Buca - Jamie Oliver knows his stuff, this place is awesome!

Our Order
Drinks

3 Glasses, White wine

1 Beer, Peroni

Appetizers

1 Stuffed Olives

1 Garlic Bread Knots

Mains

1 Tortellini with truffles

1 Pizza, Spicy sausage

Dessert

1 Tiramisu

Pre-Thoughts
My foodie friend did some research and found out that Jamie Oliver tweeted that he loved his experience at Buca on Nov 16, 2011:

my favourite meal of the year @chefbuca this Canadian is a humble genius such integrit @ Buca Restaurant Toronto http://instagr.am/p/Ug-v5/

He called on Tuesday to make a reservation for Friday and was able to grab a seating for 8:30pm. I would say definitely call early to make a reservation. So exciting!

Service: A+

We walked into a small cobblestoned alleyway on King West and found an intimate dining area that looked kind of industrial. The manager greeted us right away and offered coat check and took us to our seat. He was very friendly and welcoming. The waiter gave us plenty of time to look over the menu and ask questions. Offered us variety of water options. He offered a great suggestion to a white wine that was so delicious I was so impressed. 

He also advised that we should have our olives and pizza first than garlic knots and pasta for a better pairing of flavours but my friend preferred we get the pizza and pasta together. I really liked how he mentioned this, it really seemed like he cared about our dining experience. He also always seemed to be at our table before we knew we needed something which was something I usually expect from a fine dining - stuffy 5-star restaurant. 

Service was an A+, stellar.

Ambience: A
The ambience was romantic and intimate, modern and industrial. I saw a lot of exposed brick and there was a room at the back with windows showing meat curing, which was interesting and added to the whole ambience. It was like a place you would find at the Distillery District. I really liked how the ambience was so hip but the restaurant didn't lose their focus - the food - a lot of King West restaurants rather focus on the decor which is disappointing. The decor is very tasteful and au courant - Dates and clients would be impressed alike. 

My only quibble would be that the tables are close together, but I don't want them any further apart as it would only make getting a reservation even harder with less tables :) Can you tell I love this place?

Yum?: A+
Stuffed Olives

I don't know why but I thought these would be really squishy and moist inside. They aren't, they are hard and crunchy. Despite they weren't what I expected I really liked all the flavours together, crunchy on the outside, salty sour olive stuffed with savoury sausage. They were really yummm. Went perfect with my glass of white wine.

Garlic Knots

These were really good, they remind me of the same knots I had in this Italian restaurant called Amore in La Quinta, CA with the best risotto I have ever had. Anyway they were a nice compliment to the meal. If you are a carb lover you will love these, they are little pretzel balls covered in olive oil and minced garlic. Chewy and carby.

Spicy Sausage Pizza

I don't remember the actual name for this dish - If only I knew there wouldn't be a menu online I would've written down its actual name. Its a spicy sausage pizza - The waiter mentioned it is their best-seller. I was pleasantly surprised - I was expecting the pizza to be sub-par to Pizzeria Libretto but it was the same in style and quality. I like the Buca version more because of two reasons - first is that Buca specializes in curing and handling variety of meats so the sausage was exceptionally tasty, and second that Buca's pizza comes with Mozzarella di Bufala standard, whereas at Libretto you have to pay a few dollars more for it. 

The crust was just right - a little chewy and not too fluffy. I also enjoyed the carmelized onions, it went really well with the spicy sausage.

We were both impressed that the pizza came with a pair of crazy scissors, really it was so convenient to cut with these scissors than the usual fork/knife. 

Tortellini with Truffles stuffed with mushrooms and truffles

Hands down, this is one of the best dishes i have ever had in my entire life and I am not exaggerating. The tortellini were stuffed with copious amounts of flavourful, fragrant mushroom and tasted of the pungent truffle that I absolutely adore. The truffle shavings on top just made the tortellini over-the-top. I really liked how the tortellini didn't come drenched in sauce, it was just the right amount not to mask but compliment the highlight which was the truffles.

I'm in love.

Tiramisu

I heard a lot of great things about the Tiramisu. It was really good, creamy and not too sweet. A good ending to the meal. Maybe it was just overshadowed by the omg-amazing-ican'tbelievethis Tortellini or maybe I was just really full but it was a good solid Tiramisu nonetheless.

Conclusion
Service, Ambience, Food, everything was amazing and really top-tier. I was very satisfied and would recommend this place to anyone who wanted great Italian food. I would try their charcuterie next time. The menu is a little hard to navigate through!

Added plus - Buca is right across the alley from Cheval. Coming out we felt like rockstars - There were ropes and bouncers and a huge lineup of people wanting to get in. We felt like VIPs walking out, ha!