That's Amore

Saturday evening, I popped over to Queen Margherita Pizza, the cross-town Neapolitan pizza rival to Pizzeria Libretto, located near Greenwood and Queen East in Leslieville. The restaurant had two level: the bar and some dining tables were on the ground floor, and up a short flight of stairs was the 2nd floor where the large domed pizza oven and the bulk of the tables were found.

I snagged the last unreserved seats at the front window bench with a view of the streetcar yard across the street. This proved fortunate as a steady stream of patrons made their way in throughout the evening, only to find that there were no seatings until 9:30 pm or later. Some settled for take-out and the rest left empty-handed. An Italian wedding reception had monopolized the tables up on the 2nd floor and the regulars took the remaining spots on the ground floor. The evening would see a group of old Italian men trooping out for their smoke break every 20 minute or so, gesticulating madly on the sidewalk. Some people do talk with their hands.

My buddy and I both ordered the $25 prix fixe comprising of an appetizer, a pizza, and a dessert. The polenta came as small cubes that had a nice starchiness, but the sauce had a bitterness that was a bit off-putting. The large manicotti was more my style with a toothsome pasta and creamy ricotta cheese. The Diavola pizza was excellent with hot soppresatta, spicy chopped chili, and oily whole black olives. The crust was thin and chewy, and I noticed it did not have the large charred spots sometimes found along the edge of Libretto's pizza. The Matteo pizza was average, the many toppings of mushrooms and other vegetables tasted slightly raw and masked the tastiness of the fresh dough. This confirmed my suspicion that you should avoid having too many toppings on these thin-crust Neapolitan pizzas. Both the cherry gelato and the chocolate hazelnut mousse were an indulgent way to finish off the meal.

So who wears the Neapolitan crown in Toronto? It's a close one. I think Pizzeria Libretto has the slightly better dough, but Queen Margherita is more careful with the cooking.