The Big Reveal

 

 

PAESE’S NEW RISTORANTE ON KING ST. W. 

“INSPIRED IN ITALY – MADE IN CANADA”  

TORONTO- May 10^th,  2010  – Tony Loschiavo, veteran restaurateur, chef and caterer, has opened his second location of Paese Ristorante at 333 King Street West, twenty-one years after his Bathurst Street location opened. With Executive Chef Christopher Palik on board, Loschiavo looks forward to making Paese on King, a neighbourhood favourite, promising to deliver Italian inspired food, hand crafted and house made, in a rustic elegant setting while staying true to his food philosophy, “ Inspired in Italy, Made in Canada”.  

Open daily from 11 am til midnight, Paese on King’s patrons will enjoy Palik’s unique late night menu of Italian bar snacks including potato gnocchi poutine, mini calzones, and brio-espresso ribs, as well as classic Paese signature mains. Their wine policy, unique in the restaurant industry, is dedicated to making wine more accessible; all wines are charged at cost plus $25, and there is no corkage fee on the 1^st bottle, except on Saturday ($25).  

Palik, Executive Chef at Paese Ristorante and the catering division, L’EAT Catering, has been involved in every aspect of the creation of Paese on King. In fact, Palik writes a detailed description of the birth of this new location from its conception through construction, on his blog,“ It’s comforting to know that if you want to go to a restaurant where every single square inch has been thought about, measured, changed, redesigned and redesigned again, all for your pleasure, than this is the place ”.  

This ninety-seat modern Italian eatery boasts walnut butcher-block tables and bar as well as exposed reclaimed brick walls. Palik has been instrumental in cultivating a small organic farm with Loschiavo in order to provide some of the fresh ingredients for Paese’s seasonal menu. Some of the 300 plants include 12 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, squash, lettuces and herbs.  

Local farming is not new to Loschiavo. Loschiavo moved to Canada in 1965, from Southern Italy when he was only 3 years-old. Loschiavo’s mother, Nazzarena, brought with her tomato seeds and dried beans for a garden that she would plant in her new country. “Inspired in Italy, Made in Canada” is the way Loschiavo describes his thought process when it comes to the food he serves at Paese, ”We understand our influences and our roots but we also understand that we live in Canada. Our menu has a place for both of these influences “.  

Media Contact: Deirdre Anderson, Director of Catering and Marketing for the L-EAT GROUP, L-eat Catering, L-eat Express and Paese Restaurants  P 416.631.9226 ext 228   C 416.576.0040  deirdre@leatcatering.com   www.paeseristorante.com www.paesekingstreet.wordpress 

Open for business!

And in 9 short months we went from this........

To this............

We will be hard to miss on this block with our massive custom-built bright orange front door.

 

Organizing and cleaning the kitchen, day one.

Even once the kitchen was built there was still more cleaning to do before we could cook.

Boxes of new kitchen swag. Chris, loving it.....

Christmas for chefs would look something like this.....

something like getting to unpack.......

Thousands of dollars of brand spanking new kitchen equipment!!!!

The first produce showing up.

The first orders of meat and cheese.

Even though I had worked up and tried all the recipes at Bathurst street the recipes still had be tried again for my staff to learn.

Rolling gnocchi.

Rolling more gnocchi.

Our first staff lunch, next door at a great spot called Z-Teca. Thanks Marco for feeding everyone who worked on Paese and who still works at Paese!

The dining room staff, setting the room for the first time.

I had to a admit seeing it all come together was a bit strange. You picture it in your mind for months but nothing can really prepare you for seeing it complete for the first time.

Niki setting up the bar. A very, very important job. Experienced professionals only!

Oh yeah!

Opening day and the first chance for the front and the back of the house to meet was.....

at a family meal in the dining room.......

and made by these guys.

Set up complete and ready to open up the doors and invite in our first customers.

 

 

Lighting the space was key to its ambiance

Probably the most expensive bar lights we could find.

And how to fill all this?

Bruce and Dipendra, Paese's master sommelier and sommelier holding a reciepts from the LCBO for $14,000, bought on opening day.

A night-time setting showing off the design features we wanted people to see. The warmth of the brick and walnut, the lighting and the clean uncluttered lines of the dining room.

Two large booths at the front overlooking the bar and patio. Prime real estate.

Looking down the bar.

The first menus being printed...

and the first dish being cooked.

And how would I describe the food that we serve at Paese, Well I love that we do things like this everyday. Roast Chickens,

Make the pastas and the gnocchi everyday to get.......

Ricotta gnocchi with roasted chicken, sweet peas and mascarpone cream sauce.

Stretch every pizza dough by hand......

To get funghi pizza with truffle and fontina.

We make all of our own desserts, like vanilla panna cotta with poached peaches from last summer and rosemary biscotti.

Dry age our own steaks, grilled rib eye with red wine lentils and bone marrow.

And brine and roast porchetta everyday. Just a small example of how we try to cook the simplest of foods.

 We are finally open and I am relieved, exhausted, excited and inspired. Its funny, so many people have helped us get to where we are right now, and even though Deirdre, Tony and myself have been so personaly involved for what feels like so long, its a different feeling to know that we have now put it all in the hands of our staff and our customers. 

Diprenda, Cynthia, Andrew, Andrew, Jake, Craig, Bruce, Lena, Amy, Alisa, and Alex

Mitchel, Myself, Andrew, Chris, Dylan, Naser, Stephanie, Catherine, Lincoln, Shana, Luan, Miheer and Andrew.

Come on in, We know you will like it.

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