Location: 1451 Royal York Road, Etobicoke
Website: https://crudoto.com/
The GTA has certainly seen its share of Italian sandwich joints open in the last couple of years, but — based on this one visit, at least — Crudo might just beat them all.
I actually tried to visit this place about a year ago, and it was so packed that I just turned around and left. They’ve recently opened a second location in Woodbridge. Clearly, they’re doing well.
Based on the sandwich I tried, yeah, I get it. Wow, do I ever get it.
I started with the bruschetta (“Freshly Baked Bread Topped With Tomatoes”). Given how comically massive the sandwich is, this was unnecessary — but it was thoroughly tasty, with some very nicely dressed tomatoes resting on what is essentially an un-topped pizza.
This seems like it should have been nothing special, but the plain pizza base had enough personality to elevate it by several notches.
Their specialty is an Italian sandwich called a panuozzo, which features an oblong flatbread made from pizza dough. I went with the mortadella: “Mortadella, Cream Of Pistachio, Stracciatella.”
If it weren’t already clear enough from the bruschetta, this sandwich clinches it: these people are magicians with pizza dough. The bread here is stellar, with an amazingly light and crispy exterior, a chewy interior that’s packed with flavour, and an extra bit of personality thanks to the char on its exterior. It’s warm and fresh and perfect. It’s spectacular.
The interior of the sandwich is just as good. They’re obviously using top-tier mortadella (there’s a hell of a lot of it, but the sandwich never feels overstuffed), and the combo of the luxe creaminess of the stracciatella and the slightly sweet pistachio spread complements it perfectly.
Was this one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had? Because I think it might have been one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had.
