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Food Food & Drink

Weekend eating: March 31-April 1

Saturday

Gio Rana’s Really Really Nice Restaurant

1220 Queen E, at Leslie, 416-469-5225. Ten years ago, long before Origin and Buca, this extremely rambunctious room located in an old bank with zero signage (look for the large nose over the door) was doing Italian-style tapas. And though it’s not as frenzied as it used to be early in the week, it’s still a mob scene every Friday and Saturday night. Fun for a group, but maybe not a date. Best: antipasti like the house meatballs in old-school tomato ragu, or frito misto of deep-fried calamari and shrimp primi like crepe-like crespelle folded over sweet butternut squash and creamy mascarpone in sage butter soft Asiago polenta alla Bolognese secondi like grilled lamb chops with cranberry couscous and fresh mint osso buco with buttery cremini mushrooms à la carte side of mashed sweet potatoes in chestnut butter to finish, subtle house-made desserts like panna cotta custard in smoky caramel. Complete dinners for $50 per person, including tax, tip and a glass of Chianti. Average main $14. Open for dinner Saturday 6 pm to midnight. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNN

La Societe

131 Bloor W, at Avenue Rd, 416-551-9929, lasociete.ca. Yorkville’s primo patio come summer, Charles Khabouth and partner Danny Soberano’s unusually polished brasserie in the Colonnade is one of the coziest rooms in town when the temperature dips, even if it is a complete rip on New York City’s famed Balthazar, right down to the art nouveau stained glass ceiling. Best: when a glass of Veuve Cliquot champagne goes for $26, 16 bucks for a burger is a bargain, especially when it’s a substantial 8-ounce patty topped with aged white cheddar and pickle aioli sided with skinny sea-salted frites and house greens in a lemon vinaigrette those same fab fries with two dozen steamed mussels in saffron-scented white wine, or 8 ounces of aged New York strip loin massive tureens of Lyonnaise-style onion soup spiked with cognac buttery mac ‘n’ cheese that’s more fromage than pasta to finish, profiteroles stuffed with house-made vanilla ice cream in chocolate sauce. Complete dinners for $75 per person (lunches/brunches $40), including tax, tip and a glass of wine. Average main $25/$18. Open for dinner Saturday 5 pm to midnight. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNN

Ursa

924 Queen W, at Shaw, 416-536-8963, ursa-restaurant.com. No other resto since Susur Lee’s Lotus invented East-West fusion in 87 or David Crystian’s Patriot went locavore in 00 has radicalized the downtown scene as much as this health-conscious bistro in the former Bar One. Using methods usually associated with raw vegan cuisine – dehydration, fermentation, sprouting – as well as state-of-the-art sous-vide technology, chef Jacob Sharkey Pearce reinvents the concept of dining out. Best: from a constantly evolving carte, spectacularly plated starters like wild venison tartare coupled with fatty foie gras cured in blueberry vinegar, finished with medicinal Icelandic moss on buttered rye toasts mains like apple-cider-glazed Niagara pork loin ‘n’ belly over du Puy lentils and decorative kale in apple skin reduction locally raised Rhode Island White chicken two ways, first as a roulade of thigh, then as a pan-seared boneless breast over polenta coupled with sprouted lentils to finish, Milk & Honey, a warm bowl of made-to-order ricotta dressed with bee pollen and sided with honeycomb, pomegranate and raisins fashioned from dehydrated grapes still on the vine, the whey left over from making the fresh cheese served in two tiny milk bottles. Complete dinners for $65, including tax, tip and a glass of wine. Average main $21. Open for dinner Saturday 6 to 11 pm. Reservations recommended. Bar till late. Licensed. Access: two steps at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNNN

Sunday

Akram’s Shoppe

191 Baldwin, at Kensington, 647-351-3116, akramsshoppe.com. Now reopened after a lengthy renovation, this Middle Eastern grocery store/self-serve café in Kensington Market specializes in health-conscious salads and wraps at prices the cash-strapped will appreciate. Daily low-fat and vegan-friendly stews sided with salad and rice will set them back of all $4.99. Best: made-to-order fava, soy and mung bean falafels in whole wheat pitas spread with tahini and dressed with tomato, parsley, shredded purple cabbage and optional pickled turnip, pomegranate jam and slow-burn hot sauce specials like chicken biryani stew or chunky vegan chowder with artichoke rice and fatoush salad soul-warming bowls of vegan lentil soup whole-wheat-crusted veggie pizza slices topped with zataar-spiked tomato sauce, leafy spinach and crumbled haloumi cheese take-away tubs of garlicky hummus, spicy feta shanklish and baba ghanoush. Complete meals for $7 per person, including tax and a bottle of water. Average main $5. Open Sunday 11:30 am to 11 pm. Unlicensed. Access: seven steps to counter, washroom barrier-free. Rating: NNNN

Amadeu’s

184 Augusta, at Denison Square, 416-591-1245, amadeusdining.com. Like the futebol on the giant plasma TV, this charmingly off-kilter Kensington Market institution remains a restaurant of two halves: one a traditional coastal Portuguese seafood eatery with formal, family-friendly decor, the other a sometimes rowdy local complete with reasonably priced pints, top-notch Lisbon-style pub grub and a clientele that ranges from fishmongers to original Queen West legends (Keith Whittaker and Handsome Ned, RIP). Warning: those on a low-sodium diet should ask that their food be unsalted otherwise, a heavy, if authentic, hand often runs amok with the salt shaker. Best: to start, velvety caldo verde soup thick with kale, cranberry beans and potatoes paired with rough-crusted cornbread at lunch, daily seafood specials like spectacularly grilled whole sardines sided with collard greens and thickly cut Lisbon-style deep-fried potatoes at dinner, grilled codfish topped with sliced red onion, accompanied by steamed veg ‘n’ spuds ladled with lemony garlic olive oil pork alentejana, seared cubes of pork tenderloin mixed with fresh clams, peppers and potatoes to share, and in honour of 1974’s peaceful coup, the Amadeu’s Revolution, an upscale take on paella piled high with grilled lobster, crab, clams, mussels, shrimp and calamari mixed with rapini in garlicky lemon butter. Complete meals for $45 per person ($25 at lunch, $18 in the pub), including tax, tip and a glass of wine. Average main $14. Open Sunday 11 am to 11 pm, bar till 2 am. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN

Caplansky’s

356 College, at Brunswick, 416-500-3852, caplansky.com. Located at the top of Kensington Market, this always busy 60-seat eatery hearkens back to legendary and long-gone Spadina delis like Switzer’s and the Bagel. Best: the Leaning Tower of Caplansky, an almost architectural stack of three thickly sliced slices of eggy pan-fried Silverstein’s challah spread with alternating layers of buttery Mendel Creamery’s Cream cheese and house-made blueberry jam in real maple syrup, dusted with confectioner’s sugar and garnished with fat-free rashers of house-cured jerky-like beef bacon and fruit salad (aka French toast). Complete breakfasts for $25 per person, including tax, tip and the hair of the dog. Average main $12. Open for brunch Sunday 10 am to 8 pm. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN

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