Late Saturday night, my friend and I found ourselves on the east side of Dundas St. looking for a place to go. I almost didn’t notice the Amici beside Zen Gardens, but when I saw it, I realized it was the Italian place another friend had been raving about. So we decided to give it a shot, and boy am I glad we did.
Before I get into the details, let me just say that the moment I walked in, I felt like I was transported to Italy. The atmosphere of the restaurant could not have been more perfect. There were fake grape vines hanging from the ceiling, the walls were a rich cream colour, and there was a large party happily celebrating someone’s engagement. I could not have asked for a better scene. The restaurant was small so it was hard not to notice the noise of the engagement party next to us, but I didn’t mind at all. Just seeing their laughing faces as they bent towards each other to share some funny anecdote was enough to lift my spirits. The waiter was attentive and friendly to the perfect degree (i.e. not annoying), gave us plenty of time to make our choices, and never interrupted us in the middle of a conversation.
And the food! Oh! It was superb. We started off with the insalata di casa (house salad), which was a unique mix of fresh greens with red onions, mangoes, gorgonzola, pine nuts, and sweet Marsala vinaigrette. The Marsala vinaigrette was amazing. The best vinaigrette I’ve ever had by far. And the pine nuts were a great touch to add that subtle crunch.
Then came the entrees. Oh, my, God. My veal marsala was topped with the most amazing, juicy sauteed mushrooms. There were two pieces of veal, one of which was a little on the thick side, but overall, cooked to perfection.
My friend had a salmon entree:
For dessert, we picked tiramisu. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. A little bit too sloppy and more cream than coffee flavour.
We were the last ones in the restaurant, and the waiter was very patient even though we were there past closing time. Conclusion: I will definitely be going back for more!
Rating: 
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