Valentine’s Day Menu, 2014
Valentine’s Day Menu, 2014
Campagnolo’s 1st annual Trufflepalooza
” title=”Campagnolo’s 1st annual Trufflepalooza November 26th 2013″>Campagnolo’s 1st annual Trufflepalooza November 26th 2013 Click on the link to see more information about our Truffle Tasting dinner!
Opening Italy Trailer
In September 2012 Rob Rossi and Craig Harding went to Italy seeking inspiration and a chance to reconnect with their Italian heritage. Catch the series on TLN in the summer of 2013
Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2011
Campagna in Italian means country. Campagnolo, then, roughly translates to country bumpkin. Part of the Sunday dinner school – the wave of young chefs paying tribute to their grandmothers’ cooking – Craig Harding has created a restaurant in homage to his Venetian nonna.
The locale is unabashedly low-rent (a former Coffee Time outlet redesigned by Harding’s partner, HGTV’s Alexandra Hutchison), located in what has become Toronto’s Meateating District, thanks in part to Harding’s friends at the nearby Black Hoof. Fortunately for a city that doesn’t need another authenticity-obsessed trattoria, Campagnolo is really very cosmopolita. The easygoing wine list is just as likely to unearth a Bastardo as a Barolo. The clarified Caesar cocktail is Roman in name only. And where a paesano would offer crudo, Harding is comfortable calling it ceviche (of grouper with sweet peppers and lemon balm).
Chef Craig Harding and partner Alexandra Hutchison perch on the counter at their Dundas Street restaurant.
Still, the backbone of the revolving menu is Italian, and Harding demonstrates that wonderful genetic predisposition for preparing bitter ingredients with grace. Radicchio, radishes and escarole are set off with unexpected hits of charcoal smoke from grilled nectarines. A vibrant arugula sauce underscores buoyant squid and a perfectly crusted, ink-stained arancino. If there’s a signature dish, it’s Ontario burrata with roasted grapes, puckered but still clinging to the vine, chives and garlic-rubbed toast. Just as decadent, a dessert of salted caramel budino inspires instant wistfulness.
With all due respect to Harding’s grandma, this isn’t cucina della nonna. It’s youthful, loose, sophisticated and at its best when relaxed – more like an Italian on vacation.
Opening Campagnolo Trailer shot by Francis Mitchell
In The Weeds – trailer from Francis Mitchell on Vimeo.
Knife” Day @ Campagnolo
Whetstones . Molybdenum . Swedish Carbon and lots of laughs .
Tabitha Draws Campagnolo”
Check out the rest of her great work @ http://tabithadraws.blogspot.com/