Introducing: Figo, Charles Khabouth’s new Italian spot in the Entertainment District
Name: Figo
Neighbourhood: King West
Contact: 295 Adelaide St. W., 647-748-3446, figotoronto.com, @FigoToronto
Owner: Hanif Harji and Charles Khabouth
Executive chef: Anna Chen (Buca Yorkville, Zucca, Murano, Scaramouche, Lee)
Head baker: Carlo Lazzarino (Terroni, Citta)
The food
Light and contemporary Italian cuisine. Unfussy dishes highlight seasonal ingredients and traditional techniques: house-made ricotta, hand-made pasta, wood-fired pizza. At lunch there are puccia (oven-baked sandwiches) and a $19.95 three-course prix fixe. Sunday brunch features classic eggy breakfasts (with pancetta instead of bacon, of course) and an assortment of pastries including Lazzarino’s popular bombolone.
Ricotta, made using a 100-year-old recipe, is topped with truffle honey and black pepper. It’s served with house-baked crostini. $9.
Burrata served with melon, huckleberries and crostini. $19.
Zucchini fritti with lemon crema fresca and honey. $11.
Rainbow trout crudo with sea buckthorn. $14.
The mushroom pizza is topped with cremini and maitake mushrooms, as well as caramelized onion, caciocavallo cheese, potato, watercress and a truffle vinaigrette. $19.
House-made bucatini with a juniper berry–spiced wild boar ragout. $19.
Mussels with fregola pasta, tomato and saffron. $18.
Grilled branzino dressed with lemon, oil and sea salt. $36.
A 12-ounce bone-in veal chop with charred tomatoes and basil. $26.
Savoy cabbage with pear-apricot mostarda (back, $9) and black kale with chilies and crispy garlic (front, $8).
And for dessert, tiramisu. $8.
The drinks
A short beer list, a fully stocked bar of spirits and a lengthy wine menu that focuses on light- to medium-bodied reds, like the lightly effervescent Lambruscos, and full-bodied whites from Italy and North America. Signature cocktails incorporate Italian liqueurs and contemporary spirits like Capo Capo.
The Sparrow: Bulleit bourbon, Cynar, Fonseca white port, Angostura bitters. $17.
Queen’s Park: sorrel, prosecco, peach nectar and fresh lemon. $15.
Punch Americano: Cocchi Americano, Cocchi Rosa, Bacardi Superior, white wine, white cranberry, lemon, Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters. $60, serves four.
Jet Lag: Tlacuache mezcal, aperol, martini bianco, lemon, egg white, Peychaud’s bitters. $17.
The space
The Studio Munge–designed space on the ground floor of the Pinnacle condo is full of curves, pastels, polished concrete and custom millwork.
Executive chef Anna Chen.