MARTORANO'S 

3655 Las Vegas Boulevard South, (702) 946-4656, Dinner Sunday - Thursday 5pm - 10:30, Friday - Sat 5pm - 11:00pm

Went to Martorano's after exploring it on the web.  It is now located in Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.  

It is a rather large place with a variety of seating places.  We decided to sit outside in the plaza of the Paris Casino.  It has a rather extensive menu.

They provide you with an electronic notebook that includes all wine selections.

We selected the house chianti.

Upon ordering a chef created amuse bouche arrived.  It was delicious.

We ordered the caesar salad and it was huge, but far too garlicky and far too large.

A basket of bread arrived with a variety of toppings.

My wife ordered the chicken parmigiana.  It was covered with too much cheese and no accompanying vegetables or pasta!

I ordered the veal piccata.  It was far too salty and lemony and the veal could have been more tender.  Again no accompaniments!

We were not impressed with the food but the house chianti was delicious!  

 

https://www.caesars.com/rio-las-vegas/restaurants/martoranos#.Ve5FKiiJUTM

MON AMI GABI 

Paris Las Vegas, 3655 Las Vegas Boulevard, (702) 944-4224 Mon - Thurs and Sun 7:00 -11:00, Sat 7:00 - 12:00 

Went to Mon Ami Gabi a couple of times during our stay in Vegas - not just for the ambiance (pure Paris) but also their excellent breakfast.

It is a beautiful space inside - but even more alluring on the great patio on the strip.

We began with a nice cold Mimosa.

 We both ordered the same breakfast, bacon and scrambled eggs.

The bacon pieces were large and on the thick side with a sweetness like brown sugar, they were delicious.  The three scrambled eggs were buttery and had a hint of thyme and were heavenly.  The bread was crisp and light yet thick.  The hashed potatoes were crispy and were a great complement.
Definitely worth a visit if you come to Vegas!



http://www.monamigabi.com/home/?loc=vegas

NERVOSA TRATTORIA 

75 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto On., M5R 3V6, (416) 961-4642, Open for Lunch and Dinner

We went to Nervosa for an early dinner before exploring Nuit Blanche on Saturday evening in Toronto.  We were brought upstairs to the balcony where we could overlook the street.

Upon arriving at our seat, which had a great view of the heart of Yorkville, a basket of fresh bread arrived at our table.

After reviewing the menu, I decided to order the in-house marinated olives with roasted garlic, herbs and chilies. It was a good start.

I followed this with their caesar salad.  It was simple, but I did not like the fact that I had to break up the lettuce as I ate, even though I realized it was to hold the pancetta and fried capers in place.

My son Mark (http://www.markallenrealty.ca/) ordered the pan seared scallops, farro grain panzanella, zucchini, butternut squash, fresh corn.  He really enjoyed it.

We shared a litre of their house red and it was quite good.

For our main we decided to split a prosciutto, arugula, and shaved parmigiano pizza.  It was delicious.  The prosciutto was sliced very thin (easy to chew) and the arugula and cheese were fabulous.  The sauce was mild and the crust was perfectly baked.

This Trattoria is located in the very heart of Yorkville, at the corner of Yorkville Avenue and Bellair.  It has a great people watching patio and is always busy.

We will definitely return for it's atmosphere, location and food.

  Well, my son Mark and I did return with my wife the following Saturday to try some other dishes on their menu.  After having the same appetizers as our last visit, we tried some different mains.  Mark had the chicken marinated in rosemary and thyme with garlic potatoes, chilies and green beans in a red wine reduction ($22.00).  He really enjoyed it.

My wife chose the fettucini con funghi with portobello, oyster mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, cremini mushrooms parmigiana, truffle paste, in a light cream sauce.  It was delicious and a good sized portion ($16.50)

I tried fettuccine alla bolognese with a beef and veal ragout and shaved parmigiana.  It was hearty and worth the price ($17.00).  

The service was efficient considering it was very busy this Saturday.  The atmosphere was as relaxing as our last visit and the food was delicious.  Well worth a visit if you are in Yorkville.
http://www.eatnervosa.com/

DESTINGO 

741 Queen Street West (just west of Bathurst Street), Toronto, On., (647) 748-3113 Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, No reservations.

