Italian food – Michael Eats

An Amazing Sandwich at Crudo Pizza & Panuozzo

Published on November 13, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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.

Satisfying Korean Gelato at Illo Scoop and Flake

Published on November 10, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4300 Steeles Avenue East (inside Pacific Mall)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/illoscoopandflake/

I love gelato, but it’s always nice when a place mixes it up and serves stuff that isn’t the usual chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio, and on and on.

Enter: Illo Scoop and Flake, an interesting Korean-influenced gelato spot inside Pacific Mall. As soon as I saw that they had a red bean flavour, I was sold. Red bean desserts: great. Gelato: great. This is as close to a sure thing as it gets.

You can get the gelato with various toppings (which accounts for the “and Flake” part of the name, I guess), but I stuck with just the gelato on its own.

It’s quite tasty, with a very restrained level of sweetness and a subtle flavour that lets the milkiness of the gelato be the star of the show. The red bean flavour is mostly in the background, but it’s definitely there, and becomes more apparent as you eat it.

The sweetness and red bean flavour are so understated that it took me a few mouthfuls to get on board, but the more I ate it, the more I enjoyed it.

The texture, too, is stellar — it’s maybe slightly thin, but it’s otherwise pleasantly smooth and creamy.

My only issue is that I wish the beans had been ground a bit more finely. There are little flecks of red bean mixed in, and they add a graininess that detracts from the great smoothness of the gelato. That’s a minor complaint, however.

Tasty Pizza at Raffaella

Published on October 19, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 296 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://raffaellapizza.com/

Raffaella started as a pop-up serving New York-style pizza, and eventually did well enough to graduate to their own spot inside the Annex Hotel.

They’re mostly known for their pizza, but they do have a few other things on the menu. The arancini, in particular, caught my eye: “Cacio E Pepe Risotto, Tomato Sauce, Parmigiano Reggiano.”

This was clearly some of the better arancini I’ve had in a while, with a great contrast between the perfectly crispy exterior and the rich, creamy risotto within. It might have been too rich, but the zippy tomato sauce gives it a nice balance. It’s great.

They let you try a couple of things by splitting a pizza in half, which is nice; I went with the Margherita (“Raff’s Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Grana Padano, Fresh Basil”) and the Annex (“Raff’s Tomato Sauce, Spicy Sausage, Whipped Ricotta, Roasted Red Pepper, Hot Honey”).

It’s a solid pizza. Raffaella describes it as “48 hours sourdough, thin and crispy” — this one wasn’t particularly crispy, with its soft floppiness giving it a bit of a Neapolitan-meets-NYC vibe, but whatever it is, it’s tasty. The crust has a nice chewiness and a decent amount of flavour thanks to the sourdough. It didn’t blow my mind, but it’s really solid.

As for the toppings, I tend to prefer the simplicity of a plain cheese pizza, and that continues to be the case here, with a nice balance between the tasty sauce and gooey cheese. I liked the Annex as well, though the flavour of the roasted red peppers did kind of dominate everything else.

Windsor-Style Pizza at Ambassador Pizza Co.

Published on October 11, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 946 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.ambassadorpizzaco.ca/

Ambassador Pizza serves Windsor-style pizza — yes, Windsor has its own style of pizza (why is there no Toronto-style pizza? Someone get on that).

This style of pizza is known for having a flour and cornmeal crust, and, most famously, for being topped with shredded pepperoni.

If you’re buying a slice, you can get either cheese or pepperoni. Normally I’d go for a plain cheese pizza, but obviously I had to see what was up with the shredded pepperoni.

It’s interesting; you wind up with a much more subtle pepperoni flavour, so if you’re not a big fan of the stuff, this might be the pizza for you. Its distinctive saltiness is dialed down quite a bit, with the flavour spread much more evenly throughout the slice.

As for the pizza itself, it’s solid. The crust a nice exterior crispiness and a pleasant airiness, with just enough heft to hold up to the generous amount of tasty sauce and cheese. It’s not the most flavourful crust ever, but I think it was brushed with some kind of garlic oil that worked pretty well.

It’s about nine bucks for a slice, which is on the higher end — but it’s also comically large, so you could easily share. I don’t it’s anything anyone is going to lose their minds over, but it’s clearly above average.

Quick Bites: Giragi, Barbershop Patisserie, Queen’s Pasta Cafe

Published on August 8, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Lamb Wrap from Giragi

I previously tried the steak wrap from Giragi, and it was stellar. I just tried the vochkhar (lamb), and it was just as good. Clearly, the people in charge of this place know their stuff. As per the menu, this particular wrap comes stuffed with “jajekh, xaviar, pickled turnip, pevaz.” To translate, jajekh is a cucumber yogurt salad, xaviar is an eggplant spread, and pevaz is a mix of onion and parsley. It’s a really, really tasty wrap. It’s so much stuff, and it seems like it should be overstuffed (and technically, it probably is — it’s a mess), but all the flavours work so well together, and the perfectly spiced lamb patties are thoroughly delicious. It’s so good.

Brownie from Barbershop Patisserie

Speaking of things that are obscenely delicious, the brownie from Barbershop is ridiculously good. Like, one of the best brownies I’ve ever had. It’s got an amazingly rich, chocolatey flavour, and the perfectly fudgy-but-light texture has a great chewiness that I can barely even describe. It’s pretty special.

Meatball Sandwich from Queen’s Pasta Cafe

As the name implies, Queen’s Pasta Cafe is mostly about pasta, though they do have a lunch menu with a few sandwiches. I went with the meatball (“Meatballs with Arugula, Mozzarella Cheese and Tomato sauce”), and it was okay. The meatballs were actually quite good, with a nice meaty flavour, a tender texture that isn’t too soft, and a rich sauce. But the stale bun was a bit of a disaster. This is probably my fault, however, for ordering something that isn’t pasta at a restaurant with pasta in its name. Those meatballs would have been boffo on spaghetti, I’m sure.