Introducing: Mr. Ciao, a new Italian restaurant on Gerrard from the owners of AAA Bar
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Nam e: Mr. Ciao
Neighbourhood: Riverdale
Contact Info: 598 Gerrard St. E., 416-901-8711, mrciao.ca , @MrCiaoTo
Owners/Chefs: Racquel Youtzy and Tiziano Pivetta, who also own AAA Bar on Adelaide
The Food : Situated smack in the middle of Chinatown East, the pizza-pasta joint offers a handful of homey Italian dishes—deep-fried olives, seafood linguini—as well as less conventional items, like mozzarella-stuffed “egg rolls” and Peking-duck pizza topped with wasabi peas. The restaurant’s specialty is pizza fritta, a Neapolitan street snack that takes all the gooey decadence of regular pizza and adds a crunchy, deep-fried crust (the Mr. Ciao version is hand-stretched, flash-fried and finished in a stone oven). For dessert, there’s an Italian take on churros: sticks of fried pizza dough rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with scoops of maple ice cream.
The Drinks : There are two wines on tap, including a Mike Weir Cabernet-Merlot and a Stoney Ridge Chardonnay.
The Place : The casual room has a long copper bar up front and a surprisingly large dining area in the back. The enormous raised patio, which curls around the entire west side of the building, is a great people-watching perch.
282167 <strong>Mr. Ciao</strong> is located at 598 Gerrard Street, east of Broadview (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
282168 The owners designed and renovated the space themselves (they had a little help opening up the ceiling to expose the beams and pipes). There’s a long copper bar up front and a surprisingly large dining area in the back (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
282169 (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
282170 Beef carpaccio is sprinkled with salt, rosemary and olive oil ($14) (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
282171 Deep-fried olives with red-pepper dip ($6) (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
282172 All the pizzas at Mr. Ciao come on a crunchy, deep-fried crust. The tomato pizza is topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, arugula and pesto ($14) (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
282173 The cheese-free Peking duck pizza is topped with black-bean sauce, wasabi peas, scallions, barbecued pork (<em>char siu</em>) and, of course, roast duck ($17) (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
282176 Linguine with mussels, shrimp, calamari and scallops ($18) (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
282174 Pappardelle is made in-house and tossed in truffled cream sauce with cremini, portobello and oyster mushrooms ($17) (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
282175 A family-friendly zone at the back of the restaurant is set up with toys and chalkboards (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Mr. Ciao https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09.jpg 667 1000 [] https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09/ mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)