Bar Ardo | TasteToronto

King East

Italian

Bar Ardo

Written By

Erica Commisso

Photographs By

Carbelle Djossa

At this point, Jacqueline Nicosia and Roberto Marotta know what they're doing. The husband-and-wife duo also operate Ardo and Dova, both also on the city's east end, and have become a fabric of the local culinary community. Guests quickly become friends and family, returning to the restaurateur's bright, airy spaces for the good vibes and the mouthwatering Italian fare. There's even Italian art on the wall, but Nicosia's design pays homage to the bones of the gorgeous Toronto building through the exposed brick and original flooring.

Simple ingredients combine to create luxurious, hearty flavours in dishes that are somehow light, and the cocktail program equally favours those who want alcohol and those who go zero-proof. The whole experience is, Nicosia says, an ode to the couple's travels, the people they've met along the way, and the experiences they've loved best. "If you think of when you travel, and you stumble upon a location, and you have an amazing experience there or you know, you meet people beside you, it kind of sticks in your mind," she muses. "You have a drink or a dish that takes you back to that exact moment. That's what this place is meant to be. To represent those serendipitous moments in your life."

Chef Marotta was born, raised and trained in Italy, so his menus are informed by the cuisine he knows best, the one that feels the most natural to him. But his culinary career has taken him across the globe, allowing him pitstops in major cities like London, which gives him the inspiration to fine-tune and customize the offerings. The result is nouveau Italian fare that's lighter on the stomach without sacrificing the full-bodied, heart-filling flavour profiles, a selection designed for sharing with loved ones, and a wine list custom-picked by Chef Marotta himself and a cocktail program designed by Nicosia.

"The use of fresh ingredients, without interfering too much, is the main approach that I have in each single dish," Marotta says. The cavolfiore is a prime example of his craft. "There's a little bit of Morocco and Spain in the dish. We create this chickpea puree with some herbs, like a little bit of cumin, and serve it with cauliflower that's partially cooked and roasted in the oven served on top. It's garnished with what we call a Basque dressing - some paprika, olive oil and sundried tomato - and we add a bunch of fresh herbs, like parsley, meant to give it some brightness. I think it's the most interesting vegetarian dish on our menu."

"We were once traveling in New Orleans, where we discovered that, actually, New Orleans in the early 1900s had a very strong Sicilian community. That was a surprise for us. Sicilian families used to be brought to New Orleans to implement and help the farming there. Some of them ended up staying, so they kind of influenced the cuisine," Marotta says. That inspired the muffaletta sandwich, made with in-house sourdough bread with sesame seeds, mortadella, fennel salami, provolone, olives, and Italian giardiniera. It's all topped with a mayonnaise.

For the tuna tartare, "we use bluefin tuna with capers from my hometown," Marotta says. "Sometimes, when you go out for tartare, they're very similar. So, in this case, we use some orange zest, capers, we use olive oil we bring from Sicily. We keep it very simple."

"Artichoke is one of my favorite vegetables," he continues, "so the idea was to do something that brings back memories of Southern Italian travel, from Puglia going down to Sicily. And artichoke is a dish you can find in that region." Marotta confits the artichokes and finishes it with pecorino, parsley and mint, as well as some oil infused with mint, parsley and basil. "It sounds very simple, but the combination of flavours is unique."

The mussels au gratin are made with breadcrumbs and herbs and served with a side of bread for dipping.

"I definitely love seafood and vegetables, so our menu has a large component of both," Marotta explains. The linguine puts all of it together, as it's made with Sua Maesta’ linguine, wild shrimp, butter, lemon thyme, and cured tuna roe (which is also called tuna bottarga). It offers a bright, complex flavour palette that offers some zest and some heartiness without feeling heavy.

Nicosia made Bar Ardo's espresso martini with a cheat code. She calls it the espresso & olio because, as the name suggests, it's made with espresso, vodka, Kahlua, olive oil and Maldon salt, with the last two taking the flavours to the next level. "You could have it for dessert. It's not necessarily sweet, but it's that decadent. It gets shaken really hard, so there's a really nice, beautiful foam on the top," she says. "You have this combination between the bitterness of the coffee and then you take a sip and the olive oil coats your lips and you get the hit of the Maldon salt. They're three of my favorite things put into a cocktail."

The Penicillina is made with Mezcal, saffron honey ginger syrup, pear nectar and lemon but, with the removal of the Mezcal, becomes a zero-proof cocktail that's great for everyone who loves a citrusy treat. "There's an equal weight to our alcoholic drinks and our non-alcoholic drinks. There's as much care and time that goes into them as well," Nicosia says, noting that she even thought about the alcoholic options as being able to easily transform into spirit-free cocktails.

"We usually get our kids involved in the restaurants. I think it's important that they have a presence when they're here," Nicosia says. "And, when we go out for dinner, they love to get fun drinks. So they were a part of like the the Temperance menu and you know, going through and testing all of them. It was fun to get their opinion on it." The Pilot Life passed the test, made with 0% gin, cucumber, sugar snap pea, lime, mint, and sparkling bubbles.

The Bar Ardo take on a classic cocktail is made with Bulleit Bourbon as a base, alongside montenegro and aperol. "We char a pineapple on the grill so it gets nice and caramelized," Nicosia says. "That goes in there with a pink peppercorn and chili for a little bit of heat. Lemon juice and an egg white finish it. So it's our take on a bourbon sour."

It's the vibe of the Southern Italian beaches, but in a glass. The Sicilian Storm is made with white rum, peach, cassis, tarragon, lime, ginger beer, and finished orange blossom spray. After all, it's all about making people feel like the city just melts away, and she took extra time to make sure that her vision for each cocktail would create a sense of family, of welcoming, of belonging. "A restaurant is that space where people come into, and other things kind of melt away," she says. "That's their moment to have conversations or laughs or, you know, just enjoy themselves."