July 3, 2013, Toronto – One of the latest additions to Toronto’s ever sparring pizza wars may quite possibly lay claim to one of the roomiest, prettiest patios to attract summer customers.
With 200 seats outside,
and a beautiful 88-seat dining room inside, Osteria dei Ganzi offers up
atmosphere in spades.
Osteria dei Ganzi, which opened this year, is located on the
first floor of the Gooderham House, a mansion on Jarvis St. build in 1891. Restored with the help of the Metropolis
Living Team, the mansion’s original handcrafted wood detail, soaring arches,
stain glassed windows and brass fixtures are perfectly accented with the
addition of Italian themed murals and paintings by local Toronto artist Hajar
Moradi and her team. The wall rack in the bar area is also built from materials
found in a 170 year old barn and the chandelier in Ganzi’s bar is made from the
barn’s door tracks.
The menu features a selection of wood boards, antipasti, crostini,
insalata, carpacci, meat, fish, pasta and pizza. Ingredient selections show
creative inspirations, making use of swordfish for carpaccio, dandelion shoots
and drunken raisins in a salad and a twice-cooked crispy duck breast alongside
a chocolate risotto as antipasti.
There are seven pizzas on the menu. The restaurant’s head
kitchen maestro Querrino Staropoli, is an award winning master chef. The dough
recipe was in development for six months at Osteria dei Ganzi, Staropoli says,
and is based on a 140 years old recipe from Naples. The recipe is a blend of
two “00” flours (Caputo and Doppio Zero) and doesn’t require aging, he says.
The Roman chef has been credited with introduced Toronto to tiramisu 30 years
ago.
Alongside the classic Margherita, Staropoli is serving combinations
such as Bosco (wild mushroom, truffle oil, asparagus and burata) and the Molton
Fresca (cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, arugala, basil, lemon, olive oil,
anchovies and toasted almonds).
In house mixology expert (former head mixologist for luxury
brand Sofitel in Europe), Joao Machado makes classic cocktail favourites
including negronis, sidecars and boulevardiers, a potent mix of bourbon
whiskey, Campari, sweet vermouth, bitters and orange oils.
Osteria dei Ganzi is owned by Dan Gunam (Roosevelt
Room, Story’s), Luca Viscardi (Toula) and Ron Yeung. The restaurant looks to
use as many D.O.P ingredients as possible, says Gunam.
Print this page
