House-made ravioli with basil, roasted eggplant and buffalo mozzarella is among the dishes on offer at Florentia, a trend-resistant Italian restaurant. CHARLA JONES/THE GLOBE AND MAILThe Globe and Mail
Florentia Ristorante
579 Mount Pleasant Rd., Toronto
416-545-1220
$100 for dinner for two including tax and tip
The menu is giving me déjà vu: bruschetta, antipasto, insalata con calamari, rigatoni pomodoro, grilled veal chop, pizza. Basically, the same Italian-neighbourhood-restaurant menu (right down to the depressing laminated menu cover) I have been seeing in Canada since forever.
Of course, the lack of duck tongues, lardo, squid ink and other fashionable ingredients in the new Italian restaurant pantry doesn't necessarily mean the place is bad - just utterly conventional.
The closest that Florentia gets to chasing trends, in fact, is burrata, that most luscious of buffalo-milk mozzarellas, so buttery and rich that cream literally spills out of it. Here it is served as a kind of mini Caprese salad with ripe, halved cherry tomatoes, a few sprigs of basil and a drizzle of olive oil. Combine all of the ingredients together and you've pretty much got summer on a fork.
Equally impressive is a first rate bresaola - air-dried beef that's salted and cured in the Alpine valleys outside Como. Deeply savoury and almost floral, the meat is arrayed in thin slices beneath a tangle of fresh arugula, shavings of Parmesan cheese and another lashing of good olive oil. The requisite gregarious, heavily accented waiter straight out of Cinecitta's central casting finishes the plate with just the right amount of freshly ground pepper.
Oh, you thought the dramatically wielded pepper grinder went the way of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (they have that here too) for dipping bread into? Me too. In fact, I'm inclined to believe that, if they held off for another couple of years, they might have a clever meta-retro homage to Italian restaurant clichés - just add gingham - but there's no such guile here.
That's not to say the restaurant is dry or humourless. Take a look at the pointillist painting that dominates one wall. There, peering out above a rustic Italian landscape, are the faces of some of Florence's greatest historical figures: Leonardo da Vinci, Dante Alighieri, Michelangelo and, standing out above them all, Roberto Benigni. (At least I think it's Benigni; the portrait also bears an uncanny resemblance to Bill Maher.)
The painting's large size and bold colour scheme mean that the room doesn't need much else in the way of decor.
A few mirrors along the opposite wall (always a nice touch), a big vase full of flowers, some cans of tomatoes - that's about it. The music is exactly what you expect: Getz/Gilberto, Sinatra, Jerry Vale, Ella Fitzgerald.
So immune is Florentia to the whims of culinary fashion that even the much-maligned sun-dried tomato makes an appearance. The restaurant's signature pasta finds them tossed along with al dente penne noodles, fresh cherry tomatoes, slivered almonds and arugula leaves into a light and lovely dish that is topped, again with great gusto, by our server, who is now wielding a large block of Parmesan and a grater.
An otherwise admirable pizza is marred by a sauce that, while pleasant enough, lacks the deep flavour and rich texture of one made with San Marzano tomatoes, the industry standard for those seeking serious pizza. Equally curious is a breadbasket that contains some feeble lumpen buns and foccacia that is as hard as biscotti from having been cut much earlier and left to dry out.
Grilled and roasted meats are more the kitchen's forte than baking, judging by the plump half chicken, juicy and aromatic with thyme and garlic, that arrives encased in the crisp shell of its own skin. Alongside sit crusty shards of roast potatoes.
The expertly grilled veal chop has two things going for it (a nicely charred exterior and a trembling fresh ricotta sformato, which is like a savoury custard) and one thing working against it (the salmoriglio sauce on top tastes mostly of charred rosemary).
Somehow, tiramisu does not appear on the dessert menu (I lost a bet on that one), but there is a sweet, satisfying flourless chocolate cake and a choice of sherbet with cantucci (mini biscotti) and coffee-flavoured whipped cream.
The particular strip of Mount Pleasant on which Florentia is located is already chockablock with restaurants. The charming bistro Mogette is right next door and Zee Grill Seafood Restaurant and Oyster Bar is just up the road, while Positano and Palluci are nearby and serving Italian food with, frankly, very similar menus.
It seems, to me, that Florentia is gambling that the recession will send people scrambling back for the comforting dishes they are already familiar with.
It isn't enough to get me to return, but, then again, I already feel like I've been there before.