Toronto, ON
http://www.gusto101.com
I'm just going to do a quick post before I catch my plane! Last weekend Jess and Cherry decided on going to Gusto 101 for dinner before my trip. Gusto 101 opened their doors early 2012, there was so much hype about it but I never got a chance to visit until now.
We were situated on their roof top patio which was absolutely perfect for the weather. Pops of red, black and white is gorgeous against some of the wood furniture. There is also bar style seating around each skylight window and one important thing I must mention is that their roof top patio is now open all year around.
We started with the Polipo, char-grilled octopus, with olive tapenade, organic micro salad, basil citrus emulsion, $14.50.
I love octopus, I probably take after my father, and whenever I see it on a menu I tend to order it. The octopus was tender, with a little char on the outside to give it some smokiness.
I loved the Carpaccio, beef tenderloin with truffled cannellini beans, arugula, pecorino, $13.95. The beef was paper thin and delicious but my favourite part of the dish was probably the truffled cannellini beans, so good!
Jess ordered the Spinaci Pizza, loaded with spinach, buffalo mozzarella, pecorino, fresh ricotta and sliced garlic, $15.50. The crust was paper thin and crispy, it was loaded with lots of spinach but the fresh ricotta was probably the star of the pizza.
Cherry Spaghetti Chitarra allo Scoglio manila clams, shrimps, mussels, baby scallops, white wine, tomato sauce 17.95.
I got the Fettuccine ai Funghi, portobello, porcini, oyster mushrooms, truffle paste, light cream sauce, $17.50.
We all agreed that my pasta was the favourite entree of the night, it was rich and full of mushroom-y goodness, somewhat resembling cream of mushroom soup but in a good way. The pasta was way too much and heavy for me to finish by myself though but good thing Kevin finished it off for me (not like he would complain though).
Kevin finally decided to get the Rigatoni Lucani, after jumping back and forth from different entrees. It was rigatoni pasta with shredded braised lamb shank, tomato, fresh herbs, green olives and shaved pecorino, $16.95.
He said it was too salty but I think it was okay, It wasn't anything special in my opinion though and he would probably agree with me.
If you go to Gusto, you must sit on the patio and that's coming from a girl that hates sitting on the patio. They have four different seating areas: roof top patio, inside the restaurant, the basement and the ground level patio. Note that the stairs that go from the roof top to the basement are incredibly dark so watch you're step.
