Bar Salumi may have started as an overflow spot where waiting patrons of Local Kitchen & Wine Bar could have a drink and maybe a quick snack, but it’s branching out and building its own identity on the Queen West strip. And that’s a good thing for Parkdale residents, because Bar Salumi will soon be adding pizza to its menu.
“The bar is still an overflow space for the Local but we wanted Bar Salumi to have its own identity, so we got the oven and added pizza to the menu,” explains Fabio Bondi, chef and co-owner of Local Kitchen and Bar Salumi. The Italian oven came in on Tuesday, and five pizzas should be on the menu by next week.
“We wanted to add to the menu without losing the idea of a traditional piattini – which is a word we made up, though piattino means saucer or small dish in Italian, we just thought it sounded better than ‘tapas’ – so we went with pizza,” he adds.
But we aren’t talking run-of-the-mill pizzas here. One example is the Sfinciuni: “Anchovies and pecorino romano – a smoked cheese from Palermo – are kneaded into the dough and the pizza is topped with (among other toppings) sweated onions, breadcrumbs, more pecorino romano and parsley.” The pies will cost $12-$16.
The pizzas will be Sicilian-influenced, with the crust and dough a little thicker than your average pizza. Bondi says that they prepare their own salami (only outsourcing when absolutely needed), cure their own sardines and make their own tomato sauce.
For now, Bar Salumi will keep serving food from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. (they’ll keep the place open for drinks if patrons are there) but it may start opening for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays – stay tuned.
