Van Halen suggests over the satellite radio that we all might as well jump.
And so we do, leaping straight into the Salumi Misti, tonight a plate of fresh bufala bocconcini paired with slices of ripe Piave cheese, cacciatore-style salami and spicy sopressata. It’s followed by buttery squares of dense polenta dressed with a dazzling Gorgonzola ragout rich with crumbled sausage and smoky mushrooms, a final toss of Italian parsley and freshly shaved parmigiano the icing on the (cheese) cake.
Like Libretto, QMP proudly takes its inspiration from the VPN – Vera Pizza Napoletana – the Italian group that sets the pizza standard. That means stone-ground Caputo Tipo 00 flour and San Marzano tomatoes from Naples, the birthplace of Italian ‘za. Not only is QMP’s oven Neapolitan, but so are its chefs.
“They’re from Salerno, actually,” Chetti corrects. “That’s the North York of Napoli.”
See the results in the Napoletano: a remarkably yeasty crust as blistered around the edges as a sunbather on the last day of Pompeii, lightly brushed with pulpy house sauce and artfully tossed with oven-dried black olives, cherry tomatoes, capers and anchovies.
The Funghi (both $16.95 à la carte) switches out the last three for locally sourced fior di latte and a veritable forest of portobello ‘shrooms, while the Giovanni ($18.95) throws fresh arugula and paper-thin prosciutto di Parma into the mix.
Hot-heads will appreciate the heat of spicy porchetta paired with chili peppers ($18.95) as much as the indecisive will go for the Mezza Luna ($16.95), a textbook basil-embellished Margherita ($13.95) half folded over calzone-style and stuffed with fresh ricotta, the Gemini of pizzas.
Prix fixe dessert options include baked-to-order chocolate lava cake sided with retro scoops of vanilla ice cream and QMP partner Rocco Mazzaserro’s nonna Caterina’s surprisingly understated tiramisu. We’re expecting somebody’s grandmother’s boozy trifle but find perfection instead, much like Queen Margherita herself.
“Making pizza isn’t something you learn,” says Chetti. “It’s in the blood.”
stevend@nowtoronto.com
