The heart and soul of The Kitchen at Mono Mills is owner and chef (and favourite pizza maker this side of the Atlantic) Liana Gualtieri. Multi-scale catering, in-person dining, charcuterie food prep and gnocchi cooking classes with bona fide Italian enthusiasm are all on the table at this Highway 9 and Airport Road European-style eatery.
“Food has always been my passion,” said Gualtieri. “I remember travelling home on the GO train from my previous job, working for an airline in Toronto, and I would create new recipes to try for my father when I got home. My chef life truly took off when I moved to Italy. I began to tour new restaurants, study in the kitchens with some of my favourite chefs and learn all about authentic Italian dishes and culinary secrets.”
Gualtieri believes in flavours but not ingredients that overpower or cover up the true essence of her dishes. “I love working with flavours,” she noted. “If you come to any of my cooking classes, you will find that I don’t use a lot of extra ingredients to cover up flavours; rather, I use foods that pair well together and bring out the authentic flavours naturally — it really has nothing to do with garlic.”
The items on The Kitchen at Mono Mills menu are mostly Gualtieri’s personal favourites: chicken and veal parmesan, shrimp zucchini risotto, mushroom truffle ravioli, gnocchi and our lobster ravioli.
