Tav's
Tav's is a gnocchi, pizza and gelato bar by Taverniti Group, also behind Taverniti next door and Rosina.
Everything is made from scratch on site at this restaurant that focuses on Southern Italian cuisine.
A pizza oven visible from the dining room was inherited from previous businesses, including a Libretto location.
Windows have been installed in the back area where an open concept bar faces tables.
Gnocchi is also made in full view of customers using a family recipe of flour, egg, water and potato.
Not only do they do regular gnocchi here, they also infuse their dumplings with ingredients like squid ink and nduja.
Pesto gnocchi ($20) is one of the more typical options with a house pesto, fatty cured pork and toasted pistachios.
$20 is an average price tag for gnocchi here, which feels steep, though the dumplings are impressively large, so portions that look smaller are still quite filling.
Gorgonzola gnocchi is also priced at $20, swimming in a thick, funky gorgonzola mascarpone sauce and topped with pepper and crushed walnuts. An entire fig on top is a little unwieldy, though it does complete the classic trio of gorgonzola, walnut and fig.
Viola e Zafferano gnocchi ($22) is one of the less conventional options here, purple potato gnocchi presented in a bold creamy saffron sauce with hot fennel sausage.
A Calabrese pizza ($18) is a simple combination of tomato sauce and mozzarella topped with spicy soppressata, nduja, whole black olives and an Ontario organic honey drizzle fired in the wood burning oven.
The crust is bubbly, elastic and chewy, but the honey is the real star of the show that makes this pizza a little different from most.
Any pizza can be made into a fried panzerotto with a light crispy exterior for a $2 upcharge.
Silky, creamy house gelato made with organic milk is produced in house using a recipe handed down for over 30 years.
Flavours change regularly, today's a toasty pistachio.
An Aperol Spritz ($11) makes for a typical accompaniment to a meal like this, the usual refreshing combination of prosecco, Aperol and soda water garnished with an orange wedge served in a nice chunky glass.
A Negroni ($12) would be equally appropriate, a mix of Campari, gin and and Red Martini that's more on the bitter side compared to the Spritz.
A patio space out back is licensed for 21 when warm weather hits.
Hector Vasquez