Occhiolino serves a Nonna-approved menu of cucina povera classics modernized, here and there, with thoughtful local touches.

With a name that translates to "wink," in Italian, the restaurant is a welcome mix of cheek, tradition and top-notch pasta.

"I wanted something with very little provenance," says co-owner and general manager, Luke Donato, of the name. "I wanted something just fun and fresh. I didn't need to hearken back to Italy too much, I just wanted something approachable."

In Occhiolino, he and business partner Nick Manzone, who is also the restaurant's executive chef, have built a space that is "democratic and kind of offers a lot of different dining styles throughout the day," explains Donato.

Open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Occhiolino is as brilliant for a casual business lunch as it is for a romantic rendezvous, bolstered by flowing wine, piping hot bowls of pasta and the team's signature soft-serve ice cream cones.

Spread across two floors, the restaurant's aesthetic is raw and modern, cool and precise. Designed by Guido Costantino Projects, it's a space warmed by the bodies and clinking of glasses, the fork twirls and jovial conversations within.

"It's a slightly more irregular project for him," says Donato, who is also experienced in the kitchen, having previously owned Bacchanal and worked as Aubrey Drake Graham's (yes, Drake's) private chef.

"Guido is known for doing some pretty beautiful spaces. I think this is a great dichotomy. We're really happy that we get to do high-low, with a real room, we have real staff and real food but with lots of value."

Located in Little Italy, it's also a place that matches it surroundings and, hopes Donato, offers something new. "I look forward to being part of the culinary fabric of Little Italy," he says. "I think competition is always healthy competition. It takes many bodies to create great neighbourhoods."

That Occhiolino, which opened in late November, specializes in pasta, is no surprise. A chef with more than 20 years of experience, including in Michelin-starred kitchens and locally, at Buca and Campagnolo, Manzone built Toronto's beloved Pastificio Double Zero wholesale brand.

"We confidently say this, maybe with a wink, that you've probably eaten our pasta before," says Donato.

Now under the Occhiolino umbrella, the pasta company operates out of the same space as the restaurant. "This is production, restaurant all in one," he adds. There is also a retail space near the entrance, where fresh pasta and plenty of merch is available to take home.

"Nick has been perfecting his craft for 10 years, he truly is a maestro," adds Donato, explaining that the team's roster of handmade and bronze-cut pastas are all made from double zero or semolina flours imported from quality Italian mills.

"They mill slowly and they mill cold," he offers, adding that mass-produced flour requires enriching, while the traditional process helps the flour retain its natural nutrients.

Whether it's the flour, the tradition, the dedication or Manzone's deft hand, Occhiolino's chittarine and gnocchi, agnolotti, tonnarelli and cavatelli could appear any which way and you'd feverishly make them swiftly disappear.

But first, there are drinks and snacks, like crusty Focaccia di Gesu ($8) and pert, olive-oil-anointed knobs of local Burrata ($15).

Coupled with spicy watercress and assertively crisp crostini, Carne Crudo ($17) is fresh and light, with a faint whisper of truffle.

"For the most part, we serve very traditional dishes," says Donato. "But we're still an Italian restaurant in Toronto so we're going to make a little bit of Toronto food. …Some things we really want to lean into and others, we want to have fun with."

The same goes for cocktails, with a list divided between The Usuals and The Unusuals. "This is not a bacon-fat, bourbon-washed, smoked-fig syrup place," says Donato. "Our recipes are firm and ingredient-focused. We're leaning into ingredients that we know and we love and putting them into a glass smartly."

From a Negroni ($16) to a Hugo spritz ($16), the "usuals" are classics stirred up the way you'd expect.

What the team dubs "unusuals," are drinks that employ Italian ingredients in unexpected ways. Take, for instance, the Jungle Bird, a Campari-laced cocktail invented in the '70s at the Kuala Lampur Hilton Hotel. "None are original," explains Donato, adding, "they just funnily fit on an Italian cocktail menu."

Described as "pretty fresh and crunchy," Occhiolino's wine list is populated by a short mix of old-world and local bottles. "Our wine glass is a bit of a controversial wine glass," says Donato. "It has a short stem. It's intentional in the sense that it's just a glass of juice. Let's have some fun. Let's find some value."

Meant to appeal to diners' need for familiarity, the list is also meant to ease everyone in without causing unnecessary stress, jumping from familiar grapes to standouts, such as Lambrusco and "some real powerhouses," from Niagara.

A busy salad, in that it's heaped with juicy, bright ingredients, the Barbabietole ($16) combines roasted red beets with punchy slices of orange, creamy stracciatella cheese, pops of pistachio and mint.

The main event comes by way of al dente noodles, dressed simply or stuffed. There are oodles of options, from short ones tossed in lively tomato sugo to long ones swirled into tight nests, then topped with savoury, parsley-spiked pangrattato.  

Fatto a mano, or made by hand, Pappardelle al Barolo ($29) features strands as wide as painters tape, each cooked to a springy finish. Robust and rich, with beef shortrib, trumpet mushrooms, and a significant glug of its namesake ingredient, the ragu hugs every undulating curve as it travels from bowl to mouth.

An extruded pasta, Lumache al Zafferano ($28) is sunny and saffron-hued, with a shape that catches every tender crumb of rosy red shrimp and fennel sofrito.

"I build restaurants that I want to go to," says Donato, echoing a sentiment once shared by famed restaurateur Keith McNally. "I have two children, two young children. I need a place that can straight-fire a spaghetti pomodoro, I need a Negroni that's never going to go dry, I need to be out in 45 minutes. Do you have a change table? So, that's what I built."

A restaurant for families, for groups, big and small, for informal dining and for meals that flirt deliciously with life's finer things, Occhiolino is a restaurant for all.

Occhiolino is located at 499 Bathurst Street.