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The area on Ossington between Dundas and Queen is completely gentrified. As a result, more and more trendy businesses are colonizing Dundas between Ossington and Dufferin. One such venture by the owners of Pizzeria Libretto is Enoteca Sociale, an Italian restaurant specializing in home-made food as prepared by nonna, a typical Italian grandmother. In addition to fresh food, it boasts a large selection of Italian wines and also a big collection of cheeses, all maturing in its own cheese cave.

Arriving at about 7:30, it is a busy place: long and narrow with a bar. Most of the tables are communal style. As such, my dinner companion and I shared a table with 4 other people. This was off-putting for me simply because the seating spaces were so narrow. It would be reasonable for 4 but not 6. Even with a group of friends it would have been an uncomfortably tight squeeze. I guess they're not going for the large table in the garden of a Tuscany house ambience. If it was meant to put more butts into seats and thus more profit, I don't appreciate that as a customer.

We ordered the $35 3-course Nonna special as the $45 5-course was not available on Sunday. First came a wooden platter with olives, bufala di mozzarella, bomba calabrese, and duck pâté with caramelized onions on crostini. The olives were good quality and so was the cheese. However, my dinner companion pointed out that really high quality bufala would have a fresher dairy flavour. I enjoyed my first taste of the spicy bomba since I like all things hot. The duck and onions were excellent though the crostini was a little too crunchy for my taste. The second course was braised lamb with smashed potatoes with a side of rapini drizzled with oil and garlic. The lamb was soft and delicious though my friend wanted pasta instead of potatoes. We both agreed that the rapini was water-logged and needed salt. It looked like it was simply boiled and drained. Finally, the dessert arrived in the form of semolina cake topped with syrup and poached plums. I liked the plums but thought the dessert was too sweet. My buddy thought the cake was a little dry, possibly stale.

Overall, the dishes came in at about 70% success. This is not a winning percentage for $35 but we were reasonably satisfied. However, thinking back, I realized that the dishes came out communally. In other words, the portions were doubled up. The portions would be perfect for 1 person and are on the small side for 2. So in fact it was a $70 3-course dinner. In that light, this was not good food for the money. Maybe that's why the other diners at our table ordered only pasta dishes a la carte, a steal at $13-15.

I would try the pasta dishes next time to see if Enoteca is worth repeat visits. If not, it would be better for me to find an Italian girl. They come with real nonnas who'll feed you until your belt burst.