Cantina Mercatto

20 Wellington St E #1,
Toronto, ON M5E 1C5
About the Restaurant

Cantina Mercatto is the newest addition to the Mercatto family of restaurants (Taverna, Locale, Trattoria and College) that started some 20 years ago on Toronto Street.

Close to both the St. Lawrence Market and the Financial District, the new space is meant to be a one-stop shop for lunch meetings, special occasions as well as aprรจs work drinks. โ€œ[Itโ€™s] that kind of convivial space that allows you to drink and be merry,โ€ says the Mercatto restaurant groupโ€™s executive chef Doug Neigel.

Cantina Mercatto
One of two murals by Toronto textile designer Candice Kaye

The chefโ€™s table and bar face each other, which Neigel likens to being at the centre of the bustling Grand Central Station. Thatโ€™s the kind of energy and vibe the team hopes to create with the help of Studio Munge, who has designed all of the groupโ€™s restaurants.

Cantina Mercatto
The open kitchen is located in the middle of the restaurant

The walls are adorned with two murals by Toronto textile designer Candice Kaye (whose work is featured inโ€‹ Planta and Maman). One is of a vineyard with bright, yellow lemons and sea creatures thrown into the mix and the other is a sprawling mural depicting an octopus.

As for the food, youโ€™ll still find Mercatto classics, such as the margherita pizza, fried calamari, roast diavola chicken and antipasti boards with meat and salumi, but the other half of the menu is where chef Neigel and capo di cucina Kevin Mark (a.k.a. chef de cuisine) get to be creative.

Cantina Mercatto
The fried calamari served with a fennel crema ($14)

For example, the eggplant involtini ($13) is a dressed-up eggplant parmesan that sees thin slices of eggplant, salted and par-fried. Itโ€™s then rolled with a bit of bรฉchamel and smoky cheese, dipped in a panade and deep fried to achieve crispiness, then served with tomato sauce and sprouts. Itโ€™s still an eggplant parmesan at its core, but one that requires a more deft hand and is a testament to confidence and skill of the culinary team.

Cantina Mercatto
A lemon vinaigrette is drizzled over the arctic char ($27)

Another star dish is the cavatelli ($22), housemade with smoked rabbit and housemade broth.

The guanciale pizza ($18) is a chance to showcase that more playful side of the culinary team. โ€œWeโ€™re a pizza and pasta joint and weโ€™ll never want to reinvent that, but in that world, thereโ€™s still some stuff thatโ€™s kind of fun and a little more challenging, even to us,โ€ says Neigel.

Cantina Mercatto
Cantina Mercatto's tartare ($18) is served with a side of russet chips

Bar manager Sean Smith has created a list of cocktails he calls โ€œdowntown Toronto with an Italian flair.โ€ The menu runs the gamut from a light spritzer to the classic old fashioned.

The spicy pear fresca ($12), which Sโ€‹mith describes as a โ€œseasonal margarita,โ€ is made with tequila, cointreau lime and spicy pear. The blackbird old fashioned ($14) is named after Torontoโ€™s industry shot (a shot given to restaurant industry professionals when they visit other restaurants). Itโ€™s made with bourbon, blood orange bitters and burnt rosemary.

Cantina Mercatto
The blackbird old fashioned ($14) with burnt rosemary

The wine list includes more than 100 bottles highlighting the traditional wine regions of Italy, but the beer list is largely Canadian.

Should you be wise enough to save room for dessert, thereโ€™s a tiramisu for the traditionalists or the lemon roll, a delightful concoction made from lemon curd, genoise, mascarpone cream and lemon marmalata.

Cantina Mercatto
The lemon roll with raspberry makes for a bittersweet end to the meal

The downtown location is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, with weekend brunch from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sundays.

By Yvonne Tsui

Published: January 3, 2019