A pizza war has been heating up following the opening of Paoletti’s Pizzeria at Dufferin Street and Highway 407 in Vaughan.
The new mom-and-pop shop, which opened on Dec. 16, is located at 8700 Dufferin St., across from Dante’s Pizza Vino Pasta, successor to the original business Dante Paoletti and his four brothers founded in 1976.
Last March, Paoletti was let go as manager of his old restaurant by CDDC Hospitality Group. The investment group bought the business — which began at Yonge Street and Bay Thorn Drive — after it went bankrupt in 2006 and then opened its current Dufferin Street location in 2009.
When contacted, Paoletti, 61, declined to comment on the rivalry “until the [legal] stuff clears up.” But Paoletti was vocal about his return and his mother, Loreta, being a central force. “It’s a dedication to how we saw her work tirelessly and selflessly to create such a wonderful environment in the kitchen,” said Paoletti, who immigrated to Canada from Italy in 1959. “We didn’t have much. The most we had was the great quality of her food.”
The food on his new menu — pizzas, pastas, sandwiches — is all made using his mom’s recipes. Unlike his old restaurant, the new Paoletti’s Pizzeria, furnished with about 10 seats, is meant to be more of a takeout and delivery shop.
That hasn’t stopped Tomer Strolight, a loyal customer since 1988, from visiting six times in just the first few weeks.
“There’s nobody else who makes food like this. It’s a fresh, unparalleled taste,” he said, adding that the supreme pizza and milk-fed veal sandwich are his favourite items. “It’s amazing how quickly [Dante] is recapturing his old audience.”
“I want to keep the old tradition of a family-run restaurant serving food made by the same people, day in and day out,” Paoletti said. “A simple little place, almost like being in a nonna’s kitchen.”