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| - From Calabria with Love. A story about a father and son, and their passion for southern Italian cuisine. From the Domenico family who brought you the celebrated Montreal restaurant, Lucca, in partnership with Francesco Cardinale, comes Doppio Zero (Double 00 - license for the most highly refined Italian flour). Open since December, with Sinatra on the soundtrack, in a neighborhood near you.
Armeni Domenico says, "I'd rather get used to this new environment now, so that when we get busier, I'll be more than ready." Natale Domenico says, "We try to get our ingredients, across the board, from Calabria."
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Entering the modern dining room, a long bar seats local residents enjoying thin crunchy pizzas from the embers of the wood-burning oven. Large cans of San Marzano tomatoes line the wall. Wooden communal tables and candle-lit tables for two add a warm rustic ambience.
A Sicilian Caesar cocktail plush with olives is finished with Italian sausage and parmesan on the rim. Crackling pizza with tomato, fresh mozzarella, a medley of 1 mushrooms, chilies and garlic oil envelope us with savoury Neopolitan aromatics. The dough has rested and fermented for thirty-six hours to its optimum sweetness.
Char-grilled octopus splashed with lemon vinaigrette is the essence of the Mediterranean. Succulent lamb chops are tended with virtuosity, and crown delicately seasoned sautéed Swiss chard, and warm potatoes, simmered in garlic, are mashed with fresh basil and cream. We could eat them right out of the pot. There is more. We're introduced to egg fettuccini with meaty swordfish, colourized with cherry tomatoes and capers, and uniquely scented with 4 saffron for a perfectly balanced array of flavours. All the pastas and pizzas are available as gluten-free or whole-wheat.
The Domenicos know what Italian food is all about, and have filled a niche along Eglinton West, an area in need of a good neighbourhood restaurant. Doppio Zero is a restaurant with a pedigree that serves the classics dishes with a creative twist. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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