Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria
Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria is a growing pizza chain from Western Canada, where a handful of locations is opened. Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of being invited to Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria at the Bloor West location. That location opened in 2012, and has since become a popular spot for pizza in the Annex. Famosa is best known for its authentic Neapolitan style
cuisine, which makes no apology for their creative menu of fusion pizzas. Dean (the owner) runs two locations with his brother, and he is very passionate
about the trade. He explained in details about the journey that they embarked on to bring us this delicate taste of Naples menu that we were
able to sample.
Located on Bloor & Spadina, the restaurant features a decently sized dining area with an open concept kitchen. The interior composed of contemporary rustic décor with warm colours, and dark wood floors. They recently launched a new F/W menu with a small selection of new items including Mac & Cheese, Korean BBQ Beef Pizza, and Patate Pancetta Pizza.
We started dinner off with the Fire-Roasted Tomato Bisque - roasted Campania tomato soup topped with feta cheese, and served with flatbread. This was one of the highlights of the evening. The bisque was rich with flavor, as the tomatoes hail from Pompeii, Italy. The body of these tomatoes taste stronger, sweeter, and have less acidity in them due to the growing conditions of the volcanic ash that makes up the significant content of the soil. With some added crushed peppers, and Parmesan cheese, the aroma of the bisque was brought to its greatest. Definitely a must order if you want to warm up from the cold weather.
Famoso Salad ($15.50) - Romaine lettuce, prosciutto crisps, carrots, cherry tomatoes, soppressata (spicy salami), fire-roasted chicken, feta, dijon-balsamic vinaigrette
Pistachio Pesto Primavera ($15) - Linguine, house-made pistachio pesto cream sauce, roasted zucchini, green peas, roasted mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, Grana Padano + $3 (add chicken)
For the main courses, we decided to try out two of their newest pizza items from their F/W menu. Let’s start with the Patate Pancetta ($16.50) - crème fraîche, rosemary, russet potatoes, fior-di-latte, mozzarella, pancetta, caramelized onions, sea salt, white truffle oil, Grana Padano, lemon wedge, topped with a fried egg. This was a very rich pizza with an assortment of ingredients including pancetta that is cured pork belly with similar properties to both prosciutto and bacon. This particular pizza can be considered pretty close to a brunch item, as the center was topped off with a fried egg, garnished with a very generous portion of caramelized onions, and russet potatoes, white truffle oil, and fio-di-latte mozzarella. A wedge of lemon was also provided as a taste only basis.
The second pizza we got was the Korean BBQ Beef ($16.50) - house-made Korean BBQ sauce, fior-di-latte, house-roasted pulled short ribs, green onions, cheddar cheese, house-made hoisin sauce, which had a heavy emphasis on fusion. With a mix of house-made Korean & hoisin sauce, the pizza was topped with Italian ingredients such as fio-di-latte cheese, cheddar cheese, and green onions. The pizza was intense with flavor and leaned towards more of the sweeter side as the bittersweet taste of tomatoes was absent from this combination. The emphasis on sweet soy and hoisin was captured instead bringing you one of the more heavier accented fusions in the menu.
Overall, the dinner experience was great, as we had a nice seat right in front of the wooden stove. We saw chefs prepping the menu, tossing the pizza, and eventually transfer to the 800C oven that will cook for approximately 90 seconds. The oven was specially-made.
As we talked to the owner, we learned that much of the menu was coordinated with the head office. They would collaborate on menu items, and then it would be streamlined across all locations to allow good control of the ingredients that are distributed. However, the brothers do have some personality in their franchises because they are able to develop their own drink menu catered to the audiences in the Annex area. The owner and staff are culinary artists, and if you have the pleasure to sit at the front where the food are being made, be ready to be treated to the faces of the many artists that are preparing your dishes.
The following dishes were not sampled by us, but rather captured while they were on the counter.
Address: 386 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1X4
Located on Bloor & Spadina, the restaurant features a decently sized dining area with an open concept kitchen. The interior composed of contemporary rustic décor with warm colours, and dark wood floors. They recently launched a new F/W menu with a small selection of new items including Mac & Cheese, Korean BBQ Beef Pizza, and Patate Pancetta Pizza.
We started dinner off with the Fire-Roasted Tomato Bisque - roasted Campania tomato soup topped with feta cheese, and served with flatbread. This was one of the highlights of the evening. The bisque was rich with flavor, as the tomatoes hail from Pompeii, Italy. The body of these tomatoes taste stronger, sweeter, and have less acidity in them due to the growing conditions of the volcanic ash that makes up the significant content of the soil. With some added crushed peppers, and Parmesan cheese, the aroma of the bisque was brought to its greatest. Definitely a must order if you want to warm up from the cold weather.
Famoso Salad ($15.50) - Romaine lettuce, prosciutto crisps, carrots, cherry tomatoes, soppressata (spicy salami), fire-roasted chicken, feta, dijon-balsamic vinaigrette
Pistachio Pesto Primavera ($15) - Linguine, house-made pistachio pesto cream sauce, roasted zucchini, green peas, roasted mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, Grana Padano + $3 (add chicken)
For the main courses, we decided to try out two of their newest pizza items from their F/W menu. Let’s start with the Patate Pancetta ($16.50) - crème fraîche, rosemary, russet potatoes, fior-di-latte, mozzarella, pancetta, caramelized onions, sea salt, white truffle oil, Grana Padano, lemon wedge, topped with a fried egg. This was a very rich pizza with an assortment of ingredients including pancetta that is cured pork belly with similar properties to both prosciutto and bacon. This particular pizza can be considered pretty close to a brunch item, as the center was topped off with a fried egg, garnished with a very generous portion of caramelized onions, and russet potatoes, white truffle oil, and fio-di-latte mozzarella. A wedge of lemon was also provided as a taste only basis.
The second pizza we got was the Korean BBQ Beef ($16.50) - house-made Korean BBQ sauce, fior-di-latte, house-roasted pulled short ribs, green onions, cheddar cheese, house-made hoisin sauce, which had a heavy emphasis on fusion. With a mix of house-made Korean & hoisin sauce, the pizza was topped with Italian ingredients such as fio-di-latte cheese, cheddar cheese, and green onions. The pizza was intense with flavor and leaned towards more of the sweeter side as the bittersweet taste of tomatoes was absent from this combination. The emphasis on sweet soy and hoisin was captured instead bringing you one of the more heavier accented fusions in the menu.
Overall, the dinner experience was great, as we had a nice seat right in front of the wooden stove. We saw chefs prepping the menu, tossing the pizza, and eventually transfer to the 800C oven that will cook for approximately 90 seconds. The oven was specially-made.
As we talked to the owner, we learned that much of the menu was coordinated with the head office. They would collaborate on menu items, and then it would be streamlined across all locations to allow good control of the ingredients that are distributed. However, the brothers do have some personality in their franchises because they are able to develop their own drink menu catered to the audiences in the Annex area. The owner and staff are culinary artists, and if you have the pleasure to sit at the front where the food are being made, be ready to be treated to the faces of the many artists that are preparing your dishes.
The following dishes were not sampled by us, but rather captured while they were on the counter.
Address: 386 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1X4
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Disclaimer: The food provided in this post was complimentary. However, all of the opinions expressed in this review are of my own.
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