Name: Nodo
Contact Info: 2885 Dundas St W., 416-901-1559, nodorestaurant.ca
Neighbourhood: The Junction
Owners: High school friends Vito Tomasicchio, Gianmarco DeZorzi and Charlie Giordano
Chef: Roberto Marotta, the former executive chef at Parkdale’s Maialino Enoteca
The Food: Sicilian-born chef Roberto Marotta cooks Italian comfort food with some contemporary flourishes—the Terra e Bosco (“earth to forest”) platter, for instance, is artfully strewn with jewel-toned veggies and pools of creamy ricotta dressing. Gnocchi comes two ways: “new school” (with wild mushrooms and corn in a truffle-garlic cream sauce) or “old school” (tossed with Brussels sprout leaves in a wild boar ragu). The pistachio-topped cannoli is made from a secret recipe passed down by Marotta’s grandmother.
The Drinks: The exclusively Italian wine list is fairly comprehensive—there are over fifty bottles to choose from, nine of those priced at a very reasonable $35. Grappa is served chilled or with interesting infusions like chamomile or honey.
The Place: Formerly an antique shop, the white-walled space is big and bright, with checkerboard floors and lofty ceilings. It’s decorated with an eclectic mix of salvaged finds and contemporary pieces, most of which were sourced from a salvage shop just down the street. A private dining room in the basement is equipped with a long harvest table and romantic marquee lighting.
291504 <strong>Nodo</strong> is located just west of Keele on Dundas West. (Image: Jackie Pal) Introducing: Nodo https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-01-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-01.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-01.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-01/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-01 0 0
(Image: Jackie Pal)
291505 Many of the restaurant's decorative accents were purchased at <strong>Smash,</strong> the salvage shop just down the street. https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-02-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-02.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-02.jpg 667 1000 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-02/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-02 0 0
291506 The Renaissance-style canvas was designed by <strong>lnes Risi Design.</strong> https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-03-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-03.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-03.jpg 667 1000 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-03/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-03 0 0
291507 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-04-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-04.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-04.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-04/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-04 0 0
291509 The complimentary bread basket includes a multigrain caramel loaf, olive bread and foccacia. It's served with regular and spicy olive oil. https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-06-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-06.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-06.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-06/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-06 0 0
291510 Grilled octopus comes with roasted potatoes, grilled zucchini and olive oil ($13). https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-07-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-07.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-07.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-07/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-07 0 0
291508 The Terra e Bosco, a deconstructed root vegetable salad, includes poached romanesco broccoli, green beans and fried parsnips in a citrus ricotta cream sauce ($13). https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-05-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-05.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-05.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-05/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-05 0 0
291511 Gnocchi is handmade daily. The "old school" version comes with wild boar ragu and reggiano ($19). https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-08-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-08.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-08.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-08/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-08 0 0
291512 The Milazzo, named after chef Marotta's father’s Sicilian hometown, brings a flatbread topped with mascarpone, mozzarella, and ribbons of melon and parma prosciutto ($16). https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-09-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-09.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-09.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-09/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-09 0 0
291513 The Bergo is topped with hunks of burrata, cherry tomatoes and basil ($18). https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-10-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-10.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-10.jpg 667 1000 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-10/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-10 0 0
291515 Cannoli is stuffed with sweet ricotta and dipped in crumbled chocolate and chopped pistachios ($8). https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-12-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-12.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-12.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-12/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-12 0 0
291514 The Buoncorso blends blood orange flavoured San Pellegrino, orange bitters, Aperol and amaretto ($12). https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-11-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-11.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-11.jpg 667 1000 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-11/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-11 0 0
291516 The downstairs dining room. https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-13-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-13.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nodo-toronto-restaurant-13.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/food/nodo-toronto-restaurants/slide/nodo-toronto-restaurant-13/ nodo-toronto-restaurant-13 0 0
Ate there with friends – great food. Nice place. Way too hot – the HVAC seems amiss.
Very disappointing meal. The place is great looking and the service was very good, however, the quality of the food was surprisingly bad. I’ve been to Maialino Enoteca a few times and enjoyed it very much so I don’t know how the food quality here could be so much worse considering it’s the same chef. It’s too bad as this would be a great addition to the Junction, but as the food stands now, it needs tons of work.
This place is sooooo overrated and just another boring so called Italian resto. The food is mediocre to bad and expensive. Save your hard earned cash. Go to Italy and experience real authentic food not these wanna be Italian places that just because they have Italo Canadian owners, they think they can replicate the Italian experience. Very wrong.
In a nutshell, bad food, just another imposter on the Italian food scene here in TO.
This place was very disappointing. The cocktails were syrupy and the pasta was so bad it was inedible, mushy and tasteless, I’ve had better TV pasta dinners.
I have to disagree. Nodo is not expensive, it is actually very affordable. Great entrée prices and wine prices. A perfect night out for dinner in Toronto. I have been searching for the best pizza in Toronto for a long time. This is the winner. Aside from the pizza, the appetizers are amazing, and the gnocchi is fantastic. This is definitely a must try restaurant.
Nodo is exactly what the Junction needed!! Classic Italian food with a modern flare to it. Pizza options are endless and cooked to PERFECTION!! Their sauce is hands down the most authentic I have tried outside of Italy. Go by with some friends on the weekend, grab a few pizzas, order some wine and enjoy!!!
Excellent food, great service at a fair price. We loved it and will definitely be back!