Where to eat lunch this week: Vertical

The deal: Southern Italian and Mediterranean fare dominates the main menu. A seasonal menu features local organic ingredients and rotates on a biweekly basis and ends with a quote from Miss Piggy bemoaning the work required to eat an artichoke.

The dish: We start with a pan-seared fillet of Ontario lake trout ($14)—tender flesh and cracker-crisp skin surrounded by sautéed chanterelles and a bright shallot-parsley salad. Equally impressive is our companion’s app of duck breast ($16) buried under a tumble of chopped endive, roasted red peppers, eggplant and pecans. Mains include a plate of tender ricotta gnocchi ($23) mingled with Ontario peas, morels and cipollini onions in a savory-scented bath, as well as a smoked boneless quail ($20) resting on a bed of cracked wheat, diced pickled vegetables, rapini and salsa verde. We conclude with an order of Vertical’s zeppole ($8)—four piping hot doughnut holes filled with an ethereal pistachio pastry cream, coated in cinnamon sugar and served with a runny caramel sauce.

The time: 95 minutes, 20 of which were spent idling in the breeze after chasing down our server.

The cost: $117.47 for two, including tax, tip and orders of Mighty Leaf tea ($3.95 per serving).

Vertical Restaurant and Bar, First Canadian Place, 100 King St. W. (mezzanine level), 416-214-2252, verticalrestaurant.ca.