Romagna Mia to get a new look and a new name—and a goodbye feast

For almost 14 years, co-owner and chef Gabriele Paganelli has been turning out reliable northern Italian classics at his restaurant Romagna Mia, not to mention the homemade salumi he was making way before it was cool. This Sunday, Romagna Mia will be closing its doors for good—and reopening in two and a half weeks as a new restaurant.

To end things on a high note, Romagna Mia is having one last celebratory bash: a $150, seven-course feast including, northern Italian wine pairings that will be a throwback to the 1996 movie Big Night, in which two brothers try to save their Italian restaurant by throwing one last meal. (We’re told that there are still approximately 30 seats available.)

After a renovation, the new restaurant will be called Paganelli’s Risotteria-Enoteca, and will offer old favourites from the Romagna Mia menu, like fresh, house-made pasta and risotto. New to the menu will be pizzas served by the foot and family-style dishes for sharing. A new wine bar will offer over 30 wines by the glass, and a new takeout deli counter will sell house-made salumi.

Co-owner Alexandre Lussier told us that the new space, by Royal Design, “will create the feeling of being in a cantina in Italy.” A large glass refrigerator will be installed to showcase Paganelli’s salumi, and new communal tables made from repurposed bowling-alley wood will do double duty as stations for cooking classes.

Other projects for the team include a new Paganelli’s Risotteria in Woodbridge, now open Wednesday to Saturday for dinner; a new 3,000-square-foot salumi factory in East York; and a possible guided culinary tour of Italy in late September. Paganelli’s Risotteria-Enoteca is scheduled for a soft opening on March 24th.

Romagna Mia, 106 Front St. E., 416-363-8370, romagna-mia.com