Welcome to NOW’s new Toronto delivery and takeout column, Takeout Five.
While New Toronto Restaurants goes on hiatus, we’re spotlighting just a small handful of the local restaurants offering new and innovative delivery or takeout options during COVID-19. Join us here every week until this whole mess is over.
THE WEEK’S FOOD NEWS
- Every Toronto restaurant that has closed during COVID-19
- The CNE’s food lives on for 2020 at a new food stall
- Half-empty dining rooms and shielded booths could be in the future for Toronto restaurants
- Delivery Wars: Toronto restaurants are taking the power back from Uber Eats
- New ride-sharing service plans to buy Foodora assets
Donna’s
Our Best New Restaurants 2019 cover star is back in action with a pick-up-only menu of comforting, Scandinavian-influenced treats. Currently available: A limited roster of sandwiches and salads (including the resplendent leafy salad with brown-butter dressing pictured above), plus baked goods, Portuguese wines, and Donna’s T-shirts. It’s not as good as dining surrounded by three dozen plant pals while listening to ’70s disco hits on vinyl – but we do what we can.
HOW TO ORDER: Takeout (preorder for next-day pickup at donnas.ca). 827 Lansdowne, at Wallace, 416-536-1414, donnas.ca
Giulietta
While the woolen-walled dining room of this Italian spot on College stays silent, the kitchen has sprung into action with an impressive slate of ready-to-eat and cook-at-home options. Get your pastas (crab spaghetti!) and pizzas (wood-roasted mushroom with ricotta and sage!) cooked fresh, or stock your fridge with cacio e pepe and pizza kits (fairly reasonably priced at $10 per serving). More experienced home cooks can grab whole marinated octopi or Cornish game hens to slap on the grill – or just pick up a bottle of salad dressing and a bottled Negroni.
HOW TO ORDER: Takeout/delivery (phone or online). 972 College, at Rusholme, 416-964-0606, giu.ca
Bar Vendetta
Jen Agg’s properties have all been out of commission since the pandemic hit, including this Dundas West pasta bar. But as of this week, Vendetta is, uh, back with a vengeance, offering rare selections from the wine cellar as well as bottled cocktails to go. Orders open Friday for weekend pickup – follow them on Instagram or sign up for their mailing list to get the alert when they reopen.
HOW TO ORDER: Pickup (order online). 928 Dundas West, at Gore Vale, 416-551-8854, barvendetta.com
Porzia
Yep, that’s right – the same Porzia that shut down in 2015. Before closing its doors, the Parkdale eatery’s lasagna – only available on Sundays – enjoyed a devoted local cult following. It looks like chef Basilio Pesce is resurrecting that recipe to put a smile on all our faces in these dark times, offering lasagna for preorder. (Noted all-caps user Matty Matheson put it best in the Instagram comments: “THIS IS WHAT WEVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR ALL OUR LIVES! GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY NEEEEED”.) The first wave – set for this Wednesday and Sunday – sold out in a blink, but keep tabs on their Instagram for future lasagna drops and ordering details.
HOW TO ORDER: Follow @porzia_lasagne for details.
Liko’s Hawaiian BBQ
Here’s a break from all that pasta: This Hawaiian BBQ company (quite possibly the only one in town) is doing delivery while their usual events are on hold. They’re offering three packages of their frozen BBQ skewers, plus a bottle of their house BBQ sauce, for $50 – so cook ’em now, or keep ’em on ice until we can actually hold barbecues again. (Bonus if you’re outside the city: Deliveries to Durham are free.)
HOW TO ORDER: Delivery (email info@hawaiianbarbecue.ca).
Takeout Five is off next week! Look for our cover feature on Toronto’s best takeout and delivery on May 27.
@nataliamanzocco