Black Skirt isn’t the only College Street cantina leading the charge back to rustic Italiana. Two blocks east, Roberto and Sandra Mandarino’s tiny Slow Room (874 College, at Concord, 416-271-2790, rating: NNN) is the antithesis of fast food, the star of the coffee house’s minimal card their Saturday-only porchetta sandwich.
“You want crackling on that?”
Why, yes, we do. And, while you’re at it, a splash of fruity olive oil on that Riviera bun to go with all that gorgeous slow-cooked pork shoulder, belly and butt stratified with ribbons of silky-smooth fat.
Those of a more herbivorous bent will appreciate the Room’s daily meat-less meatball sandwich (both $6.75): a pair of unusually beefy eggplant fritters in family-recipe ragu dressed with fresh basil on crusty Italian baguette, well worth its painstakingly slow assembly.