Review: The Good Son has some impressive plates (and cheaper pizza than Terroni)
The Good Son ★½ 1096 Queen St. W., 416-551-0589
The old Nyood space on Queen has been stripped naked and given the twee trappings of west-side dining: Edison bulbs, tea-towel napkins, even a precious general-store façade selling the house olive oil. The menu, from Top Chef Canada alum Vittorio Colacitti, has a few bumps, like a cumin-heavy eggplant dip that’s as lumpy as Pablum. But he shines at the kinds of refined dishes he made at Didier and Lucien.
Steak tartare is rich and flavourful, with a prick of cayenne. A creamy salad of kale and du Puy lentils is topped with crispy-sweet chunks of pork belly, and crème-fraîche-dressed Bibb with almonds, pomegranate arils and citrus is creamy, crunchy, sweet and sour. The sarsaparilla pork side ribs with Jack Daniels sauce are good enough to sell out early some nights. Another strength: the wood oven–fired pizzas, which are blistered, crispy, and a few bucks cheaper than at nearby Terroni or Libretto. Skip dessert.
