Introducing: Boccone Trattoria Veloce, Massimo Capra’s new Italian restaurant at Pearson Airport

Introducing: Boccone Trattoria Veloce, Massimo Capra’s new Italian restaurant at Pearson Airport

Introducing: Boccone
(Image: Igor Yu)

Name: Boccone
Neighbourhood: Mississauga
Contact info: Domestic departures, Terminal 1, Pearson Airport, 416-776-0492
Owners: Massimo Capra and SSP, a UK-based food and beverage company operating restaurants in 140 airports around the world (SSP is a competitor to OTG, which is also opening new restaurants at Pearson)
Chef: Massimo Capra, owner of Mistura and Sopra and Restaurant Makeover star. More recently, he designed the menus at Fraticelli’s in Richmond Hill and Massimo Capra’s Rainbow Room in Niagara Falls.

The food: Casual Italian favourites, with a wide enough range to appeal to airport travellers (Capra promises the dishes are held to the same  standard as at his restaurants). Expect appetizers like fried calamari ($12) and arancini (fried rice balls filled with cheese and mushrooms, $13), as well as thin-crust pizza, scaccia (stuffed flatbread similar to calzone), panini, pasta and secondi like meatballs and sausage with polenta ($18). To finish, there’s traditional Italian desserts like cannoli, tiramisu and dough fritters (all $9).

The place: The bright, open space is centred around a marble-topped bar ringed by red leather banquettes, with high tables in the middle and an open kitchen along the side. The logo, a stylized version of Capra’s trademark mustache, appears on the menus and in various guises throughout the room. The restaurant is open to the rest of the terminal, which means it doesn’t provide much of an escape from boarding calls and hustling travellers. Over in the U.S.-transborder departures area is Boccone Pronto, a quick-service counterpart to the sit-down restaurant.

By The Numbers:

• 3,291 square feet of dining space.
• 1,000 pounds of dough served each week (for pizza and scaccia)
• 75 staff (kitchen and servers)
• $39–$97, the price range on wine bottles, from Cypress Vineyards’ White Zinfandel to a Farina Amarone
• 10 minutes, time from sitting down to being served food (guaranteed)
• $8–$21, the menu’s price range