Il Boccalini

Fabio Pannozzo and his partner Aldo Tommarello founded the Il Boccalini restaurant in the late '80s. Their goal? To let people in the city discover the different specialties of their homeland. The two owners are from Lazio, Italy, and have known each other since they were young. "We didn't know we were going to meet in Canada in 1973," recalls Fabio, who worked with Aldo at an Italian restaurant downtown when he first came to Montreal.

While he was still living in Italy, Fabio worked as a cook in different hotels. He chose to come to Montreal partly because family friends visiting in Italy told him they had a restaurant in the city. Amazed by the opportunity that presented itself, Fabio did everything in his power to obtain the necessary documents so he could work in Montreal. Then in 1987, he had the idea of ​​opening his own restaurant. "I suggested to Aldo to embark on this adventure with me and that's how we got our start," he recalls.