Old article but some info on CEO
FOOD FOOD JOE DIMAGGIO'S WET PAINT CAFE 1423 Yonge St. 975-5380
review
by
KATHLEEN SLOAN
At last. An answer to "the musical question" posed by Simon & Garfunkel almost 30 years ago: "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio"? Now he's turned up on Yonge St., just south of St. Clair.
OK, it's not Joltin' Joe himself but a "direct relative" (yeah ... that's it) in the form of Joe DiMaggio Jr., a south-of-the-border type of guy, who describes himself as an award-winning "master chef."
A great deal of foodie hype has circulated about DiMaggio, and so long before the opening of the restaurant that bears his name that one couldn't help but be curious and a little suspicious. (He has an agent! What's next? Chefs who go on strike?) But that's what makes us Canadian, I guess. We're a little anti-flaunting and a tad leery of those who aren't.
The name of the restaurant also refers to the paintings -- some of which are being created by local artists while you eat -- that are everywhere in this large space. They are on the walls, natch, but also on the floor, the tables, the ceiling, the hallway, your menu. At the rear of the restaurant is a fast-paced open kitchen where sous chefs take their direction from Master Di. If you can take the heat and their master's voice -- "OK, you guys, you're doing good, let's keep this momentum going, c'mon I need two pasta fagioli, a capelli d'Angelo, one carbonara and a pizza bianca ... NOW!" -- you may choose to dine perched at one of the adjacent high-top tables.
Wherever you sit, be prepared for: (a) noise, as in yelling to be heard; (b) earnest but wonky, erratic service; and (c) very good food. A number of pesky problems need sorting out, mainly to do with seating and pacing of service (on one visit I was asked no fewer than five times in the space of 10 minutes for my main course order -- twice while my mouth was filled with my appetizer), it's difficult to fault that for which DiMaggio Jr. claims his renown: his cooking.
No words can properly prepare you for the pasta fagioli ($8), the rustic Tuscan "peasant" soup of white beans and pasta. Thick with assorted pasta and creamy white beans, threaded with escarole, packed with mellow, sweet cloves of garlic and intensified with sherry, this dish is batting .500. Calamari fritti ($7) is a pretty plate of deep-fried squid served with a deeply flavorful, if somewhat common, sun- dried tomato mayo. But it is soft, albeit pliant. We want crisp and pliant.
The plates are loaded big-time with generous portions in everything from appetizers to salads to main courses. "Exploding garlic" is everywhere on the menu -- in the aforementioned soup, on the pomodoro pizza ($8), a lovely thin, yet bready crust with ultra-fresh ingredients, in the fabulous mussels ($8). You'll see a huge jar of peeled garlic cloves sitting on the counter in the chef's work area. By the end of a busy evening -- and they've all been busy since this space opened -- it's almost empty. The chef explains exploding garlic means cloves that have been immersed in one of a number of exceedingly hot liquids -- a variety of flavored olive oil or sherry -- until they are sweetened and brown. They emerge tasting absolutely mellow and nutty and addictive. If you find a dozen throughout your meal, eat them all. They won't bite back.
DiMaggio has more than skill; he has original style and shows great creativity in pairings and presentation. A huge 16-oz. sirloin ($27) is perfectly grilled to order, treated to intensely flavorful onions that have been cooked "down" until their sugars have been released and caramelized. The piece of meat has been thickly sliced and arranged in a semi-circle exposing its deep-red heart. Accompanying emerald-green snow peas have been cooked not one second longer than need be. The ever-returning server says the swordfish ($19) is accompanied by "scalloped potatoes or risotto." Uh, the risotto is actually a little molded mound of couscous studded with black beans. The fish is described as having been marinated in 15 herbs -- who's gonna check? But it matters little as this steak-of-the-sea is moist, succulent, even juicy.
Capelli d'Angelo della casa ($19) is a seductive combo of angel hair pasta tossed with chunks of lobster and shrimp, bits of spinach and a load of those beauteous garlic cloves. It is nearly dripping with a sauce composed of a buttery Chardonnay and basil. Prices may seem a bit steep overall, but splits (plates shared), don't seem frowned on at all here, even for the memorable pasta fagioli that I would have happily ordered again as dessert, which by the way, are good-looking but ho-hum. DiMaggio has hit a home run.
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