Hot New Montreal Pizzeria Falls Flat for Critic

Caldo, the new Rosemont–­La Petite-Patrie pizzeria from the M sur Masson trio of Grégory Duval, Martin Mauté, and Daniel Lacombe, garners its first review today. Le Journal de Montréal critic Thierry Daraize ambles over to the Technopôle Angus development to give the restaurant a whirl, and likes the ambiance, and the post-industrial digs. The pizza, however, falls short of Daraize's Montreal gold standard, Bottega: "Malheureusement, ici, nous n’avons pas retrouvé ces vertus tant ­attendues. Caldo a encore bien des croûtes à manger..."

The restaurant's food, ultimately, proves to be its downfall. Daraize and his cohorts skip the starters ("peu attrayantes"), in favour of half-portions of risotto, and pasta. Both disappoint. The risotto is "pâteux, trop collant avec une sauce trop réduite." Similar problems plague a pasta and meatball dish—which is dry, with non-existent sauce. On to the presumed star of the show, Caldo's pizza. Daraize samples a couple, and finds the flavours "agréables", but the lacklustre crust dooms it all to hell—"la pâte gâche tout, malheureusement." Desserts, a strawberry tart, and a tiramisu, are decent, but there are other hiccups at Caldo of note. (A server pours Daraize's wine away from the table, and never displays the bottle.) The overall verdict on Pizzeria Caldo: a mediocre two and a half stars on five.