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FeedThe Yankees are coming!
Another new Rosedale restaurant, and Massimo Capra goes global
NYC chef Scott Conant
NYC chef Scott Conant
Scott Conant is bringing his New York restaurant Scarpetta to Toronto’s cool, new boutique hotel
A scarpetta, from the Italian, refers to “a piece of bread one uses to sop up a tasty sauce.”
“To create food that is so good people will want to sop it up, that’s the goal basically,” says Conant, on the phone from New York City, “and to create a menu, a restaurant where people feel comfortable enough to make a scarpetta and just have fun.”
Conant says Scarpetta restaurant should be open by the middle of June, and the menu will focus on using local products in his rustic Italian cuisine.
“The real goal is to create a relationship with local farmers,” Conant explains. “Right now, we just want to get great products in the door, and I’ll try not to screw them up.”
Conant was born and raised in Connecticut, north of New York City, and ended up taking cooking classes at vocational school after the plumbing program filled up.
“I was hoping something would open up in plumbing,” says Conant, “and it eventually did, but by then, I had started working at a local restaurant, and I fell in love with it.”
Conant made his way to New York City, plying his trade in a number of Italian restaurants, garnering significant critical acclaim on his way to opening his own restaurant, L’Impero, in 2002.
His bold flavours and simple preparations at the Tudor City hot spot won a three-star review from the New York Times, and L’Impero was named Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation, and Conant was cited as the Best New Chef of 2004 by Food & Wine magazine.
In 2008, Conant opened the first Scarpetta in the Chelsea neighbourhood, followed by a second in Miami Beach. The Scarpetta in the Thompson Toronto hotel will be Conant’s first International venture.
Thompson Toronto is located at 550 Wellington St. W., 416-601- 3600.
Familiar face sets up shop at Yonge and St. Clair
Italians have a saying: “Quanto basta.” Salvatore, Julia and Daniela Mele, the family of restaurateurs behind Midtown darling Capocaccia, adopted the name for their new wine bar in Rosedale.
“The name means ‘how much is enough?’” says Salvatore Mele, noting it suits the new enoteca perfectly. “You just want more and more.”
Patrons of Quanto Basta will get more gourmet wines from around the world, thanks to the wine bar’s state-of-the-art enomatic serving system. Essentially it’s a wine keg used to preserve opened bottles of wine.
The restaurant also offers a select menu of appetizers and entrees, such as Italian cured meats and fish spigola.
The Italian charm also extends to the rustic atmosphere of the 55- seat venue.
Quanto Basta is located at 1112 Yonge St.
Capra to give the restaurant industry a makeover
Toronto celebrity chef Massimo Capra, of Mistura and Restaurant Makeover fame, is set to take on the chains with his latest venture, Fraticelli’s in Richmond Hill.
“There is nothing exactly like this model in Canada,” says Capra, of the Fraticelli’s concept. “We want to bring good, rustic and elegant food to families and the general population.… There are enough places for chicken wings and burgers.We are going to serve solid Italian fare, pastas, pizza, salads and a few entrees.”
The restaurant has 180 seats in the dining room along with a large, horseshoe-shaped bar and 80-seat patio.
“We have a big, exposed kitchen, and people can sit at the bar and converse with the chefs.”
Capra, who acts as the executive corporate chef for owners Tortoise Restaurant Group Inc., says the plan is to expand the operation in the near future.
Fraticelli’s is located at 10 Vogell Rd., 905-883-6841.
Paese pulls the trigger on new King West location
Long-time North York favourite Paese has brought their culinary road show to the Entertainment District with the opening of Tony Loschiavo’s second location on King Street West.
Although Loschiavo has had expansion on the brain for years, it took him a while to get all his culinary ducks in a row.
“I needed to find the right c h e f , ” say s Loschiavo. “With myself in the kitchen, there was no time for expansion. Since I left the kitchen, I’ve had good chefs at Paese or for catering but always one and not the other. I had to find someone really on the ball.”
Enter Christopher Palik, who has helmed the Paese kitchen for a few years and dazzled customers with his creativity and passion for local food.
The 90-seat Italian eatery boasts walnut butcher block tables and bar as well as exposed, reclaimed brick walls. Paese King Street West is located at 333 King St. W., 416- 599-6585.
Fine French cuisine packed up at new Midtown shop
The small store beside Celestin, formerly home to Le Comptoir du Celestin, is back in operation under the name Cavaillon (623 Mount Pleasant Rd., 416-544-9112).
Owned and operated by Helen Leon and Ivan Tascona of Celestin, the shop is offering the fine gourmet cuisine of Celestin in vacuumpacked containers for home dining.
“We just opened up the little boutique a few months ago,” says Leon. “Ivan came up with this incredible idea of providing these gourmet meals. He cooks the food in the restaurant and vacuum packs it up to sell to our clients.”
Scuttlebutt
Club king Charles Khabouth, owner of Ultra Supper Club among others, has begun a reported $3.5 million renovation at 131 Bloor St. W. in Yorkville, the former location of dim sum destination Dynasty.
On June 13, the city’s best chefs and vintners will come together at the ROM for Toronto Taste — a fundraiser for Second Harvest food bank. Be there or be square.
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