After more than four decades in business, Dollard-des-Ormeaux Italian restaurant Pastamore is preparing to shut its doors, bringing an end to a West Island institution that has served generations of customers.
The restaurant’s closing is scheduled to take place on June 14 has prompted an outpouring of memories from former employees, longtime customers and members of the Novati family, who founded the business in 1981.
“There was a lot of love put into that store,” said Maria Novati, daughter of founders Mario and Maria Novati.
Pastamore began as a fresh pasta and sauce shop at Marché de l’Ouest, which had recently opened its doors in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. At the time, fresh pasta and take-home sauce were still a novelty in the area.
Mario Novati, the original owner of Pastamore, who founded the Italian restaurant in Dollard-des-Ormeaux in 1981.
Mario Novati, who was born in Venice and immigrated to Canada as a teenager, developed many of the restaurant’s recipes himself. With the majority of the sauces named after his children and grandchildren, family names that, according to his daughter, remain on the menu today.
The family later sold the business, but many customers continued returning year and year.
For Ryan Brownstein, those visits spanned three generations.
“It’s very sad news,” Brownstein wrote in response to the closing announcement. “I went for many years with my parents and then in recent years with my wife and son.”
Others remembered the people behind the food.
Former employee Shawn Err recalled his first job was at Pastamore in 1993 at age 15.
“Mario was an absolute gem of a boss,” Err said. “You couldn’t ask for a better boss.”
Err remembered lunchtime crowds filling the Marché de l’Ouest location and customers who returned almost daily.
“To this day, I love being in my kitchen. I owe everything I’ve learned in how to cook because of him (Mario),” he said.
Pastamore, now owned by Vince Curro and Richard Zaki, announced the closing on social media, saying it was time to “turn the page” after more than 40 years in business. The owners were not available to speak to The Gazette before publication.
For Novati, the messages shared since the closing announcement have underscored the lasting effect her parents’ business had on the community.
“It’s funny how you don’t realize you touch people,” she said.