For the love of pasta

The Pastaio, David

As the son of Italian immigrant parents, David has always had a close connection with traditional Italian cuisine. His family hails from the Ciociara region of southern Lazio, where fettucine is a feature of most Sunday meals. He had the pleasure of watching his mom roll out pasta almost every week and not before long, he began to do the same. Not just making pasta, but cooking meals for the family on a regular basis, usually inspired by the cooking shows he loved to watch: Molto Mario, Emeril, and of course the OG Iron Chef.

However, cooking wasn’t always a career path David considered. After graduating high school, he had his sights set on an Information Technology degree at York University. Needless to say, it didn’t work out. He needed to work with his hands, and the desk job couldn’t satisfy that desire.

George Brown College in Toronto is where David began his professional culinary career. He completed both the Culinary Management and Italian Culinary Arts programs. He also completed an 8 month stage at the Michelin starred restaurant, La Bastiglia in Umbria. It was here that David saw first saw pasta as more than just a plate of food, but a way to express yourself.

Upon returning to Canada, he became a line cook on the pasta station at Zucca Trattoria. Under the guidance of Chef Andrew Milne-Allan, David became familiar with even more traditional pastas from all over Italy.

Wanting to focus solely on pasta, David began to search for his first pasta making job: a pastaio. The search brought him to the newly opened Scarpetta in Toronto. Scott Conant’s pasta program at his Scarpetta restaurants was highly respected and David would bring his expertise. Soon after opening in Toronto, Scott had David train his other pasta makers in new Scarpetta’s in Beverly Hills and Las Vegas.

During his time at Scarpetta, David became more familiar with Buca, which was just down the street. Ever since eating at Buca soon after it opened more than 10 years ago, it became one of David’s favorite restaurants. Once he caught wind of Rob Gentile’s plans of opening another location, David knew that Buca could be in his future. After more than a year of waiting for a position to open up, David became Buca’s pasta and bread maker. Although David hadn’t baked much bread before, he was up to the challenge and quickly learned. Through the years, he’s grown to love and master the art of bread making.

David has been with Buca since November 2012, preparing and creating pastas as well as heading the bread program. He has been featured in publications such as the Toronto Star, Foodism, and Nuvo Magazine. Most recently he headlined a pasta demo along side New York sensation, Stefano Secchi, at the Philadelphia Chef Conference in March 2020.

He now enjoys his time at home with his wife, Jennifer, and children, Siena and Gabriele.