<img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://display.blogto.com/articles/20250421-radici-project.jpeg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;quality=70&amp;format=jpeg" width="100%" /><p>It's out with the old and in with the new in Little Italy, as one well-loved Toronto Michelin spot is getting replaced with a brand-new concept from a powerhouse husband-and-wife duo.</p><p>It's no secret that Little Italy is far from wanting for great restaurants. As it happens, the neighbourhood is literally teeming with them, but that did little to lessen the blow when Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient La Bartola<a href="https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2025/02/la-bartola-toronto-closing/"> closed its doors just last month</a>.</p><p>A local staple for five years, the Mexican restaurant specialized in plant-based cuisine, working alongside pioneers&nbsp;like <a href="https://www.blogto.com/restaurants/planta-toronto/">Planta</a> and contemporaries such as the <a href="https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2024/04/rosalinda-toronto-closing/">also-now-shuttered</a> Rosalinda to prove once and for all that vegan food doesn't have to be boring.</p><p>Just a hair over a month after La Bartola's last service, though, a brand-new concept is already on the precipice of opening the doors of 588 College once again, and this time it's taking the shape of a Japanese and Italian farm-to-table concept called <a href="https://radiciproject.ca/">Radici Project</a>.</p><p>While&nbsp;Japanese and Italian cuisines may immediately strike you as an unlikely pair, the philosophies that underpin them actually happen to be particularly complementary, with the marriage of the two resulting in sublime seasonal menus crafted with local ingredients.</p><p>It's not just the combination of cuisines that has Radici Project poised for success, though. There's also the matter of the husband-and-wife duo,&nbsp;Emiliano Del Frate and Kayo Ito, as well.</p><p>Executive chef Emiliano has been a force on the culinary scene since the beginning, including Toronto&nbsp;Michelin-starred restaurants Don Alfonso 1890 and DaNico, while manager Kayo's career has spanned upscale eateries like Nobu Toronto and Joni at the Park Hyatt.</p><p>After having met while working at a restaurant in Toronto, Radici, which translates to "roots" in Italian, is the natural evolution &mdash; growth, if you will &mdash; of their combined strengths.</p><p>With such a lavish collection of restaurants under their combined belts, it's all too easy to assume that Radici Project will fall into the stuffy and tight-laced category of Toronto restaurants, but the reality will be something far more accessible than that.</p><p>"It is not about exclusivity,"&nbsp;says Emiliano. "It is about creating something honest, relaxed, and thoughtful. A place where people feel welcomed and nourished."</p><p>They're achieving that with a menu containing about 70 per cent locally-sourced ingredients along with&nbsp;comprehensive sake and wine programs.</p><p>Though the menu will rotate regularly, some highlights from the opening menu include BC Dungeness crab topped with Acadian caviar, duck breast cured in beeswax and a honey, chamomile and pollen layered sponge cake.</p><p>Diners will have the option to either dine a la carte or amp things up with a nine-course chef's table tasting menu priced at $140&nbsp;a person.</p><p>The restaurant officially opens on April 30, and reservations are available now <a href="https://www.opentable.ca/r/radici-project-toronto?corrid=3907aeac-750d-4eee-8b88-3f5675472593&amp;p=2&amp;sd=2025-04-15T19%3A00%3A00">through OpenTable</a>.</p>