Regina Trattoria Pizzeria

Regina Trattoria Pizzeria
is keeping the Italian in Little Italy.

For six years, my mother, myself and my two sisters lived in Woodbridge, which must have been about 70-80% Italian. Despite the vague accent I developed over those years, there doesn't appear to be a single drop of Italian blood in my body. Nevertheless, I have loved the cuisine since the first time solid food passed my lips. According to my mom, one of my first phrases was "More Sketti", which was my toddler version of the word 'spaghetti'.

The little Italian woman who lived next door to us in York Region’s version of Little Italy was convinced my mother was starving us to death with one or two course meals, so she often insisted we join her family for dinner so we wouldn't waste away to nothing. Now THAT was authentic Italian cuisine at it's best, and if there is one reason I miss Woodbridge (and it may be the only reason), dinner at Gino and Maria's is that reason.

Anna and Rocco, the owners of Regina Pizzeria and Trattoria, are my new Gino and Maria. They have been married for nearly thirty years and have owned the business, established 41 years ago, for most of those years. It's hard not to respect people who can be partners in marriage as well as in business without killing each other, and they still have every reason to consider themselves successful, even after all these years. Using recipes passed down through generations, Anna has been cooking for over 40 years, and practice really does make perfect in this case. The dishes, sauces and pastas are all homemade and truly authentic, and they offer far more than pasta and pizza, including antipasto, salads, meat entrees, desserts and espresso drinks. I tried the Antipasto Del Casa, a selection of cured meats, cheese, olives, veggies and sun-dried tomatoes. It looked delicious and tasted even better. For dinner, Anna brought out one of the more popular pasta dishes, Fettucini Con Gamberi (shrimp and garlic sauce) and it looked and smelled fantastic. There's an art to cooking with garlic and she's perfected it. The dish not only had the right amount of garlic, but it was cooked properly, adding a sweetness and crispy texture that complimented the pasta, shrimp and sauce with obvious expertise. The sauce wasn't too thick, the ratio of sauce to pasta couldn't have been better, and I got nine big, juicy shrimp instead of the usual four or five. My meal was finished off with Anna's homemade tiramisu. It was simple, which made it very tasty. Where most people put too much emphasis on sugary liqueurs and sweet cream, the most prominent flavour in this was coffee, which made it the ideal ending to a meal after my own heart.

Regina Pizzeria and Trattoria, 782 College St., www.reginapizza.ca,
416-535-2273/1318 LLBO, cigarettes, deliver

Review by Melissa Peters