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Food & Drink

Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington

By Renée Suen
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Introducing: Cellar Door
(Image: Renée Suen)

Name: Cellar Door Contact Info: 3003 Lakeshore Blvd. W., 416-253-0303, cellardoorrestaurant.ca, @cellardoorTO
Neighbourhood: New Toronto Chef/Owner: Robert Rubino, a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) graduate who trained abroad at Michelin-starred restaurants like Ristorante San Domenico in Bologna, Italy, and L’Atelier Joel Robuchon in Paris, France Pizzaiolo: Rodrigo Palacio

The Food: Wood-fired pizzas, handmade pastas and other dishes from Rome and Calabria, a region in Southern Italy. A rustic, Calabrese-style pasta combines thick-cut buckwheat noodles with clams, scallops prawns, mussels and preserved chilis. Unlike most Italian chefs, Rubino cooks his food without butter or oil, and then adds a splash of good olive oil prior to serving.

The Drinks: The wine list includes sustainable and bio-dynamic wines from lesser-known regions of Italy and Ontario.

The Place: Housed in an old bank building, the restaurant is spacious and airy, with black walls, concrete floors and shelves lined with colourful jars of house-made pickles.

Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington
Introducing: Cellar Door, a serious southern Italian restaurant at Lakeshore and Islington

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