Trattoria Giancarlo is one of my all time favourites, the best place in little italy. I wouldn't call it a classic italian fine dining. a bit pricier too.

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I really love Trattoria Giancarlo, in fact it is one of my favourite places in the city. The food is out of this world, the wine list (although not really a list, more of a wine "wall") is vast and the ambiance is great. Not stuffy, a hint of classy but mostly low key. Go, and get the carpaccio to start.

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I was at Trattoria Giancarlo on Saturday night and between the 4 of us, there were only 2 glasses of wine ordered. Over the years, I have found this restaurant to be a bit "attitudey" but friends of ours love it and so we sometimes go with them.

Happy to report that the dinner was one of my more memorable meals in the last several months. No attitude at all came from our near abstention from alcohol. The atmosphere was fantastic - a packed patio and inside (we were inside), lots of candle-light, very friendly service. And yes, the food - highlights were a great bistecca fiorentina (Cumbrae's thick rib-eye, great char-grilled flavour), delicious spaghetti with lemon cream sauce, excellent wild mushrooms with polenta to start as well as an organic salad special with fresh, crisp veggies (tomatoes, cukes, raw candy-stripe beets and a chevre/balsamic dressing). For dessert, we had the molten chocolate cake with salted caramel sauce - heaven. The caprese was okay - fresh high-qualities tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella but it needed salt and a bit more olive oil - and the sides with the steak and grilled garlic shrimp were also a bit blah. I agree that the menu is on the pricey side but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it for a nicer evening out.

I'm also a big fan of Noce (prefer their patio to inside, delicious pastas) and Zucca though for cozy cool atmosphere, I'd give Giancarlo the nod.

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