The dining room menu is almost identical to the Yonge Street location, but really, why tamper with success? This is not a nascent chain. All the ingredients are lovingly gathered where freshness and attention to detail is less of a mantra but more of an obsession. Even the bottles of dangerously spiced oil that keep us compulsively dipping herb-crusted bread have been mass-produced in miraculous individual splendour. A wall of glass suspended just above the main dining room shields the kitchen where chefs Carissia and Zenon appear to glide serenely in unison (behold Toronto’s synchronized chefs) as they churn out plate after plate.

It is opening night so we are dining from the tapas style menu designed specifically for the patios and lounge. “Tapas”: the unfortunately overused and now maligned term to which we instinctively flinch when it is mentioned. If this is your definition of the tiny plates, please try to keep an open mind by using a pseudonym: Small plates? Patio food? Portion control?

We start with Caprese ($6.99) a platter of Bufula mozzarella, oven roasted tomatoes and peppers, plump olives and extraordinarily sweet marinated onions drizzled with pesto. A battle almost erupts over the Arancini del Giorno (fried Risotto Balls filled with Talagio cheese, $5.75) on the side of the plate. The outside is crisp without even a hint of oil while the tender risotto and soft cheese compete in subtlety. The spheres, while satisfyingly crunchy, are a touch too subtle, almost bland, so we are skeptical about more Risotto.

Fortunately the Barbabietole et Rucola ($20.95) restores our enthusiasm. The beets create a rich, vibrant red hue and add an elegant note to the supple grains. The heated risotto is placed in the centre of a giant parmesan wheel and stirred just long enough to absorb some bite from the cheese and acquire a garnish of shimmering shavings.