Negroni has expanded their menu

[TorontoJo]

Just a heads up for Negroni fans out there -- they have just started offering a small selection of pastas and risotto in addition to their panini. I haven't tried them yet, but would be curious to hear from anyone who has.

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Negroni
492 College Street, Toronto, ON M6G 1A4, CA

[vidkid]

Went last weekend and they've completely revamped the menu. There are sadly only about 6 panini (some just renamed, others with new combinations of ingredients). The menu has grown overall though, with more appetizers and now pastas and risottos added to the mix.

They had introduced the new menu on the Friday and, due to overwhelming demand for the two risotto dishes, had run out of chicken broth (!) and were thusly unable to prepare the risottos. A curious excuse (as you can buy decent c-broth at Whole Foods) but perhaps they prepare their own stock.

My friend and I split the beet salad to start. Nothing special, but as with almost everything at Negroni, tasty and simple. Baby golden and purple beets with some arugula and light-tasting but dense goat cheese.

For the mains we split one of the paninis (forget the name) with Italian sausage, pesto, and onions. Awesome as always We also split the rigatoni with ricotta cheese and cream. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente and the ricotta-based sauce, while a bit heavy, was certainly mop-up-able.

We were the only diners at 12pm on Saturday. I do hope they have enough customers to keep the business going.

[mikefly]

I just rode by on my bike, and the place looked quite busy at 8pm-ish.

Although I haven't been, I suspect the menu update is a good move. People have trouble embracing a sandwich place for dinner.

[Manybears]

I had the butternut squash risotto on the weekend and it was reeeally good. It was quite rich (it being risotto and all). I love Negroni anyway so I think I was predisposed to enjoying myself but that butternut squash risotto: whooooooooo yes.

[TorontoJo]

Thanks! Did you notice whether they're using arborio rice? I've had the risottos down the street at Sidecar before, and while the flavours have always been really good, I haven't liked the rice they use -- it seemed like they were using a long grain rice, rather than a proper short grain.