There is a new restaurant in the Queen West area between Bathurst and Ossington that has a wonderful large patio right on the street.  It is called Destingo and is a great place to sit, sip wine (they have a nice selection of reds and whites), eat and people watch.  It has taken over a space that was once a furniture store. 

We arrived on Saturday at about 6:30 and took our time, sipping wine and talking before ordering dinner.  They don't hover over you and allow you to take your time here.

We began by ordering a couple of bottles of California Cabernet Savignon and took our time.  We ordered a plate of brushcetta, they were delicious but small - only three pieces.

We were getting hungry after a while and decided to order some mains.  After we placed our order a platter arrived with an unusual cranberry bread with butter, it was delicious.

My wife, Tom and I ordered the Caesar salad to start.  It was a typical caesar that could have been a bit larger, but it was tasty.

Mark my son (http://www.markallenrealty.ca/) ordered the beef carpaccio which was a nice presentation and quite large.

For mains my wife and Tom ordered the veal.  It was delicious, but could have been a larger serving.

I had the chicken piccata and it too was delicious, but also could have been a larger serving since the chicken was very thin.

Mark opted for the gnocchi and they were very tender and perfectly tasty even though the presentation was rather bland.

Although this restaurant is quite new, the owner and the chef are quite experienced and it shows.  The food is quite good, the new waitress was very pleasant and the overall feeling was very relaxing - especially on the wonderful patio.  Some of the patio seating does not appear comfortable but we did not mind.  Overall a good experience (even though some portions were quite small) and we will probably come again.

http://destingo.ca/

SARCOA 

57 Discovery Drive, Hamilton On.  (905) 528-5757, Lunch, Dinner, Late, Tuesday to Sunday, Dinner only Monday

After giving this restaurant time to settle and get over the hype of it's entry to the Hamilton restaurant scene, we decided to go for dinner on a beautiful Sunday evening in early August.  This restaurant has a wonderful large and complex patio, consisting of various table arrangements, and seating configurations including couches and pods.  It is worth the visit to sit on this patio, even at the large bar that anchors it.

Since we did not have reservations, we had to wait for a while in the bar area until a table became ready, so we had some wine and watched the boats go by in the bay.  It was a beautiful evening to be on the patio.  My son Mark (http://www.markallen.ca/) had a rum and coke, a perfect bar drink for a sunny evening.

The bar tender serving us was friendly, efficient and made us feel comfortable as did all the staff at this restaurant!!  When our table became ready, we took a look at the menu.

We ordered a nice Chianti to share.

My wife and I decided to start with the Caesar salad.  It was absolutely delicious with a wonderful balance of real smoked bacon, lemon, croutons and Parmesian.  

Mark, my son decided to start with quinoa fritters with romesco and quacamole.  They were scrumptious, with a lot of flavour.

For our mains my wife and I decided to have the pasta special.  It was the house made fettucini with roast chicken and parmesian, tomatoes and sprouts in a light sauce.  It was outstanding and we both enjoyed every morsel.  We would order this again if it was on the menu.

Mark ordered one of his favourite combinations, not often seen as a main, seared scallops and pork belly, with sweet pea puree and rhubarb-daikon slaw.  It was very good.

My wife and Mark decided to try a desert.  My wife had the cheesecake. It was heavenly - though a little small.

Mark had the vanilla gelato.  It was sweet and tasty.

It was a wonderful meal on a beautiful evening.  

If the weather or the season changes there is a beautiful interior to this restaurant as well.

The food, the service and the location make this restaurant worth a visit.  We will definitely return.

Well, we returned exactly a year (August 2 2014, approximately 7 pm ) later.  The attitude had changed.  There was a snotty girl receptionist who told us there was no way we would be able to get in without a reservation (which we tried to make about 3 o'clock the same day).  This was such a different attitude from just a year ago, when we were allowed to drink at the bar until a table became ready!!  We saw many empty tables both inside and out!!  So, we went to Spencer's in Burlington (a far superior restaurant by most standards) and were welcomed with open arms - they too were very busy but made an effort not to turn us away.  We had a wonderful table on the patio overlooking the lake and spent a lot of money there!!  Sarcoa needs to get back to the attitude they previously had, sooner or later it will lose patrons!!!!  I have seen tweets and stories of patrons who will not return because of the attitude here!!

http://www.sarcoa.ca/