Falasca SPQR 2059 Yonge St. Toronto, ON

We have a joke that the SPQR stands for Sono porchi questi Romani, instead of “Senatus Populusque Romanus” but the joke falls flat at Falasca, because the service is excellent, and the SPQR has been re-worked to stand for “Specialty Pizza Quadrata and Round”, the two types of pizza served by the shop.  You can go at lunch and order your quadrata (or slice) by weight, instead of North American style, which is by slice only, or go at dinner to have a round pizza.

While not a Vera Nepolitana, the restaurant deserves a review, as well as a visit, so a person can decide which they prefer—the crispy, Roman style crust, or the softer Neapolitan style. 

Falasca has been open for about a year, the owners being Alessandro Buccianti and Alfiero Falasca.  Alfiero has a world pizza championship, so I have high hopes.

The interior is a stark white, with antique prints of Rome on the walls.  The only two things I would change are to install some sound proofing, as the sound bounces around the restaurant quite a bit, making conversation almost impossible, and to add some blinds to the windows. We went for dinner around 18.45, and the sun was blinding my Italian boyfriend (hey—if you’re going to review a pizza place, take an expert).

We start our meal by ordering a suppli a telephono, which is a form of a croquette, consisting of rice, mozzarella, coated in breadcrumbs and egg and then fried.  Ours is hot, beautifully fried, not too much so it’s greasy, but enough to be crunchy.  The mozzarella pulled out of the suppli in strings, thus giving the nickname “telephono”, it resembles the cord on a telephone.  Not that anyone uses a landline in Italy any more, but I digress.

Italian boyfriend ordered the special pizza of the night, an Imperiale, which consisted of sauce, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and arugula, and bufala mozzarella.  His toppings were all of superb quality, fresh, and the cherry tomatoes’ sweetness complimenting that of the sauce.  I have the prosciutto, with fresh sauce and fior di latte mozzarella.  I don’t mind that style of mozzarella, but I prefer the bufala, which has a slightly more earthy flavour.  I have no complaints about the crust, which is perfect—crispy on the edges and charred slightly, soft in the middle.  I just can’t cut the damn thing, as the knives aren’t sharp enough.  Good thing no one is sitting next to me, because I would have brained them with my elbows see-sawing back and forth.

The beer choices leave something to be desired, as they only sell Italian beers.  Italians do many things well, but beer is not one of them. If you’re having a beer when you go, make sure you get the Costello, which is from the north of Italy and is at least drinkable. 

Service here is perfect—not too obtrusive, but always on hand when you need something and friendly. 

Cost of a pizza is between $9.25-$14.00.  We ate and drank for two for slightly over $50.

http://falascaspqr.com/

Rating—9/10.

Defina 321 Roncesvalles Avenue Toronto, ON

Since I lived in Napoli, I've been searching for the perfect Nepolitan pizza here in Toronto. I miss the soft crust, the sauce, the mozzarella. Every time I find a place that's close, I would tell my friend Nunzio about it.  He finally asked me why I don't blog my finds. So here I am.

For those of you who are wondering what I mean by a Neapolitan pizza, here's a link to the certification process for a Verace Napoletana. http://www.verapizzanapoletana.org/  As you can see, the pizzaioli of Napoli take their craft very seriously, even hosting pizza Olympics each July (I've been there--a better night of dining a person could not ask for).

The first place I'm reviewing is actually not a certified Vera pizza, but since it's been the latest place I've even, I decided to start here.

Defina is in Roncesvalles, and since the chef has taken lessons from 11 time world champion pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani, I'm hopeful.  I just also hope it's more substance than style, because Gemignani has won world pizza aerobatics. I never saw any actually toss a pizza in Italy.

I'm not going to concentrate too much on the interior of a place, it's the pizza I'm reviewing, but for those who find aesthetics important, this place isn't bad.  Bit narrow, but it is an old neighborhood, and a tich on the loud side.

The restaurant offers a choice of crust, Roman, which should be thin and crispy, or Neapolitan, which should be soft.   I prefer the soft, so I choose a quattro fromaggi as well as crostini and arugula salad.  My friend Phil orders sardines. My Italian boyfriend asks for the burrata and tomato salad.

When our food appetizers arrive, I'm not impressed with the fact that the food is "auctioned" off (a personal pet peeve of mine. How hard can it be to remember who ordered the salad?) and our drinks are passed over the top of our heads, as well as the plates, which means I get a good whack from a large salad plate on my head.

The sardines are excellent, crispy and salty. The crostini is inedible--too much garlic, which overwhelms the palate and there is no other flavor. The dressing on the salad is MIA, so I feel like we're eating grass. While the burrata is excellent, the dish is too early, as the tomatoes are not flavorful.  Or perhaps the chef doesn't take the time to select the produce him/herself and instead relies on a restaurant supply company.

When the pizzas arrive, I am disappointed. My crust is not Neapolitan at all.  It's too hard, far too Roman--I can't understand why the restaurant offers both styles of crust if they are incapable of producing them.  A Neapolian style crust should be soft, and I should be able to roll the pizza slice into a funnel and eat. The edges are like a cracker crust.  The sauce, however, is excellent.  It's tasty, and doesn't require any dash of olive oil on top.  I can only assume here the chef has not skimped and has ordered San Marzano tomatoes.

Out of 10? I give Defina a 7.