Terroni Sud Forno Produzione e Spaccio (Spaccio East) — Restaurant in Toronto

This is my first negative Google review and our server unfortunately earned it. I’m pregnant, it was my husband’s first Father’s Day, we had a reservation. The reservation hotline had not been updated with the new policy allowing dogs on the patio, so that was annoying. It would be best if when calling a specific location, that the call would connect to that hostess, not an off site reservationist who doesn’t know anything and then bumps you back into an auto recording, rather than connecting directly with the host desk. Moving on, the host desk & management, when I could get a hold of them, were very pleasant and helpful. The server: young male with an attitude problem, definitely not cut out for a public facing position where conscientious behavior is in the job description. He had a generally abrasive tone and manner and acted as though he were annoyed to speak with us at all. I was laying on the smiles and charm, trying to get him to cheer up, but that did nothing. I asked him if the meatballs had dairy in them. He had to go check with the kitchen, but did not act helpful or friendly at all and abrasively pre-warned that if there was dairy in the meatballs, he would not be able to accommodate an alteration. This is a Terroni-wide policy which, although I find pretentious & annoying, I was already aware of, so no need for the tone and finger wag, sir. When he came back to confirm there was indeed cheese in the meatballs, I tried to get him to explain how much, so that I could decide on my own whether or not I was going to chew on some lactaid pills and try it anyway, or skip. His response was rude and abrasive, acting as though I was asking an impossible to answer question. Telling me in a very abrupt manner that “it’s all relative” and he doesn’t know how bad my allergy is. I wasn’t asking him to make a decision for me, I was asking for more details, such as what kind of cheese, whether it would be oozing with cheese or include a small amount for flavor. Questions a server should be happy to provide answers for, after all, why else would he be expecting to make a 20% service charge. That is service. I was a server for 8 years, I would know. It was 11 AM on a shaded, temperate patio and it was not yet busy, only about 3-4 other tables. Maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. But his temperament was so rude that we left the restaurant without ordering. I was in tears and that server ruined our first dining experience at this location, which we live in the neighborhood of and had been looking forward to trying on this special occasion. We will not be dining in at this location...

Was fortunate to come here for Christmas Eve brunch with our family. We've been here many times now, never for brunch, so it was great to smell the bakery in the air, and see production full tilt clearly during a very busy time for them at Christmas.

Opening the brunch menu, it was interesting to see just how much savoury was on there and very few sweet dishes. My wife as expected, went for the French toast with extra side of bacon and I went for the chittara carbonara. Both were delicious.

On the service side, it's harder to explain. The gentleman serving us was efficient, and just attentive enough while allowing us time to go through the menu without rush, especially as we waited for our final guest.

This could have been all 5 stars for me, but where it fell short was in a couple very small details. The first and most importantly, they have eggs side on the menu, which can be ordered in a variety of methods . My father in law, asked for a simple omelette nothing special in it, just whatever ingredients they wanted. But they refused as it's not a menu item. They can make your eggs scrambled, they can make your eggs poached, hardboiled, over easy, sunny side up, over hard, fried, the list can go on ... But damn... The kitchen just didnt have the ability that day to mix the egg in a bowl first... Pour it in a pan and half way through the cook, fold it over. "Oh.. well grate some black truffle over your eggs, we just wont fold them over.".... Was basically the theme of the conversation. The mood quickly changed as he was then just sold into the truffle scramble which were very creamy and wet (how I eat them) but the purpose was he wanted them harder as he doesnt like wet eggs.

The only reason the atmosphere was a 4 was just there was quite literally no one around us for the better part of the first hour of our meal. On one side, yay, place to ourselves. On the other side it was quiet. Add on to that it was christmas Eve and there was reggae music playing. I think someone got the point when I started singing more loudly alongside the music to Beenie Mans "simma simma", it was then it was changed to Christmas morning vibe music.

Some stuff to work on,...

I’ve previously been to other Terroni locations and this is definitely a very different experience! We were seated on the patio on a warm, sunny Sunday and the atmosphere was amazing! We were served promptly and our server, Victoria, gave us wonderful menu suggestions which we really enjoyed!

We ordered the oysters and caprese con burrata to start — Both were very appetising. The oysters tasted very fresh with a hint of seawater, it was so delicious on its own we found it better without the horseradish and sauce. The burrata was worth the splurge, the creaminess paired very well with the tomatoes. I wish it was served with more bread as the two slices did not suffice given the generous portion.

For mains, we got the spaghetti al limone and tonnarelli alla norcina. The spaghetti al limone was perfect for a summer night — don’t be fooled by simple-looking description, this pasta was a perfect balance between creaminess and citrusy notes. The parmesan also added a touch of richness that truly tied the dish together. The tonnarelli was delicious as expected, though I did find it a little too oily towards the end. The homemade sausage was very flavourful and paired well with the overall flavour profile, though I wish the truffle flavour was more prominent and less overpowered by the other components. Overall, both dishes were amazing and the Terroni pasta quality remains to be one of the best I’ve ever had.

We don’t usually order dessert, but the al volo jars were very enticing! We ended up getting the raspberry panna cotta and tiramisu, which were both delectable. The panna cotta had a beautiful vanilla flavour which paired very well with the bright berry notes! The tiramisu was very rich and creamy as a tiramisu should be. Not overly sweet, so that you can enjoy every layer of the flavour profile.

This was a wonderful meal as a whole, with a beautiful atmosphere. Will be...