One of my deepest pleasures in life is watching my friends live out their dreams. A deeper pleasure still is when they succeed at it! My friend Matt Basile aka Fidel Gastro (check out the amazing photography on the site by Matt's uber-talented girlfriend Kyla!) quit his day job a couple of years ago to pursue his dream of bringing his stellar pressed Cuban sandwiches to us lucky folks in Toronto.
He started his food revoluçion under the name Fidel Gastro, which is about the time I first met him at a pop-up Superbowl event he was doing. Somehow, we got to talking, became Facebook friends which developed into an actual friendship.
The next step in his food revoluçion evolution was to get a food truck which he dubbed "Pricilla"; his own nod to Elvis Presley. In April, he opened his very own restaurant called "Lisa Marie" (638 Queen Street West). It specializes in Venetian tapas, little share plates called cicchetti. Earlier in the day, I had lunch with a friend of mine who is a model of Italian descent and has spent quite a bit of time in Italy for work and to see her family. I told her I was having cicchetti for dinner. She said very quietly and reverently "Cicchetti...cicchetti are the best".
Back to last night. On top of the new restaurant, the food truck, and the pop-up events, Matt has a TV show on the Travel and Escape network called Rebel Without a Kitchen which documents his experiences running Fidel Gastro's. I'm calling it, Matt's officially got his own burgeoning empire now and I'm so proud!
Me outside the gorgeous storefront. By: Jodi Goldfinger
Last night, my friend Jodi and I headed to Lisa Marie for dinner. I started out with a delicious shiraz by Dog Ridge as we began to agonize over what to order. It all looked fantastic!
I was trying not to be an obnoxious food blogger, so I refrained from using my flash last night. Excuse the dark pictures!
We started with a deep fried pizza with duck, hoisin, and an asparagus slaw:
Next, a deeply delicious dish called "Alabama Tailgaters", which was bacon-wrapped beef carpacchio with a little kimchi, some amazing pickled vegetables and a creamy dab of sauce:
There was a dish called "Deli-Style Surf and Turf" which had some pastrami, sardine, and sour cream on a latke:
How does a nice Italian boy have a restaurant that serves such a nice latke? My Granny would be proud.
We also ate brontosaurus-sized turkey wings; one buffalo-style with blue cheese:
and one with a sticky hoisin glaze:
Crispy, crunchy, yummy. And I don't even like "buffalo-style" foods but I loved this.
Lastly, we ate the most divine "Mozzarella and Marrow Sangweech" which was stuffed between focaccia and fried.
Could we eat more? Yes we could! Dessert anyone?
Matt made us these delicious little bone marrow zeppole called "Lisa's Marrow" (Italian donut holes covered in sugar) with a lovely cherry jam. The were surprisingly light and refreshing; I could have easily eaten a dozen all on my own!
They come in an order of 6, but were so excited to eat them that by the time I remembered to take a picture, we had already powered through one each!
We also tried the "Elvis" (patented off of Elvis' beloved fried peanut butter and banana sandwich) on the recommendation of our helpful server. Bananas, peanut butter, and candied bacon with whipped cream and custard in a pretty little jar. It was absolutely revelatory. Both Jodi and I flipped out over this dessert and I made sure it was the last taste I had of the evening!
We both agreed that we needed to come back to Lisa Marie to try the rest of the menu and to have both desserts again. How could it get better? Oh, it does! Matt also runs a shop in the back where you can get beautiful meat, his signature sandwiches, various pickled vegetables, and a few different sauces - including his Sgt. Slather and Sloppy Jose extremo sandwich sauces!
How does one not drool over this bounty?
The man himself and me, looking high on gustatory pleasure from our meal - by Jodi Goldfinger
So the moral of the story is that you should get down to Lisa Marie ASAP before the place gets so busy that you can't get a seat! It's the best thing watching your friends live out their dreams. Congrats Matt, the place is amazing and I can't wait to come back!
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