Award-winning Villaggio Ristorante continues to satisfy palates with elevated traditional recipes and an evolving menu.

For 11 years, Villaggio Ristorante in Kleinburg has held guests in a food trance that keeps them coming back for more. Mouth-watering Italian dishes are not the only thing attracting people to this restaurant — it’s the magical feeling they have when they visit. It’s no coincidence that Villaggio won Vaughan Today’s Reader’s Choice Award for Best Italian Restaurant in 2012 as well as the Ospitalità Italiana award at the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario’s 2015 Pentola d’Oro. “Service is one of the most important aspects of running a restaurant,” explains Sabina Barbiere, a managing partner at Villaggio. “You can have the best food, but if you have terrible service, people won’t come back. In the end, they will always remember how you made them feel.”

That heartfelt Villaggio feel is the reason they have a growing clientele and an impeccable reputation. It’s like eating at a friend’s house for dinner; a lot of tenderness and effort goes into each meal and the staff treats you as if you are sitting at their home dinner table. “That’s how we want it to feel,” Sabina says. “The atmosphere here is very homey. We want guests to feel like family.”

And Villaggio truly is a family restaurant. Sabina is part owner with two of her sisters, Aradena and Ramona, and their brother, Anthony. The executive chef is their father, Antonio, a seasoned veteran of the restaurant business for over 35 years.

Our chefs are passionate about cooking, and that’s important to us

— Sabina Barbiere

He travelled all over Italy, discovering unique recipes and eye-opening flavour from different regions, and used that experience to create Villaggio’s delicious and diverse menu. Daughter and chef Ramona and chef Matteo Napoleoni also operate the kitchen to ensure each dish is made perfectly to order.

The Barbieres have put a modern spin on traditional Italian recipes, including their bestseller, Aragosta Risotto, a lobster risotto in rosé sauce. Another customer favourite is the delectable and unique pasta infused with lamb ragù. Service may be an important factor in this award-winning restaurant’s popularity, but the team at Villaggio Ristorante also prides themselves on the freshness and quality of their food. “The lamb is from a local butcher and it’s always Ontario-raised,” Sabina explains.

“We order the best quality food because we want to treat our customers the way we treat ourselves at home. What I would feed my family is what we serve our customers.”

So how has Villaggio remained one of the most innovative and popular fine Italian dining restaurants in Vaughan for over a decade? “We switch up our menu every week and we plan to keep introducing new dishes so that guests have variety,” says Sabina. “Our chefs are passionate about cooking, and that’s important to us. We’re all impassioned about Villaggio, and it shows.”

110 Nashville Rd.,
Kleinburg, Ont.
905-893-4888
www.villaggio-ristorante.ca

photo by carlos arturo pinto