Piano Piano, [Leslieville] location - a bit wobbly in terms of execution and service

[DrJohn]

We haven’t been to Piano Piano since before the pandemic, really enjoying the bitter greens pizza at the time. When a new location took over the former Gare de l’Est location, we figured we’d give it a try. Unfortunately, it can use a little work, even though some quality shines through.

We started with a cocktail: Star-Crossed Lover, a refreshing mixture of Absolut vodka, Select Aperitivo, passionfruit, mint, ginger beer, pineapple, lime, and chili. We also had glasses of a Vernaccia from Panizzi, Tuscany, Italy, 2023 and a Pinot Noir from Hidden Bench ‘Locust Lane’, Beamsville, Ontario, 2024, which were both pleasant, if not particularly distinctive.

We decided to skip the antipasti and headed straight into two pastas. First was Lobster Casarecce, featuring Nova Scotia lobster, mascarpone, pomodoro naturale, garlic, chili, fresh basil, parsley, and panegrattato. The sauce was delicious and the pasta was nicely al dente, but the lobster was horribly overcooked.

Next was a special: Spaghettoni Alle Vongole, featuring Manila clams, guanciale, chili, garlic, lemon, and parsley. First problem was that the server (not our main one, but one who brought out the dishes) sloshed a bunch of the dish’s liquid sauce on my wife’s white dress and phone. Aside from apologizing, he really didn’t do anything. We set about using all our napkins to mop up the mess and only with prompting did he go get more. After that, there was nary a word about the issue; we guess he didn’t mention it to anyone else. We finally brought it up with our regular server after the meal and at least he promptly went and got us a card for a free pizza for our next visit.

The dish itself was quite tasty, but a number of the noodles were stuck together, suggesting they weren’t being attended to while being cooked.

Next we had a pizza special: Corn On the Hog, a Mexican-ish riff with roasted Ontario corn, chorizo, red onion, jalapeño, lime salsa verde, fresh coriander, cotija, and a lime wedge for squeezing on. The pizza crust remains great - nice chew, good flavour. But the pizza itself, aside from the tangy salsa verde, was a bit on the bland side.

For dessert, we shared the Colossal Cream Puff, which was filled with soft-serve ice cream and drizzled with brown butter chocolate sauce, and hazelnuts. It was fun, if not spectacular.

[medgirl]

I would have been very annoyed by how the spillage of sauce was handled. Did they give you any assurance that the member of staff involved would receive some additional training to learn from this episode and hopefully avoid it in the future or at least be able to handle it more professionally if it did happen again in the future? They should have also offered to pay for the professional cleaning/stain removal for your wife’s dress.

[DrJohn]

We did suggest some training. He was carrying 3 dishes and the only one with a liquidy sauce could have been the one carried in one hand for better control, rather than balanced (poorly) on one arm.

My wife prefers to hand wash many of her clothes, so we just went home and washed it right after.

[Phoenikia]

I wonder if the expansion of Piano Piano to several locations is going a bit like the expansion of O + B Grill.

I remember when the O + B Grill inside Bayview Village and at Blue Mountain were quite good, around 2006- 2009. My last couple visits were awful. Both service and food were terrible at my last visit to the O + B Grill at Blue Mountain in Feb 2021. I admit, I barely have been going to any O + B restos at all lately. I would go to Canoe or Jump. I haven’t gotten around to any of the newer ones.

I haven’t been to the Piano Piano on Harbord for 3 or 4 years, wonder if it’s still as good as it once was.