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Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the Famoso Media Launch for their first downtown Toronto location at 386 Bloor Street West! I was immediately excited receiving this invitation, especially because my family and friends always joke (but are mostly serious) about me ‘food blogging’ for the sake of getting invited to restaurants like this, where I can eat, drink and enjoy the experience in return for some free publicity 😛 I’d like to think it was my blog that got me the invite, but let’s just say I lucked out with this opportunity…

THE MENU:

Upon arrival, Cece and I (who came representing The Brand Factory) were instantly greeted by friendly staff who handed us some delicious orange drinks which were really refreshing having finally escaped the sweltering heat. We made our way to our table filled with friends and local food bloggers and were soon-after encouraged to order a few pitchers of Sangria – and good thing we did because they were outstanding!! Probably way up there on my list.

THE RED WINE SANGRIA:

As for food, we wanted to order a few apps to share, so locked-in the Gorgonzola Walnut Salad and Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella Balls. The salad (pictured below) included romaine lettuce, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, semi-dried cranberries, and their original gorgonzola walnut vinaigrette (which at first glance, looked like pesto and I got excited but it was good nonetheless). Lucky for us, the salad was quite sizable so we all got a taste!

THE GORGONZOLA WALNUT SALAD:

I didn’t get a picture of the prosciutto & mozzarella, but they were served in a bowl, smothered in campania tomato sauce and were baked, um YUM! I enjoyed them, although I could see how some people would label the dish as ‘too salty’ because of the prosciutto overload 😛

As for pizzas (the stars of the restaurant, of course), we again thought we should share. We went with a classic Margherita Pizza (fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, pecorino romano, and extra virgin olive oil), a veggie Primavera (smoked mozzarella, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, roasted mushrooms, kalamata olives and red onion), and a Prosciutto Arugula pizza (prosciutto, arugula, and pecorino romano). Seeing as a Neapolitan pizza should be cooked no longer than 90 seconds, they came fast and steaming!

THE MARGHERITA PIZZA:

The dough on the pizza was light, the sauce had a nice flavour and consistency and the toppings were reasonably applied – all around a solid Margherita!

THE PROSCIUTTO ARUGULA PIZZA:

(image via Carolyn Van)

We couldn’t leave Famoso without trying some of their dessert! Karen was bold enough to order the ‘Nutella Pizza’ for the table – their authentic pizza crust smothered in Nutella and folded into a calzone then cut into strips for sharing! WOW.

THE NUTELLA PIZZA:

I must mention Famoso also offeres surprisingly good gelato (salted caramel was my flavour of choice).

Sometime in-between our feast, Justin, one of Famoso’s owners, gave a nice presentation, where he explained his inspiration for opening up a Neapolitan Pizzeria that serves pizza made with the finest imported Italian flour (straight from Napoli), imported Campania tomatoes, and fior-di-latte mozzarella (the freshest cheese). He also gave a nice little demonstration on how they make each pizza 🙂

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Famosa. It’s really refreshing to see new restaurants gravitating to Toronto’s downtown core, adding to the city’s immense culture and food offerings. Discovering great eats and passionately sharing them with my friends is what I do and I definitely plan on sharing this one 😉