Porcetta and Co

If you are only going to sell one item on your menu, then you better make sure that it is excellent. The porchetta sandwich at Porchetta & Co. certainly is.  This pronouncement comes from someone who usually doesn't like pork sandwiches or sandwiches that come on a bun in general, since I find them too dry.

Porchetta by definition is savory, fatty boneless pork, salted and seasoned, arranged with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted.

This porchetta sandwich comes on an extremely fresh Portuguese bun that is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.  The pieces of pork are moist and flavourful and are mixed in with chunks of salty crunchy pork rind or crackling to give it extra taste and texture.  Add optional toppings of truffle sauce and sauteed mushrooms and you've got a heavenly treat.

Other possible toppings include several types of mustard, tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmesan or rapini.  They do have soup and potato as sides but if I had the room, I'd rather have more porchetta!

Given that there is only one main menu item, you can go up to the counter and say "one with ..." without specifying one what.  Rich was quite amused to try out this theory.

The definition of the Michelin 3 star rating is 1) Stop if passing by  2) Make a detour if in the area  3) Drive out specifically to seek this out.  Given that Porchetta & Co is nowhere near where we usually frequent, and given that we definitely need to come back for more, I guess it qualifies as a 3 star establishment in our books.

Porchetta & Co.
825 Dundas St. West
647- 352-6611

Caplanskys Delicatessen

Caplansky's Deli serves up smoked meat sandwiches reminiscent of Schwartz's in Montreal.  For $12, the sandwich combo consists of mounds of shaved meat, nice fresh bread, coleslaw, a pickle,  and choice of side salad or fries.  Condiments included dijon mustard, which was a nice touch.

The side salad is a good helping of mixed greens, tomato and sprouts that is plenty to share between two people, and the fries are just as I like them - thin and crispy.  Then I saw on the menu my two favourite food words - Mushroom and Gravy!!  Now I am in heaven with savoury gravy containing chunks of mushrooms to dip my fries into.

The already reasonable meal was made even more affordable by a Groupon for $20 worth of food at the cost of $10.   And then final touch that made this an amazing dining experience for me was the bathroom signs.  I have a collection of over 100 sets of photos from around the world of quirky bathroom signs depicting men vs women's bathrooms.. This one featuring owner Zane Caplansky is now up there as one of my favourites since they made me laugh out loud when I saw them.

Caplanskys Delicatessen
356 College St West
416-500-3852