A Modern Italian kitchen in the Junction
Annette Food Market is a small, family-run Italian restaurant on Annette Street, in Toronto's Junction. We opened our doors in 2014 and we've been cooking here ever since.
Our flavours come from traditional Italian cooking, and our approach to preparing them is a modern one, with a great deal of care paid to the details. Everything on the plate is made by hand, out of good, wholesome ingredients. It takes longer that way, and it's the only way we know to get the flavour where we want it.
Made from scratch. Made by hand
The pizza is Neapolitan in style, cooked in our wood-fired oven on a sourdough crust we age for three to five days. We've used the same starter since the day we opened, so the culture in our dough has been alive and fed for over a decade now. It gives the crust an open, tender crumb and a gentle sourness underneath, and it's worth every day of the wait.
The tomato sauce is milled by hand. It takes far longer, and it keeps the seeds from breaking, which is what sours a sauce.
The pasta is always fresh and never dried. Fresh pasta is really a different ingredient altogether, softer and more yielding, and it takes a sauce right into itself. It cooks in a couple of minutes, so it reaches the table with its texture still intact, and filled shapes like agnolotti can only truly be made this way.
The fish we break down whole ourselves, our branzino included, and we cut and prepare our own octopus and calamari, so we always know exactly what we're serving you.
The meat we prepare ourselves as well, the old-fashioned way.
And everything else. Every sauce, every pickled vegetable, right down to the smallest thing on the plate, is made in our kitchen.
Dishes we have become known for
Our menu moves with the seasons, though a few dishes have earned a permanent place on it.
Our slow braised English cut short rib is cooked gently for more than twelve hours and then finished in the wood-fired oven, served with garlic rapini and au jus. A dish people never forget.
Our beef tartare comes over a stuffed bone marrow, with egg yolk, shallot, gherkin, parsley, lemon, and truffle oil. It's rich, and it's fun to share.
The pizzas are what we're best known for, and everyone has a favourite. Some come for our famous white potato pizza, or the mushroom medley with slow roasted garlic. Others appreciate the simplicity and freshness of our margherita, or the classic anchovy. And our spicy soppressata has been a menu favourite from the beginning.
The pastas change through the year with the seasons, though you'll usually find our take on a cacio e pepe, maybe a wild ramp and ricotta agnolotti, or our classic braised beef pappardelle that warms your soul.
There's always a great deal of vegetable cooking on the menu as well, with many vegetable and protein options available.
The wine
Our list is a personal one and a reflection of us. Modern innovative producers mostly from the Old World. Italy, France, and Spain, bought from small family working small allotments utilizing traditional and modern techniques. Over twenty-five wines by the glass, many more by the bottle, and champagne alongside them.
We keep separate fridges for champagne, for white and for red, so every glass reaches you exactly as it should. The same care goes into our draught, poured properly and featuring local craft brewers.
The bar
Seasonality runs through our bar just as it runs through our kitchen. Every cocktail is one we've designed ourselves, made with our own tinctures and syrups from whatever is at its best right now.
Our amaro list runs thirty bottles deep, and it really is a tour of Italy. Each bottle carries its own local history, its own botanicals, and in a good many cases a recipe a family has kept to itself for generations. A lovely way to end a meal, and our bartenders will happily take you somewhere new.
The room
The room is dark and lit by candles, the tables sit close together, and the music is fun. It's warm and full of energy, and dinner has a way of turning into a night. The bar is as much a part of the evening as the kitchen, and for those in the know it offers some of the best seats in the house. Our servers are humble and welcoming, and they're very good at reading a table.
There's a lot of life in this room, and that's quite deliberate. If you're in the mood for somewhere with a bit of joy in it, we'd love to have you.
Sharing is caring
Our menu always features many small Italian plates made to be passed around and enjoyed. The table fills up as the evening goes on, a few arriving at a time, each one coming out of the kitchen the moment it's ready, so there's always something new landing in front of you.
Order a handful between you and you'll taste your way across most of the menu in a single night, alongside the pizza and the pasta. Our servers know the kitchen well and they love building a table, so tell them how hungry you are and let them put it together with you.
Patio season
Late spring through to fall we open two patios. One is heated and covered from the elements, so an uncertain forecast doesn't have to change your plans, and it's the one you can reserve. The other we keep for walk-ins and is a more casual picnic table setting that can seat larger groups without the need for reservations.
Whether you planned the evening a week ago or simply found yourself on Annette Street with an appetite, there's usually a way to sit outside with us.
Come on a Tuesday, come on a Saturday
We're made for both halves of the week. Somewhere worth coming to on an ordinary Tuesday, and somewhere worth choosing when there's something to celebrate on a Saturday. You never need an occasion, and we're always glad to be part of one.
We take reservations, and we always try to hold a few seats back for anyone who walks in. We love that someone can decide on the night and still find a seat.
The same kitchen for over a decade
Sivi Sitsoruban has been our chef since we opened in 2014. He came to us from a number of Toronto's landmark Italian kitchens, and he's been with us ever since.
More than a decade with one chef is a rare thing in this industry. It's what allows a starter to stay alive year after year, a braise to be judged by feel, and a kitchen to build the kind of instinct that can only be gained through experience.
We're a small team and a devoted one, and we love what we do here. There is a great deal of heart in everything that leaves our kitchen, and we hope you can feel and taste it.
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Find us at 240 Annette Street in the Junction, a short walk from High Park, and
Bloor West Village.