Inside Sugo: Toronto's new red sauce Italian restaurant

Sugo is the Italian word for “sauce”.

More colloquially, sugo is used to describe the indelible pomodoro (tomato) sauce that constitutes the base for a multitude of Italian dishes. It’s simple, and like the namesake restaurant owned and operated by Alex Wallen, Connor Joerin and Scott Pennock (all former owners and/or employees of the neighbouring restaurant The Emerson) this new Bloordale joint is as simple as it gets.

According to Wallen, who runs the front of house, the trio had a down home focus for this restaurant, predicated by one of their most frequently consumed food items – the humble veal sandwich.

“We wanted to capture that Eastern Seaboard, Italian high top table, red sauce type joint,” he says.

The guys spent a week in NYC and Brooklyn hitting up all the old-school spots, and trying to duplicate their favourite elements of the classics, like spaghetti pomodoro, stuffed peppers, veal sandwiches and the tenable caprese salad.

The no reservations spot places 20 seats around the room with a jits table (foosball) to complement the nostalgic ambiance. Grab your requisite Moretti or Castello beer, perhaps a Brio or espresso and chit chat with the boys as they do their thing. If you’ve never tried Lambrusco ($9), a bottle fermented sparkling Sangiovese red wine with herbaceous overtones, that may be the only way to broach the unfamiliar.

Chef Connor hand pulls mozzarella in house each day – silky slices are layered between thick ripe tomatoes and Ontario basil for their Caprese salad ($10).

Meatballs ($6/per) the size of a baseball are made up of veal, pork, beef, asiago, ricotta, and parm. They poach for hours in the red sauce, absorbing the crimson nectar straight to the core.

Strianese San Marzano tomatoes make up the base of their sugo, which is liberally slathered atop hefty wedges of white Ontario borvimi veal and melted mozza on a Fred’s Bread sesame bun for their veal sammy ($12). Soup up your sandwich with peppers, mushrooms or onions for a half dollar each. Vegetarians can opt for a tranche of fried Italian eggplant ($10) if their palates prefer.

Ricotta gnocchi ($9) is also made in house. It’s topped with whipped ricotta, and what else? Sugo. The spaghetti ($9) comes with a meat sauce – of course, the base is sugo.

“It’s tomatoes, worked the right way, and a little seasoning, you know what I mean?”

Yes, we do Alex. Simple as that.

Sugo

Address: 1281 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Phone: 416-535-1717

Facebook | Instagram

See also

• Inside Copetín: Chef Claudio Aprile's new Toronto restaurant (PHOTOS)
• Inside Ku-Kum Kitchen: A Toronto restaurant celebrating Aboriginal cuisines
• Inside The Broadview Hotel: The former Jilly's strip club (PHOTOS)