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Occhiolino
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“We’re an established company already - we've been supplying restaurants with pasta for about 10 years,” says Luke Donato, the New York born and trained chef who makes up half of the duo behind Occhiolino. “So we finally decided we wanted to serve our own customers, and we wanted something approachable and available, something that was low barrier, a place you could go to often.
“Keith McNally, the famous restaurateur in New York City, his famous line is, ‘I build restaurants I want to go to.’ I’m a new parent of a five year old and a just under two year old, and I need a restaurant where I can straight fire a Spaghetti Pomodoro for my son. I need a Negroni that's never going to go dry. I need a change table in the washroom. I need to be out in 45 minutes and there's an option for me to buy noodles and have a Get Out of Jail Free card with some prepared food. That's my dream restaurant, so that's kind of what I did.”
As relaxed and approachable as the vibe is, everything - down to the last detail - has been thoughtfully executed. The dishes are simple in ingredients - an homage to the Italian grandmothers of Donato and chef Nick Manzone - but complex and rich in flavour. There are pasta details from noodle-shaped light fixtures to noodle decorations on the menus, and the takeout pasta available at the front counter comes listed with cook times, and the merch (available for sale behind the pasta) is modern and feels perfectly tailored to Toronto style. And Occhiolino is open every day from 11am to 11pm, ensuring that people can enjoy home-style cooking and fresh pastas for whatever occasion feels right, with the menu boasting classic staples and rotating selections based on seasonality and availability.
“Nick is a fabulous chef and has been a pasta Oh, for over a decade. I have some chops in the kitchen as well, even though I've defected to the front. So coming up with a menu is actually kind of our forte. The rest of it is the hard part - building the restaurants, getting the design, or having a an old building like this contort to our needs.”
The space is a far cry from its former life: The former mechanic shop has been completely transformed, but details like the exposed brick remain, and its physical layout - more of a square than a laneway, and two floors - and the fact that it’s set back from the street are what drew Donato and Manzone to the space. The arches in the front entryway and throughout the restaurant are reminiscent of Italian architecture, inviting people to relax, enjoy the food, and feel at home.
The insalata d’autunno, or autumn salad, was crafted with a symphony of flavours and textures in mind. “It's kale and pear, there’s a sunchoke puree and there’s sun choke chips. We love sunchoke for that earthy artichoke flavor and it has a little bit of Pecorino cheese on top,” Donato says. “It's a good top of the meal salad. Roughage, interesting, gets you chewing, gets your stomach moving.”
“Pasta fagioli is a thing of my heart. I love how classic Italian it is. We have it with some lardo and some dandelion greens. Another Nonna or Nonno item,” Donato says. “If you come from that world, you can picture your grandparents picking at the end of the driveway. But that's just another classic heartstring-pulling dish that we're happy to have.”
One of the pastas under the “fato a mano,” or “made by hand” section, the Spaghetti All’amatricana holds a particular place in the hearts of Occhiolino’s masterminds. “It’s Nick's favorite pasta. It's the one of the four Roman classics, and we're super excited to serve that. It's guanciale, Pecorino cheese, and tomato sauce,” Donato says. “It's really like the height of what we do, I think. And it's at the top of the menu for that reason.”
For dessert, the team at Occhiolino decided to go with a Toronto classic: soft serve from Tom’s Dairy Freeze - Manzone’s cousin owns the iconic Etobicoke landmark. “We have vanilla soft serve that has different garnishes throughout the week,” Donato says. His personal favourite is olive oil and sea salt, an Italian classic. “I love the play of savory and salty,” he says.
“The unusual cocktail side of the menu is cocktails that you wouldn't necessarily find in Italian restaurant, yet they're so naturally in an Italian restaurant,” Donato says. The Trident is Occhiolino’s version of a Negroni (though both a Negroni and a Negroni sbagliato are available. It’s made with equal parts Aquavit, Cynar and dry sherry. “It's kind of a Viking Barcelona, sea spray Negroni,” Donato says.
The Garibaldi, Donato says, is a rip off from Dante’s in New York City. “I always like to remember it. It's simple and yet delicious for daytime or nighttime, and it's low ABV,” he explains.“It's fresh orange juice that we put through a high speed juicer, which creates a lot of volume and frothiness - the texture is really good. And then just Campari with the orange juice. And, man, I can't think of a better way to start lunch.”
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