Buca Yorkville hosts Michelin-starred Italian chefs

Last Thursday, Rob Gentile cooked in his Buca Yorkville kitchen with Michelin-starred Sicilian chef Pino Cuttaia of Ristorante La Madia. The dinner was the fourth of the King Street Food Company’s “Sotto una buona stella” (“Under a lucky star”) six-part series that flies renowned Italian chefs to Toronto for special one-off meals with wine pairings. Proceeds from the series fund a scholarship for one deserving student from the George Brown Chef’s School, and tickets are still available for the final two events which will feature chefs Valeria Piccini and Mauro Uliassi. Here’s a look at last week’s dinner.

Gnocco fritto: fried bread topped with Buca’s shrimp mortadella.

Pine-smoked cod pizzaiolo: crispy flat bread filled with a light, pine-smoked cod and potato purée, finished with oregano and sun-dried tomato powder.

Caprese Cloud: the flavours of a caprese salad—fresh basil and tomato—inside a ball of buffalo mozzarella.

Octopus on the Sand: one lightly grilled, herb-crusted octopus tentacle.

A rice-and-red-mullet-ragout arancini in squash soup, finished with wild fennel.

A medallion of beef tenderloin, cooked sous-vide and topped with a grilled artichoke.

Cornucopia-style Sicilian connolo: a fried cornet piped with pastry cream, finished with pistachios and a dehydrated orange chip.

Pino Cuttaia (left) with Rob Gentile.