#veganitalian #ilfornello #veganpizza #carciofi
I finally used another coupon in my “Toronto’s First Ever Plant-Based
Deals Book” and visited Il Fornello. It’s an Italian restaurant located at Pape + Danforth in Toronto’s Greek Town neighbourhood. This restaurant has a dedicated plant-based menu, unlike many Italian restaurants in Toronto.
The restaurant had a little patio out front. I wasn’t expecting this. The weather was good that night so we took advantage of it and dined outdoors.
For my entrée, I ordered Plant-Based Pizza Carciofi (“carciofi” is Italian for “artichokes”). I don’t know what brand of plant-based mozzarella cheese was used, but it melted beautifully and was very soft and gooey - the way melted mozzarella cheese should be! I liked that the sliced cheese was sporadically placed on the pizza. Shredded cheese (the norm) was not used. Other pizza toppings were tomato sauce, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, black olives and basil. These flavours blended so well together. It was difficult to imagine this was a vegan pizza; it would appeal to the masses.
The crust was very thin (definitely not a complaint) and the pizza was perfectly lightly burnt. Visually, it was beautiful and colourful!
Kudos to Il Fornello for putting in the effort to create a delicious plant-based menu. Many Italian restaurants that I’ve visited make absolutely no effort to attract vegans. The best they offer is pasta and tomato sauce, with no cheese. Or a garden salad. Big deal.
And thank you to This Is Plant Curious (https://instagram.com/thisisplantcurious?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) for publishing the deal book and introducing me to Il Fornello and other plant-based restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area. I will definitely return to this restaurant.
