Restaurants in Vaughan

Chefs at Crepe Delicious swirl paper-thin layers of batter onto their piping-hot crepe griddles, perfuming the air with the enticing aroma. Shortly after, the cooks lift away delectable crepes ready to be stuffed with savoury ingredients. The crepes themselves weigh in at only about 130 calories each with just 3.5 grams of fat, but they sate appetites during any meal.

The chefs at Dove Si Mangia Bene Trattoria have spent more than 17 years refining their lineup of Italian classics. Diners sit down to plates of veal topped with shrimp in tomato sauce or piping-hot sicilian pizzas covered with sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella. The eatery also hosts private events for birthdays, baby showers, and baby retirement parties.

Chef Daniel Gilbert sources organic produce and game from local farmers with an eclectic menu that changes monthly. Lunch sates season-sensitive appetites with mainstays such as Daniel's brandy pate with toast ($5.50), squared off against hearty shepherd's pie with seasonal vegetables or salad ($13.95) or smoked trout daubed with tarragon aioli ($14.95). The dinner menu whets earthy appetites with international flavours, as apparent in the tortilla bowl-bound escargot in garlic and cheese ($10.95). A roasted King Cole half duck rests its royal flank in a throne of maple glaze ($25.95), and pork tenderloin's Stilton sauce and grilled apple ($21.95) establish tenets of a taste democracy.

Marino's Italian Restaurant & Grill serves up a menu of homemade, Italian-accented steaks, seafood, and pizzas, expertly sizzled on a charcoal grill or in a wood-burning oven. Each AAA Angus steak undergoes a four- to five-week dry aging process, yielding succulent rib eyes ($22 for 8 oz., $34 for 12 oz.) and New York strip loins ($20 for 8 oz., $30 for 12 oz.) that bear the kind of tenderness and old-world wisdom that can only come with age. Meanwhile, the kitchen marinates and grills its fresh bass or sea bream whole before applying a brush of virgin olive oil ($24). Ten wood-oven pizzas come in such variations as the spicy picante ($13), mushroom-heavy funghi ($13), and white pancetta ($13). Diners can uncork a selection from the eatery's extensive international wine list, such as the Cesari merlot ($28), while ingesting their Italianate edibles in a softly lit dining room outfitted in warmly hued wood furnishings or in an outdoor seating area bedecked with breezes, natural lighting, and larks moonlighting as Frank Sinatra impersonators.

The high-energy piano throw-downs pit two well-versed pianists and their four nimble hands in the ultimate battle for spontaneous musical domination. Two sets of ivories face one another, fully equipped with microphones and fun-loving musicians who'll take requests from the audience and trade instruments, insults, and spouses, all while performing an eclectic mix of tunes on command. A full dinner menu is available before the show ($29.99 per person) in addition to a show menu available after 9 p.m. If you make your reservation for dinner before the show, you'll get a complimentary appetizer serving of the chips and dip, loaded with fresh, house-made potato chips and a signature sauce in which, it is advised, the chips are to be dipped (a $7.99 extra value).

Island Mix's menu flings two distinctive food personalities together in a buddy comedy of comestibility. Initiate ingestion sequences with a fried plantain ($2), fish cake ($3.50), or bowl of shrimp wonton soup (from $4.50) and relax in Island Mix's comfortable lounge environment. Entrees including duck curry ($18.75), jerk chicken fried rice ($9.50), and stewed king fish ($9.45) tempt tempestuous torsos into edible elopement. Dine on Wednesday and enjoy free pool games all day, or challenge dining companions to guess which side of your mouth the cue ball is hidden in.