Buca BAR, Toronto

Buca Bar, the latest endeavour from King Street Foods (Buca, Jacob's Steak House, The Saint Tavern virtually all under the chef management of one of canada's most talented chefs, Rob Gentile, a master of rustic cuisine and a great hand at bringing together diverse, truly interesting but harmonious flavours) is a terrific experience. The high ceiling room is intimate and noisy, but despite the noise, one can have a conversation and hear what friends are saying. The Italian influenced cuisine is wonderfully rustic and is quite different than the experience at Buca.

Nero di sepia: cuttlefish and it's ink, king mushrooms, gremolata and scallion verde.

Panino bagnato: lampredotto (cow's stomach...like tripe), with salse verde and peperoncini, tasty, like my Florentine experiences. 

Amazzafegato: tuscan offal sausage, farro, cavalo nero (kale), porcini, all topped with a hen's egg.

Frico: montasio cheese, buffalo yogurt, scallion verde on a crunchy, potato latke like pancake.

Gran fritto misto: lightly battered smelts with fennel salt (middle bottom); fried baby artichokes with bergamot zabaglione (top right); crusty skinned arancino with a creamy filling of saffron, prociutto cotto, sweet pea and pistachio (bottom left); gamberetti, rock shrimp flavoured with n'duja and rosemary ash and lightly battered (top left); coniglio, dusted and fried rabbit legs with colonnata spices.....if you like rabbit, you will LOVE this rabbit (bottom right)!

The extraordinary porchetta sandwich: roast tuscan pork, mascarpone, apple mostarda and agliata(garlic sauce) on a fabulous crispy/crunchy toasted, herb flavoured bun. THIS IS PORCHETTA PERFECTION!!

Stigghiole: lamb caul and scallion wrapped with intestine and lemon. A great flavoured dish, not for the foodie faint of heart!

Cuore: chianti marinaded beef heart with robiola and cipollini onion, a dish with lots of flavour.

Polipo: baby octopus, perfectly cooked and tender, with potato cream and n'duja sausage that perks up the flavour with some spice.

What a triumph of great flavours!! Buca bar is a foodie destination spot!