When Joe Brancatella was growing up, he had lots of friends from different cultures. “I’m from a big Italian family that loves to eat and at my friends' houses, I discovered there's a whole world of food from different cultures out there,” Joe recalls. His culinary interest just grew and, at 19, he enrolled in the Chef’s Apprentice program at Humber College. To make extra cash, he took a job as a limousine driver on the side.
One night, after Joe mentioned to a passenger that he was training to be a chef, the man introduced him to a friend, Franco Prevedello. Franco was the owner of Toronto's "it" restaurant at the time, Pronto, and he offered Joe a job. “I had the great privilege of working with two great chefs,” says Joe, referring to Raffaele Ferrari and Arpi Magyar. As luck would have it, Joe would also get the chance to work with a young Mark McEwan, who bought Pronto before opening North 44 nearby.
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I thought this place was great. You should go in with the expectation that you will have to wait a little bit of time because the place is always full. I would say thats a indication of its food, and would agree with that statement. Lots of great tasting options, had the basil chicken pasta dish and my date had the sundried tomato pizza. So as long as you have an extra 15mins in your night, its a great spot for decently priced italian food
Good food at best - good service if you’re lucky and very patient – staff and customers could be very pretentious… Very young crowd of “wanna be’s… “Typical clientele of Yonge & Eglinton… Owner could be very obnoxious and like to flirt with customers – even when they know it’s your wife… so guys, be aware !!! No reservation and always packed !!!
Where else can you go to feel so incredibly comfortable, that the customers just break out into song, good old fashioned food,drink and entertainment. The staff is outstanding always smiling and curtious. The food, and we've tried many if not all dishes, is excellent. Now there's a new location in Vaughan, the only place in the area where people are actually made to feel really good inside and out. What a great night out, cant wait to enjoy my lunches there aswell. GRAZIE! TO GRAZIE RISTORANTE for coming to Vaughan
The food was ok, nothing to great, the restaurant was very crowded but the wait wasn't to bad, I would suggest anyone who enjoys wine, to either avoid this place or bring your own glass, as they think drinking wine out of a water glass is "the way Italians are supposed to". the lack of a good glass of wine with the meal really disappoints, and shows that they are more concerned with appearance that quality.
The food was Good but I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone who enjoys Wine with a meal, This is another one of those restaurants that thinks its cool to drink wine out of a water glass, if you know anything about wine stay away. I think they try to hard to be "authenic" Italian.
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Try the bruschetta pizza for an appetizer and then one of their multiple pasta entrees with vegetarian options. Substituting nuts or tomatoes for meatballs in a tomato sauce never fails, while the variety of mushrooms will add satisfying texture and earthy flavour.
View this Smart ListWith two locations in Toronto, one at Yonge and Eglinton and the other in Vaughan, Grazie specializes in southern Italian cuisine and wine. The menu includes four kinds of focaccia and a dozen pizzas (including a four-cheese special with gorgonzola, ricotta, crotonese and fior di latte), so you’ll always have a delicious entree to pair with your choice of grape. Choose from 20 Italian reds or a selection of domestic, US, South American and French labels, both red and white.
View this Smart ListWhen you order your pizza here, you’ll be getting it made fresh to order, from the rolling out of the dough to the last garnish of olive or caper. Inspired by the cuisines of southern Italian villages, the entire dine-in pizza menu is available for online ordering and delivery.
View this Smart List