[URBAN NOTE] Café Diplomatico, 594 College Street

[rfmcdonald]

Toronto's Café Diplomatico (594 College Street) kicked off Toronto's pleasant tradition of spending summer days on patios with caffeinated and alcoholic drinks when it opened back in 1968, but it's also a restaurant that one reviewer rightly called a "humble but wonderful hole in the wall." When I went there last month with Jerry to celebrate our first anniversary, the tastefully-decorated restaurant was bustling, in keeping with the atmosphere of the neighbourhood of Little Italy that surrounds it, with families, couples, and singles seated at tables both inside and on the pleasant patio. The meal was good, even though the house wine, a valpolicella red, was pleasantly inoffensive and my salmon steak was a bit on the dry side--Jerry's veal parmigiano was just tender enough to be perfect. That evening's particular company and the general atmosphere of the neighbourhood are two of the elements, along with the generally enjoyable food and the decent service, is enough to make Café Diplomatico rank among my favourite restaurants in Toronto.