Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on May 19, 2007 at 5:05 pm

A couple of summers ago, the CBC ran a great series called Jimmy MacDonald's Canada that featured news and human interest stories from their 1960s archives presented by fictional 1960s host and commentator Jimmy MacDonald as portrayed by actor Richard Waugh. One segment featured a cooking demonstration of Italian (pronounced "EYE-talian") food, including such exciting dishes as spaghetti and "pizza pie". From our worldly 21st century perspective, it's hard to believe that such everyday staples as pasta and pizza were once considered exotic, but such was life in Canada pre-Expo 67.

It was in this WASPy world that the Pugliese brothers, Ettore and Dominico, opened what they say was Toronto's first pizzeria, Vesuvio. It's a place that still serves up Italian classics in its original Junction location 50 years after opening, and the Toronto Star's Amy Pataki visits this week to see if the first is still the best. Sadly, it's not:

Like the politician's ideal wife, Vesuvio's crust supports the toppings gracefully. Sometimes, it's quite a load. Take the fratelli ($15), named for brothers and current owners Ettore and Corrado Pugliese. Dressed tomatoes, anchovies, green onions and green olives are good things separately, and even more so together. But not a kilogram's worth, plus abundant mozzarella. The vulcano version ($13.50) – hot peppers, hot cappicollo, hot italian sausage – brings the heat, but some of the toppings could have stayed in the kitchen.

In a sidebar piece, she recommends two pizza places that she does like: the comfortable and homey Olympic 76, and the more gourmet-minded Terroni.

Also in the Star:

• Sarah Sampson is also on an Italian kick, as she recommends Biba's Italy, a recent cookbook from chef Biba Caggiano.
• Marion Kane chats with Las Chicas Del Café (The Coffee Chicks), a pair of sisters originally from Nicaragua who import and roast organic coffee for an assortment of locations in and around London, Ontario.
• In the Travel section, Heather Greenwood Davis attends a chocolate truffle tasting in NYC.

Over in the Globe & Mail, Joanne Kates can't resist using the obvious "bad boy" descriptor for chef Greg Couillard in her review of his new Spice Room & Chutney Bar. She also uses "bad" and several similarly negative words to describe the service:

Servers aren't sure who ordered what. On our second visit, we arrive at 8:35 for dinner and they bring amuse-bouche at 9:20. The fat gilded scallop sitting in chili-spiked hot pink guava jus is delicious, but 45 minutes in, we are not amused.

At 9:45, the waiter appears, begs forgiveness, and asks what we ordered for dinner. We remind him. Twice. At 10:05, he brings two appetizers, one of them incorrect. At 10:30, our mains arrive. Grand on the taste buds, terrible on the temper.

(For the record - we found the service to be almost as lacking in lunchtime off-shoot Manyata.)

Also in the Globe:

• Lucy Waverman mixes up sauces and rubs for barbeque season, while Beppi Crosariol uncorks some ideal wines to pair with the grilled goodies.
• Leah Rumack hits Le Bar a Soupe, the latest hip eatery on the hot-and-getting-hotter Ossington strip.
• Sasha Chapman heads over to Little India to capture the rare and elusive Alphonso Mango.

And in the National Post, Gina Mallet dines at Tabla Wine Bar, an upscale and uptown Indian restaurant that she finds alright, but ultimately not worth the price tag:

The most satisfying dish is a marvellously smoky eggplant bharta, roasted and minced eggplant with green peas. Now I wish I had picked palak paneer, which has little chunks of cheese swimming in spinach. Palak paneer costs $9.95 here. That's more than the whole buffet, including palak paneer and eggplant bharta, costs at my fave lunch place, Mount Everest, on Bloor west of Spadina. And the quality is the same. Hmmm. Maybe it's the price point as much as the cooking that's got up my nose.

Also in the Post:

• Michael Vaughan recommends wines from Alsace and elsewhere to pair with lobster.
• Jason Chow visits Marvin's Produce at the St. Lawrence Farmers Market to get some fresh and tasty fiddleheads.
• Adam McDowell spends some time with the locals at Lola in Kensington Market.
• Bonnie Stern grinds up some DIY spice mixtures.
• Peter Kuitenbrouwer checks out some of Toronto's few remaining original diners, and declares UFO Coffee Shop to be the best of the bunch.
• Ben Kaplan talks to Kevin Sintumuang, the writer of an article on Toronto in June's GQ, who says that Toronto's food scene is pretty good despite being "a year or two behind what we're doing in Manhattan". Uh... thanks, I guess?