Tony Gagliano of St. Joseph Media which publishes Toronto Life does not own the restaurant Via Allegro. On the other hand Felice Sabatino, one of Gagliano’s best friends, does.

Which may explain equally well why Toronto Life has assiduously promoted Via Allegro over the past eighteen months without ever actually reviewing the restaurant as the public know it. .

April 2006: Via Allegro is no.7 on Best Restaurant List.
"Larger than life, flamboyant and romantic, Via Allegro tries to be all things to all people. Thanks especially to the energy and passion of its creator, Felice Sabatino, it succeeds amazingly well. The sheer size of the place—around 200 seats—sets it apart in this company, while Sabatino’s relentless quest for excellence encompasses everything from pizza and pepper mills to the breeding of the cattle that become his steaks. Chef Lino Collevecchio is the interpreter of the dream, braiding a menu of classic Italian and refined modern cuisine. He’ll cook you a disarmingly innocent dish of pasta with tomatoes or roast a pig’s head to crisp perfection, serving the tail and belly on the side. His ragoût of veal cheek and tongue is rich and voluptuous; his octopus and crayfish terrine, sliced like paper-thin porphyry, is as dainty as lace. The vast wine list contains 19th-century trophies, many bargains and treats by the glass and more than 700 single-malt Scotch whiskies."

April 2006 “Little old Ripley Avenue,” muses Afrim Pristine. “It boggles the mind! But there really isn’t a great restaurant between downtown and Via Allegro, and there’s a lot of action in the west end and this neighbourhood in particular right now.

April 2006 Via Allegro. Classic pastas and risottos are favourites at this chi-chi west-end spot. If you’re gluttonous, they’ll even wrap up half a roasted pig’s head ($21.95), with tongue, tail and belly.

June 2006. With the larger-than-life passion it’s known for, Via Allegro responds to the tapas trend with a dish that also embraces the grand spirit of sharing

June 2006 Wise restaurateurs often bring their chefs to New York for research and inspiration. Felice Sabatino of Via Allegro eats Manhattan annually with his chef, Lino Collevecchio,

Oct 2006Phil Sabatino, the cut-no-corners Via Allegro proprietor and certified king of self-promotion, says he’s on the hunt for a downtown high-end steak house location. The resto will undoubtedly showcase the divine Limousin beef he’s been raising, slaughtering and aging to exacting standards.

Oct 2006 an amazing lunch at Via Allegro, sharing the big party table in the front of the restaurant with three master whisky distillers—from Glenfiddich, Arran and Woodford Reserve bourbon—and the publisher of Whisky magazine—which has just awarded its highest honour to Via Allegro on account of the restaurant’s list of over 750 whiskies. …Lunch at Via Allegro tends to take the entire afternoon when our host Phil Sabatino sits down with us, but this time we were finished by 4:30. Chef Lino Collevecchio created some amazing dishes. He used Glenlivet to spike a beef consommé poured over barley, tortellini and bluefoot mushrooms—awesome with the 18-year-old Glenfiddich. We drank crisp Speyside Cragganmore with a dish of lamb neck and a fine old Bertani amarone with a lean, superbly tender venison chop saltimboccaed ...Via Allegro’s whisky guru, manager Joseph Cassidy, came up with a delicious cocktail made with _ ounce of Woodford Reserve Bourbon and 1_ ounces of very cold prosecco...So that was one lovely dinner.

Nov 2006. Now in its third year, The Wine Tasting Challenge is presented by the Rennaissance Project, a program backed by Via Allegro's Phil Sabatino and wine importer Howard Wasserman of B&W Wines to raise Toronto’s profile as a culinary destination. The competition is administered by the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticultural Institute at Brock University, with Toronto Life being one of several sponsors. Toronto Life will announce the winners in an upcoming issue...

Dec 2006..The star of Toronto Life's party... But the big buzz? The Via Allegro Scotch Tasting Lounge, which opened at 8PM. Featuring top-shelf Talisker and Caol Ila scotches, this opulent room attracted scotch aficionados and rookies alike for a unique experience under the watchful professional eye of Via Allegro’s scotch steward Joseph Cassidy.

Jan 2007Via Allegro_… Restaurateur Phil Sabatino’s over-the-top ode to Neapolitan food and hospitality is home, without question, to some of the finest cooking and service in the city.

Jan 2007Via Allegro_Many of the wines at this west-end restaurant cost more than a new car. …They are there to demonstrate the prestige of the collection, says proprietor Phil Sabatino. But with a wine list as thick as a phone book (5,500 selections, 60 to 70 by the glass) and four sommeliers to guide you, there are plenty of more realistic options.

April 2007To Via Allegro on Monday for the awards lunch of The Wine Tasting Challenge. It’s an extraordinary competition, created by Via Allegro’s president, Phil Sabatino, in the name of his ever-evolving brainchild, The Renaissance Project ... The lunch was a splendidly dramatic occasion, complete with monsoon, thunder and powercut, though the storm held off until all present had enjoyed chef Lino Collevecchio’s gorgeous lunch.

Jan 2007Via Allegro_… Restaurateur Phil Sabatino’s over-the-top ode to Neapolitan food and hospitality is home, without question, to some of the finest cooking and service in the city.

Jan 2007Via Allegro_Many of the wines at this west-end restaurant cost more than a new car. …They are there to demonstrate the prestige of the collection, says proprietor Phil Sabatino. But with a wine list as thick as a phone book (5,500 selections, 60 to 70 by the glass) and four sommeliers to guide you, there are plenty of more realistic options.

April 2007To Via Allegro on Monday for the awards lunch of The Wine Tasting Challenge. It’s an extraordinary competition, created by Via Allegro’s president, Phil Sabatino, in the name of his ever-evolving brainchild, The Renaissance Project ... The lunch was a splendidly dramatic occasion, complete with monsoon, thunder and powercut, though the storm held off until all present had enjoyed chef Lino Collevecchio’s gorgeous lunch.

May 2007Quite a contrast to last Monday’s gala lunch at Via Allegro where the prizes for the 2005 Wine Tasting Challenge were handed out. The six winners (three pro, three amateur) bagged a total of $30,000 in cash, trips, Spiegelau stemware, free meals and scholarships, making it easily the most valuable sommelier competition in North America. ... Toronto Life is a sponsor...

July 2007 Blast from the pasta: Via Allegro's simple summer dish

July 2007 Via Allegro’s president, Felice Sabatino, and chef, Lino Collevecchio, regularly dine at all the city’s top 20 restaurants, ordering—and eating—almost every dish on the menu.

Nov 2007 Chris Nuttall Smith anonymously slamsVia Allegro

"On one recent visit on a busy Wednesday evening, it takes more than 40 minutes for a server to bring bread to the table and nearly an hour for anyone to arrive with water—not a good beginning for a restaurant with pretensions of being one of the world’s best. Empty prosecco glasses sit unnoticed for 20 minutes."

Chris is the former Toronto Life Food Editor.