Coppi — Restaurant in Toronto

Truly one of the worst dining experiences we have ever encountered. Our family of six, my husband, myself, my parents and two children dined at this restaurant this past Saturday night. The owner was our waiter and server. Extraordinarily obnoxious and hyper from the beginning to the end. He made an issue about each person’s order. When I asked to change the pear salad ’leaf’ to any other lettuce aside from radicchio, I was answered with “we don’t like to change items because it upsets the ”integrity of the kitchen”and the ”flow of the restaurant for everyone dining”. Four adults found their food mediocre at best. However the difficult owner/waiter entirely ruined the vibe and feeling of the evening with his pompous arrogant attitude and demanding nature. The worst part of the dinner occurred while ordering for my two children. The owner/server absolutely refused to add shrimp to the children’s requests for “pasta with butter” and insisted upon charging them each separate pastas and separate grilled shrimp entrée. Let me be clear. Two small plates of spaghetti and butter were $21 each and six shrimp were an additional $32. He of course never stated what the price would be-only that he would be separating the shrimp from the pasta and insisted upon this- again, the integrity of the kitchen. When I did question him about the price he said about 25 each. Let me be clear, two children age 10 and 11 ate pasta and butter with a side of 3 shrimp each for a total price of $74 plus tax plus tip. The owner/server argued incessantly when we politely asked him to re-look at the price of the children’s meals, reminding him that he refused to add the shrimp to their pastas and did not inform us of the charges that would be separate and exorbitant. Although he agreed that he did not properly inform us of the prices, he refused to adjust the bill. He let us know we don’t have to dine here again and we let him know we would be placing a review. I also let him know that he was not demonstrating the ”integrity“ that he kept talking about in regards to his kitchen. We had dined there many times before and will never enter the doors of that restaurant again. I am writing this review for...

Their signature dish, the pesce al sale ($43), takes a whole fish and bakes it encrusted in salt. Wheeled out still in the salty tomb, the fish is quickly filleted and dressed in a light lemon butter sauce.

While the dish looks huge, after fileting the meat what’s leftover is smaller than you’d expect, but nonetheless sufficient as a main for one. The sea bass was remarkably moist and tender with such a clean taste that even someone who doesn’t like fish could be converted.

The risotto frutti di mare ($44) serves two, but with a few appetizers this could be stretched for three people (pictured below is a single portion). Dotted throughout the risotto were bits of clams, shrimp, squid, octopus and bay scallops all evenly disbursed so each bite had a couple of seafood items and helped to thoroughly scent the rice. Tuck in as soon as it arrives as it’s a lovely consistency but a tad more cooked than normal; should be it left longer, it may become too soft.

Coppi offers a variety of appetizers but truthfully the choices are rather safe and nothing seemed overly exciting. Their Caesar salad ($15) is heavy on the anchovy and light on garlic, making the flavours subtler and ideal for those who want a lighter tasting version of the salad. The burrate caprese ($19) is simple combination of quality ingredients: a decent portion of burrata mozzarella, grape tomatoes, and rich and bright olive oil that went especially well with the warm heavily salted baguette.

Personally, I rather have an appetizer portion of pasta instead. The pappardelle in the mare d monte ($18) arrives as silky slightly chewy ribbons and the sauce a light combination of shrimp, mushrooms, and tomato. It’s a great blend of sweet seafood, earthy fungi, and just a hint of something fresh.

The spaghetti used in the chitarra tirreno ($26 for a main portion) is interestingly square-shaped and could be a tad more al dante. Regardless, the san Marzano tomato sauce mixed with all the seafood tastes wonderful and is that lighted umami-laced tomato sauce I love with...

SERVICE 5/5 FRIENDLY & VERY ACCOMMODATING STAFF. PROFESSIONAL AND POLITE. EVERYONE IS SO JOYFUL HERE AND REALLY MADE THE EXPERIENCE HERE MEMORABLE.

OVER ALL FOOD 5/5 WARM ASSORTED OLIVES: REALLY GOOD! NOT TOO OVERLY SALTY. THEIR BREAD IS TOASTED AND BRUSHED WITH OLIVE OIL. ITS WARM, CRISPY, AND HAS THAT GREAT CHEW, WITH A HINT OF ROSEMARY.

RADICCHIO & PERA SALAD: REFRESHING, LIGHT SWEET VINAIGRETTE W/SOME ASIAGO CHEESE SHAVINGS, GRILLED PEAR, PECANS AND GREENS.

*GNOCCHI FRITTI: OH MY GOODNESS! CRISPY BUT FLUFFY GNOCCHIS WITH SHAVED PARM AND A SLIGHT KICK OF CHILI! THESE FRIED POTATOE DUMPLINGS ARE A MUST TRY HERE! MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE GNOCCHI DISH EVER!

PAPPARDELLE MARE E MONTE: LIGHTLY SAUCED, WITH SHRIMPS, CHERRY TOMATOES AND MUSHROOMS! GREAT FLAVOURS ALL AROUND.

**RISOTTO CON PORCINI: IF YOU LOVE CHEESE & MUSHROOMS, THEN YOU'VE GOT TO TRY THIS DISH! YOUR CLASSIC ITALIAN RISOTTO IN A CREAM SAUCE WITH LOTS OF MUSHROOMS, THEN FINISHED OFF IN BIG PARMIGIANO REGGIANO WHEEL! THEY MIX IT ALL IN FRONT OF YOU AND PLATE IT!

SIDE OF ROASTED MARKET VEGGIES, AND POLENTA PARM: CREAMY POLENTA WITH PARMIGIANO CHEESE. I WASNT TOO FOND OF THE OVER ALL PRESENTATION BUT THINK OF IT AS GRITTY MASHED POATOES. FALVOURS WERE STILL GOOD THOUGH. THE VEGETABLES WERE NICE DONE. AN ASSORTMENT OF YAMS, BRUSSELSPROUTS AND CARROTS.

WE WERE TOO FULL FOR DESSERTS BUT THE MENU DID LOOK ENTICING!

DEFINITELY WOULD COME BACK HERE AND I DO RECOMMEND THIS LOVELY SPOT...