A concert at Budweiser Stage prompted the need for dinner nearby, so we tried NODO in Liberty Village. It is a large 2nd floor restaurant with a large patio. The service is friendly and accommodating - we had to eat quickly and they brought everything out as soon as it was ready.
The food was was good overall. The dough was a strength, whether in the pizza or the focaccia. Flavours were solid, but not particularly exciting. Some of the seasonal fruit used was a bit under-ripe.
We had a glass of the Rondinella/Corvina rosato, Benazzoli Tecla Chiaretto, Veneto - lovely, mineral, nutty, and gently strawberry, not too acidic. The Marzocca cocktail was even better - Cynar, melon liqueur, pineapple juice, lemon juice, rosemary - nice combo of fruit and bitter.
One of the specials was an Insalata proscuitto e melone - grilled Ontario peach, Prosciutto di Parma. Cantaloupe, baby arugula, stracciatella, fig balsamic dressing - this would have worked if the fruit had been ripened properly; both the cantaloupe and the peaches were crunchy.
We had the Manzo previously at the Queen East location and it is still lovely: AAA Canadian beef tenderloin, crispy artichoke, lemon aioli, fried caper shaved Grana Padano. It also went well with the house foccacia.
We also had the Pappardelle Ragu D’Antara previously - slow-roasted, seven-spice duck ragu, parmagiano, crispy sage. Last time we couldn’t detect the spicing and herbs. This time we got the sage, but still more tomato than 7-spice. The pasta was cooked perfectly.
The best dish of the evening was another special: Pizza Giallo Tondo - golden corn puree, caramelized leek, mozzarella di buffala, grilled corn - sweet corn on a pizza, yes!
We also had the special dessert: Pescho Caramellizzate - caramelized peach, almond ice cream, croccante di mandorla, maple-peach reduction. The cooked peach was much better than the ones in the salad.
