Spaccio West is the Terroni Group's newest Italian commissary kitchen, café, storefront, and restaurant located in the Junction Triangle.

As an offshoot of the original commissary kitchen on Sackville Street, Spaccio West specializes in the production of all the pasta and frozen pizza products used in Terroni's restaurants, and what's sold through the subscription-based pizza delivery service Porta and retail outlets.

(Spaccio on the east side makes all the bread, desserts and gelato, bolognese sauce, and does the butchery.) And just like its predecessor, this Spaccio operates as a mercato, with a sit-down restaurant space and patio.

According to owner Cosimo Mammoliti, the Spaccio concept was originally created to help streamline the high-demand production required by Terroni, Sud Forno, and their subsidiaries while maintaining quality. Over time, Spaccio evolved to include retail and dining.

When the demand surpassed what the commissary kitchen was able to supply, he looked into expanding.

Taking over the former Drake Commissary space, the business brings quality goods, plus Terroni’s downtown flavours and hospitality to the west end.

Walk past the ground floor patio and up a set of stairs to reach Spaccio's bakery and fully stocked takeaway counter. (There is a separate accessible entrance available by request.)

This is the Sud Forno grab-and-go section where you’d find prepared salads, paninis made with homemade focaccia, sandwiches bursting with fresh mortadella and large slabs of cut pizzas – that can be reheated at order – at the display counter.

Grab a cortado with a bite-sized bombolini filled with Nutella or pastry cream, $8.50 for three, for a quick afternoon pick-me-up, or take away a loaf of bread or prepared sandwich.

Choose from a selection of pastries, $4.25 each, like the girella alla cannella (pearl sugar dusted cinnamon roll) to a cacio e pepe croissant, or classic almond croissant.

There are crisp chocolate Cannoli Sicilian, $8 for two, that’s filled with fresh ricotta, pistachios, and candied orange peel.

The marketplace is flooded with shelves lined with quality staples to hard-to-find Italian pantry goods.

Refrigerator display cases packed with fresh and frozen heat-to-serve Terroni and Sud Forno products feature everything from frozen croissants to lasagna bolognese.

The fresh grocery section sells restaurant quality ingredients - as in, the same fresh produce, seafood like house-smoked salmon and octopus, plus butchered meats and imported cheeses that are used in Terroni's restaurants.

In addition to other thoughtful kitchen tools and shopping supplies – do check out the custom-designed hot and cold food carrier – there's a large selection of Italian wines brought in by Cavinona, Terroni's wine import agency.

The latter represents 95 producers with over 350 labels and varietals not typically found in the city from regions such as Etna, and Pedemonte.

Dominating the south side are two spacious dining rooms that are lined with exposed brick, hardwood flooring, and leather-backed banquettes that seat 100.

The southeastern corner features gorgeous banquettes and bar back-splash that were inherited from The Drake, while the southwestern corner is flanked by windows with views of the production kitchen.

Subscribing to simply prepared dishes using the best quality ingredients including olive oil he's imported, Mammoliti explained it as this: "The simpler the food can be, the more people can feel good about what they ate. It feels like a healthy meal at the end."

It’s this very reason that Mammoliti's restaurants don't subscribe to modifications and substitutions; the best ingredients have been accessed and prepared (materia prima), and any changes can't guarantee the quality and flavour the brand has upheld for thirty years this December.

From an operational standpoint, it also keeps consistency in service.

Serving early morning coffee and pastries, weekend brunch, lunch, and dinner, those choosing to dine in can pick from the spacious 50-seat front patio and the indoor dining rooms.

While the menu is more concise and has distinctly different offerings than its parent brand, it does feature some of Terroni’s greatest hits.

To start, there are classics such as the Carpaccio di Manzo, $18, which is specific to Spaccio and not offered at any Terroni location.

The no-fuss dish features beef tenderloin that's drizzled with house-made mayonnaise and crostini, and is a great opener sided with a cocktail like the Tramonto, $16, that's made using Aperol, tequila, amaretto, and lime juice.

There are cocktails like the Paper Plane-inspired Dundas West, $17, that’s made with yellow chartreuse, Fernet Branca, lime juice and St. Germain.

Terroni is synonymous with pizza, and the version served here is a rift of Roman style but with an airier, light, focaccia-like crust. The dough is made at Spaccio East and is easier to digest due to its long fermentation (three days).

The Mancu Li Cani, $21, is an uncut pie that's topped with tomato, mozzarella, ribbons of fried eggplant, and finished with dollops of fiery homemade n'duja sausage and shaved Parmigiano. The crust is airy and almost delicate; the pizza is packed full of flavour and would be a choice option for those who like spice.

Cavatelli Cozze e Vongole, $23, coats ridges of al dente fresh pasta with a bright and sweet sauce made from cherry tomatoes, fresh clams and mussels, and white wine. The simple and flavourful dish is finished with breadcrumbs and finely chopped herbs.

Branzino alla Griglia, $38, features the filets of a whole grilled seabass that’s sided by a light and fruity salad made from shaved fennel and orange segments tossed in lemon juice and dusted with toasted sliced almonds.

The combination is fresh, bright, and tastes like warm Mediterranean sunshine even as the city starts to descend into the throes of fall and winter.

Impressive and excellent, the Cotoletta alla Milanese, $32, features a breaded bone-in veal chop that’s been pounded thin and fried.

Served with a salad made from lemon juice-dressed arugula, cherry tomato, and radish, the Parmigiano topped side refreshes the palate between bites of the crisp, golden cutlet.

Brunch includes elevated crowd favourites such as French Toast, $15, that tops egg-soaked pane brioche with a checker-board pattern of alternating fresh Ontario berries and pistachio cream.

It's a whole breakfast meets dessert experience depending on how much maple syrup you want to douse it with.
Feeling lux? Check out the Uova al Tartufo, $21. Here, soft scrambled eggs with Parmigiano cheese is topped with a generous shaving of black truffle and served with crisp and chewy Pugliese toast.

Pair your meal with a bottle or glass of wine from the menu.

Love what you try? You can pick up a bottle from the mercato to take home.

Spaccio West is open daily from 8 a.m. to close, except for statutory holidays. For those who drive, there's plenty of parking available, especially in the evenings or on the weekend at the rear of the building.