Mr. Toronto

I seem to be blogging a lot lately on the arts – music, theatre – so it’s time to turn my attention to another passion – FOOD!  But where to start?  I’ve done a lot of traveling in my time – to many of the world’s Great Cities – and I have to tell you that Toronto certainly holds its own in terms of the sheer number of restaurants, the incredible variety of cuisine, the amazing taste of the food, and the great value that can be found here.  I could easily have a regular blog just dedicated to the places I have had the pleasure of dining at over the years….

But for now, let me concentrate on one small area that has captured my attention – and palate – over the last few weeks:  there have been two interesting “food wars” that have been waged in Toronto, involving two of my favourite edibles – pizza and burritos. Specifically, two competitive spots in each category has laid claim to being the “Best in the City”.

Let’s start with pizza.  Pizzeria Libretto, on the very cool Ossington Street strip, claims to be the only “certified Neapolitan pizza experience” in Canada. What does this mean? According to their website,  “Libretto aims to be loyal to what real pizza is, invented in Naples using local natural ingredients, cooked in a wood fired oven at extremely high heat to achieve a charred, blistered crust. We use San Marzano tomatoes and Fiore di Latte Mozzarella, brought in fresh daily. Our dough is made with naturally leavened Italian Caputo dopio zero flour. Our pizza bakes in less than 90 seconds in our 900 degree wood burning oven, hand built for us by a 3rd generation pizza oven maker in Naples”.  They were the only game in town until the rival Queen Margherita Pizza (1402 Queen St E) opened, which claimed to be equally fabulous.  So I had to visit both.  The verdict?  Both have pizza that truly is the best in the city. We’re talking the thin-crusted, light and airy kind – not the thick, gooey New York style.  If I had to choose one with a gun to my head, would probably pick Libretto, just because the location is more convenient – and cooler.  But go to both and try for yourself.  Trust me.

As for the Burrito wars?  Although “fast-food type burritos are a dime a dozen, there used to be only one game in town for real, authentic, meal-in-a-wrapper heaven – Burrito Boyz – with just one location on Adelaide St. downtown (now they have multiple locations – www.burritoboyz.ca ). But there was some in-fighting between the two owners, and one split off to open up Burrito Bandidos (www.burritobandidos.com).  They both claim to be Toronto’s best, so I had to once again see for myself (it’s a dirty job, but someone had to do it…).  To make it fair, I sampled the same type at both places – the unique, melt-in-your-mouth halibut burrito.  I’m sorry, but I just cannot pick a favourite.  They were both incredible (stuffed with about 10 toppings then grilled to perfection).  Both cost virtually the same (10 bucks) and both are little hole-in-the-walls, so be prepared to take-out as there is no real seating….

This is all making me rather hungry.  Gotta go home for dinner.
Mr. Toronto