(Image: Renée Suen)
Name: Porzia
Neighbourhood: Parkdale
Contact info: 1314 Queen St. W., 647-342-5776, porzia.ca, @porziaparkdale
Owners: Basilio Pesce (formerly of Biff’s, Canoe and Bymark) and Marco Petrucci (99 Sudbury, El Mocambo)
Chef: Basilio Pesce. His first solo project
The food: Home-style Southern Italian cooking based on recipes from Pesce’s childhood (the restaurant is named after his mother). The kitchen makes breads, pastas and salumi in-house, and also butchers its own meat. Expect a rotating list of sharing-friendly plates like citrus salad ($11), capicola cotto with pear mostarda ($14) and chicken liver–filled agnolotti served with yellow foot mushrooms ($16). House mortadella and nduja made from horse meat are coming soon.
The drinks : The heavily southern Italian wine list tops out at around $100 with Italian beers on tap and rotating cocktails like True Romance ($12), made of Aperol, tequila, Fernet Branca, ginger and Cava.
The place: The long, thin room is filled with vintages pieces like faded orange Eames chairs, antique light fixtures and reclaimed pews from Palmerston United Church, along with a few steampunk touches, like a custom-built hostess stand. The 21-foot bar and the tall chef’s table are both made of repurposed barn board, breaking up the cool industrial feel.
By the numbers:
• 68 seats, including four at the kitchen bar and 16 along the L-shaped bar
• 40 orange Eames molded plastic chairs
• 30 vintage flashlights that have been restored and converted to LED. The entire bar can run off about 60 watts of power
• 3 Bartenders: Adrian Bishop, Chanel Wood and Aja Sax
• $3–20, the menu’s price range
• 2 kitchens
187883 Porzia’s launch day menu (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/porzia-menu-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/porzia-menu.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/porzia-menu.jpg 330 850 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/porzia-menu/ porzia-menu 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187867 Rum “Old Fashioned” ($12): Rhum Barbancourt, Mount Gay Rum and Amaro Averna (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-20-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-20.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-20.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-20/ jan13-porzia-20 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187866 San Nicola ($10): gin, pear purée and ginger (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-19-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-19.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-19.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-19/ jan13-porzia-19 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187865 True Romance ($12): Aperol, tequila, Fernet Branca, ginger and Cava (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-18-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-18.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-18.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-18/ jan13-porzia-18 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187864 The rotating cocktail list (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-17-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-17.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-17.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-17/ jan13-porzia-17 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187863 Porzia’s short dessert menu includes a daily cookie ($3) (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-16-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-16.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-16.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-16/ jan13-porzia-16 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187862 House-made agnolotti filled with chicken liver in a pork stock reduction, with yellowfoot mushrooms, parsley and a drizzle of 15-year-old balsamic vinegar ($16) (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-15-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-15.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-15.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-15/ jan13-porzia-15 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187861 Capicola cotto with pear mostarda ($14): a traditional Italian cold cut made of pork shoulder that’s been brined for two days, slow cooked for 36-hours, then dry-cured. The final product is sliced and served with house-made pear mostarda and pickled fennel salad (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-14-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-14.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-14.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-14/ jan13-porzia-14 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187872 Citrus Salad ($11): this riff on Pesce’s mother’s recipe uses blood orange, orange, grapefruit, segmented lemon, lime and Clementine that have been garnished with pomegranate seeds, mint, parsley and cracked olives (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-23-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-23.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-23.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-23/ jan13-porzia-23 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187859 Porzia has two kitchens. This downstairs prep kitchen is equipped with modern gadgets like an immersion circulator and a Pacojet ice cream maker (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-12-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-12.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-12.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-12/ jan13-porzia-12 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187860 Chef Basilio Pesce: “It doesn’t matter how many great restaurants you might have worked at, you still end up picking the parsley.” <br />
(Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-13-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-13.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-13.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-13/ jan13-porzia-13 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187853 The mirrors are made from antiqued glass rectangles that are joined by antique rosettes and iron antlers and mounted on barn board (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-06-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-06.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-06.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-06/ jan13-porzia-06 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187849 Designer Paul Cuthbert collected 30 flashlights from southern Appalachia and the Ozarks to create this unique ’40s-inspired fixture, which hangs above Porzia’s bar. Each flashlight was restored and converted to LED—which means the bar lighting runs off about 60 watts of power (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-02-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-02.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-02.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-02/ jan13-porzia-02 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187856 A 1950s Canadian Pacific Railway blueprint hangs near the entrance (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-09-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-09.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-09.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-09/ jan13-porzia-09 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187851 Designer Paul Cuthbert (Maylor Hardware) made this hostess stand out of vintage gauges from an old airplane, a phone from the deck of an American warship and an Edison lightbulb (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-04-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-04.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-04.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-04/ jan13-porzia-04 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187855 (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-08-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-08.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-08.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-08/ jan13-porzia-08 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187848 Porzia is likely to be Parkdale’s last restaurant to open until the restaurant ban expires. Pesce took over in April, 2012 (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-01-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-01.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-01.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-01/ jan13-porzia-01 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)
187870 Porzia’s dining room was Maylor Hardware’s first restaurant design project. They describe the style as “Heirloom Modern” (Image: Renée Suen) Introducing: Porzia Introducing: Porzia https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-intro-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-intro.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan13-Porzia-intro.jpg 656 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/porzia/slide/jan13-porzia-intro/ jan13-porzia-intro 0 0
(Image: Renée Suen)