Authentic Tuscan cuisine takes up happy residence in this somewhat tucked-away authentic downtown restaurant, where most everything's scratch made and the servers can spin rich food stories about every menu item's provenance. Tutti Matti is unique for being one of the few Canadian restaurants overseen by a female owner and head chef. The results are unpretentious Italian-themed delights, from pappardelle con stracotto to wild boar stew and a solid antipasti offering. All the yummy pasta is made on the spot — and noticeably so. Online reviewers urge diners close the Tutti Matti experience with a lemon tart.more...See more text
Chef Alida Solomon never shies away from a challenge. Opening up her first restaurant, Tutti Matti, during the SARS epidemic was an endeavour that would test any entrepreneur’s mettle. “That was rough. The city was told you shouldn’t eat out because of SARS,” says Alida. “My determination got me through...To work an 18-hour day to run your own business, you have to love what you do.”
Tutti Matti’s origins started in Tuscany, where Alida worked at a Michelin rated restaurant for seven years. She had the opportunity to be an owner there, but chose to come back to Canada and do something that wasn’t being done in Toronto. “No one in Toronto was doing authentic Italian food without influences from North America,” says Alida. “Like Wild boar, venison, charcuterie board, you know, no one was really doing that in Toronto in 2002.”
We came here in a rush with tickets to a show. The servers were understanding and did everything in their power to accommodate. They were wonderful!
The entrees were delicious - nice solid, fresh ingredients and very nice flavour profiles. The stewed lamb with the tagliatelle was perfectly cooked. The tortellone with the ricotta, pecorino and the radicchio was just perfect...satisfying and memorable.
As for the dessert, we both agree with another review on this board that this quite possibly could be the best tiramisu in the city.
Overall, great service, great entrees, and an epic dessert. Most of all, the wait staff were helpful in helping us meet our showtime. Great place that we would visit again in a heartbeat!
Food was so so. Homemade pasta is good. But they just have to cook their tomato souce longer. I found the source was bit too sour. There were only 4 parties at lunch but the service was very slow.
If you work around the area and you only have 1 hour lunch break, you will not make it back to your office on time. You will need 2 hours to have lunch here.
BEST TIRAMISU IN THE CITY!!!
This Restaurant is...
BEST TIRAMISU IN THE CITY!!!
This Restaurant is one of the best "Authentic" Italian restaurants in Toronto. There's no other place like it.
I travel to Italy quite often and the food of Chef Alida Solomon is the closest tasting to Italy's that I've ever had in this country. Many people just simply do not understand the food, because it is definitely NOT your typical "Canadian/Americanized/Italian" food like Spaghetti with meat balls, penne alla vodka, pasta with sundried tomatoes and chicken etc... thats not true Italian food. You will NEVER see chicken on a menu in Italy unless its a restaurant for tourists. The food of Tuscany is Peasant food, using seasonal ingredients, lots of hearty game meats like boar, rabbit, pheasant, and venison... Do some research on traditional Tuscan cuisine if you're going to eat here and then you'll understand.
If you want to experience a true Tuscan Dining experience with some fantastic local wine from Montalcino and the surrounding area, Do NOT go for summer/winterlicious, because for 25/35 dollars you definitely will not get it. If you don't want to spend the money then thats a differnt story.
Its very sad reading some people's 'reviews' because everyone thinks they're a food critic coincidently its obvious that by what they're writing, they have very little knowledge of food.
Keep it up Tutti Matti.
We were there on Friday september 5 for my birhday.The waiter(authentic Italian)was gentle and very attentive and the food was fantastic.I had the faggottini for starter and an excellent fish on the bone.We also had beef carpaccio and antipasto Tuscany that were amazing.We finished with a selection of gelato and perfet tiramisu that was offered to me by the same charming waiter. Definitely a nice anniversary place.
The food here is always amazing - freshest, highest quality ingredients make every dish absolutely delicious. Alida has such a refined touch that she makes bruschetta taste like a whole new experience. The antipasto platters were unparalleled. They change seasonally, like any top notch restaurant. Spectacular assortment of meats, cheeses, faggotini, toasts with asparagus and buffalo mozzarella, walnuts and brie w/honey... phenomenal.
The biggest change, aside from the tasteful new decor, is the waitstaff. The former crusty server that told customers how to act and eat is gone, thankfully. A new group of polite, friendly, knowledgeable servers now cater to customers preferences.
The wine selection is incredible!
I would eat here multiple times a week if I live closer! One of the best restaurants in Toronto - certainly one of the top 3 Italian restaurants (and my favourite for sure).
Our family had dinner at Tutti Matti, and had a...
Our family had dinner at Tutti Matti, and had a TERRIBLE experience. Our server was rude and the food was cold and not worth the prices they were charging. I had the lpinci alla boscaiola , was but too much chuncky. My wife had the rabbit and honestly the comparation with his rabbit does not exsist....I am glad to have you Louise as wife. , Chef Alida came to our table to perform awful magic tricks which was embarrasing. Maybe she should be in the kitchen working on his technique...Service; awful, slow, rude, .Raccomandation; stay at home
Tomato soup was delicious though a bit too luke...
Tomato soup was delicious though a bit too luke warm to my liking, bread and olive oil refilled, attentive service by Seneca, thin tasty pork chops with balsamic reduction and mesclin leaves was juicy on outside and a tad dry on the inside and two small naked vanilla ice cream balls that had started to melt missed an opportunity to sprinkle some magic dust. Great price point for lunch or dinner. Owner chef Alida not in today. Would try again to see if this was an average day, its good food but there is a lot competition in the area. Today was asty but not wow.
The consensus is - the food was absolutely amazing! Everything everyone ordered was fabulous. The service left little to be desired though. Our main server was like a dictator and responded to our standard requests with negative answers. He seemed to be rushing us, and proceeded to tell us how we should be doing things so as not to inconvenience the kitchen staff. Other servers we interacted with over the course of 4+ hours were wonderful and much more pleasant and accomodating, so perhaps we were just unfortunate to have someone with OCD and control issues as our main server.
Avoid this place. Try Alice Fazooli's down the street. Soup OK. Ragu was over grossly salted. Waiter ignored me. Had to come back and asked what I ordered. Asked for ice water and got water - everyone else had ice water and lemon. Offered cheese on my pasta. I said a bit - he turned around and walked away -had to yell at him to come back. Ran out of water and bread - no offer for more. He basically dropped the bowl of pasta in front of me and ran away. No thank you when presenting the bill.
Tutti Matti brings you food from the Tuscany region of Italy. A simple, yet robust menu, is filled with freshly made pasta like the popular tagliatelle and changes seasonally. The restaurant is winner of the prestigious 2009 L’Eccio D’Oro.
