Judging by the number of blog posts I churn out each week, it should be apparent to you that I go out for dinner quite a bit. Even though not all my dinners are fine dining (actually most are not) I sometimes still crave for simple comfort food. Thanks to Neil's (@neilfaba) invite last week, I got to experience true Italian comfort food at Bigabaldi's (@Bigabaldis). Bigabaldi's serves true, traditional, family style Italian food - nothing fancy, nothing pretentious.Bigabaldi's opened approximately 6 months ago and is located near Glencairn and Dufferin (close to Glencairn TTC station). Rob, Sandro and Brad are co-owners of the Bigabaldi's. Rob, who grew up in the neighbourhood, has been in the food business all his life; he was at Grazie for 18 years (12 years as a partner) and is now the owner of Cocquine Restaurant at Yonge and Eglinton (Sandro is also the executive chef there).
The three owners of Bigabaldi's all wanted one thing: to "recreate the warmth and comfort of Sunday dinners for everyday appetites". They strongly stand by serving quality food at the best value for their customers. Bigabaldi's makes everything from scratch including their pizza dough and sauce (the tomatoes they use are from Naples). All the meats are naturally raised and sourced from a local farmer.
It was extremely hot and humid that day. I initially grabbed a bottle of water but couldn't resist and got myself a Brio Chinotta Soda afterwards.
Baldi's Bombas - Meatball wrapped in deep fried pizza dough with cheese and covered in homemade sauce. The meatball consists of both beef and pork, parmigiano, parsley, sea salt, and extra virgin oil.
The huge meat ball was tender and juicy; slather some of that tomato sauce with it and you're good to go. Simple yet so delicious~
A giant sandwich with various tasty cold cuts and veggies. I liked how there was a mix of fresh tomatoes and sundried tomatoes.
Baldi's Pizza - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, roasted garlic, rapini, sausage & goat cheese.
I love this pizza. It's rare to see rapini on pizzas and with the goat cheese and sausage, it is the perfect balance of meat and vegetable toppings. It seemed like every piece of pizza had an entire clove of garlic too.
Bigga Pizza - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, bacon & mortadella.
This particular pizza is a meat lover's dream come true.
Panzerotti - Cheese, pepperoni & tomato sauce.
The thickness of the fried dough is perfect - not too thick but yet thin and doughy enough to hold the filling inside. The ooey-gooey hot cheese was so smooth and soft which melted nicely with the thinly sliced pepperoni.
Baldi's Mozzarella Rice Balls - Saffron, sweet peas & tomato sauce for dipping.
The rice ball was made with Arborio rice, peas, Persian saffron and mozzarella. The combination of the soft rice, mozzarella, and peas gave the rice ball a lot of different texture in one bite. I could also taste the saffron in it.
Veal Sangwich
The layers of veal is cooked on a flat top and again, a huge sandwich with lots of veggies and melted cheese on top.
Banana & Nutella filled Panzerotti rolled in Cinnamon Sugar (not on the menu, this is Sandro's experimental dessert)
Ahhhh so delicious! A combination of thinly fried dough, rolled in cinnamon sugar and filled with warm Nutella and banana slices! There's really not much more I can ask for in a dessert. I do hope that Bigabaldi's will seroiusly consider putting this on their menu!
The Bigabaldi's crew (from left to right): Sandro, Brad, and Rob
Thanks again to Neil for the invite! And of course the Bigabaldi's team for showing me what Italian comfort food is all about =D
For another take on that night's food at Bigabaldi's, check out David's post on Food With Legs.
