Anyone who’s ever skipped over to München — where the festival gets underway in mid-September and wraps up this weekend — has likely found themselves sipping on pints and snacking on sausages in the middle of a gigantic beer hall. Although Toronto doesn’t have a history-drenched take on Hofbräuhaus, we do have Wvrst — King West’s answer to the question of where to head to celebrate Oktoberfest.
Germanic roots
Wvrst got its start back in 2011, when co-owners Aldo Lanzillotta and Salvatore Tino flung open the doors to their hip downtown eaters. “My father worked in Munich after World War II,” says Lanzillotta, “and he would talk about weissbier and beer halls.” The more Lanzillotta heard, the more he was intrigued. “You don’t have to be old or young or hip or cool to go,” he says of the experience.
International approach
Despite its inspiration, Wvrst doesn’t claim to be a German restaurant. “We serve traditional sausages from different regions.” says Lanzillotta. Still, sausages such as the bratwvrst are plucked straight from the Deutsch-speaking country. Others, such as the cheese-spiked kaas, look elsewhere in Europe (Holland).
The sausage
The Barese, however, is the true pièce de résistance. “It’s a shared coil,” says résistance. “It’s a shared coil,” says Lanzillotta. “It’s really stunning.” Although the sausage is made using 100 per cent heritage pork, the casing is made from lamb, which allows it to be spun out as a thinner coil. Ontario’s Perth Pork Products, which specializes in heritage pigs, supplies the pork. The sausage meat is a combination of the Berkshire pig and the Tamworth pig — the “Tamshire,” in industry-speak — resulting in maximum flavour. As per the majority of the sausages served at Wvrst, the Barese is made in-house, with the meat hand chopped and paired with Grana Padano cheese and fresh herbs and spices.
Cider House Rules
Drink-wise, they’re all about the cider. Although the Barese pairs well with any of the rotating ciders, their recommendation would be West Avenue’s Cheeriosity. Its crisp nature refreshes as it cuts through the fattiness of the sausage. After all, when you’re serving 160,000 sausages a year, you know a thing or two about how to serve them.
Wvrst, 609 King St. W. ,416-703-7775
