In honour of the Taste of Little Italy, old-school eateries Café Diplomatico and Bar Italia battle for the boot. Who is flying Italia’s true colours? Whose marinara is worth chowing down? You decide.
Café Diplomatico |
vs. |
Bar Italia |
| Rocco Mastrangelo, 1968. | Owner & year opened: |
Joe Bonavota, 1967 (new location, 1996). |
| The Dip’s a landmark, a piece of history. We’ve been in the biz for 45 years — we’re on the fourth generation now! | Claim to fame: | It’s a great place to socialize with friends and family over great food and wine. |
| We have a lot! But in my opinion, we have the best panzerotti in the city. | House specialty: | One dish we can never take off the menu is our fettuccine bolognese. It’s great Italian comfort food. |
| Frank. His music is great, and then there’s the whole gangster persona .… | Who’s got the chops: Sinatra or Dino? | Sinatra. Dean Martin’s great, don’t get me wrong, but I love Sinatra’s music. |
| That’s a tough one. I’d go with Firenze — it’s much more laid-back. | Roma or Firenze? Which city does it for you? | Rome. I love the Renaissance of the city, the historical recognition, the ruins. Everything. |
| We’ve had Queen Latifah, Nelly Furtado, Harrison Ford .… | Biggest celeb to visit: | Rihanna wanted our calamari fritti, instead of grilled. We obliged. |
| I’d say Armani. Versace’s too loud. | Versace or Armani? | Versace. Love the look. Love the distinction. |
| My uncle Paul will serve spidini (mini lamb skewers) from our street-side BBQ. We’ll probably hit about 10,000 skewers! | What’s happening for Taste of Little Italy? | We’re going to have a huge, huge patio on the street! Last year we had several thousand people over the course of three days. |