Giulietta

"Every neighborhood deserves a reliable hotspot that cooks, pours and serves with remarkable ease. Dufferin Grove has this in Giulietta, a stylish (but not too stylish) Italian looker by Chef Rob Rossi. Even if you don’t live nearby, this talented team treats every guest like a long-time VIP. And the food? This is cooking that comforts, thanks to a kitchen that makes the most out of every dish on the menu. Yellowfin tuna crudo with bergamot marmalade is a vibrant way to begin before moving into heartier dishes. A diner might attempt ordering both the ricotta agnolotti with morels as well as the mafalde with veal cheek ragu, but don't forget pizza. Charred, puffy and dressed with smart ingredients, the savory pie is greedily delicious." - Michelin Inspector

"Imagine a quintessential red sauce Italian joint—Giulietta is the polar opposite of that. Canadian chef Rob Rossi's highly sophisticated, pan-Italian restaurant offers a refined approach, with none of the clichés that have pervaded so many other Italian hotspots in recent years. In other words, don't expect to find any burrata on the menu here. It presents one of the finest expressions of Italian cuisine you'll find in Toronto. Handcrafted pastas are a hit—see the campanelle al ragu, and the flawless tonnarelli cacio e pepe—as are the wood-fired pizzas. The namesake Giulietta, a thin-cruster, comes with pistachios, lardo, cream, and smoked scamorza—it's decadent and fantastic." - Todd Plummer

Rank: #8 "It’s been two years since Top Chef Canada runner-up Rob Rossi partnered with David Minicucci of L’Unità to open Giulietta, and the lust of Toronto diners for top-notch cacio e pepe remains unsated. The duo draw on their Italian heritage to give classic Italian cuisine a fresh spin that’s light and correct."

The lighting here is fucking weird but it somehow works even though my 46 year old face should disagree. Order anything and everything. Doesn’t matter. Pizza and a glass of wine if you’re being cheap. Anything else if you have time and some money.