Retired diplomat taking the Toronto pasta scene by storm with new restaurant

For most, the retirement years are meant for resting on one's laurels, revelling in the spoils of a life spent working hard. Gianni Bardini, the brains behind Pasta Basta, a new restaurant slated to open at Toronto's Mirvish Village, isn't like most people, though.

After spending years as an Italian diplomat, living in Tunisia, Australia, Brussels, Colombia, Mozambique and Canada, Bardini tells blogTO that he knew he wanted to remain active, using his retirement instead to build something of great personal significance.

Born in Tuscany and spending his working years educating about the lush intricacies of Italian culture around the world, he tells blogTO that, despite having no prior experience in the restaurant industry, narrowing down to pasta felt like a no-brainer.

"Italian cuisine, for Italian culture, it really means a lot, much more than food," Bardini explains. "It somewhat embodies some of the most relevant traits of Italian culture, and the main one I would say is to turn simplicity into art, which is very much what Italy is about."

With a reverence for Canada nearly equal to that he has for Italy, Bardini tells blogTO that he eventually concluded his mission would be to fill a gap he'd long noticed in Toronto's Italian food landscape.

"I thought that, and I still think that there is something missing, in the sense that in Toronto, there is a wide offering of fine dining Italian cuisine. There are lots of very good restaurants which do justice to Italian cuisine really well. And of course, there are also many fast food places, especially pizza and sandwiches," he says.

What's missing, though, are places that offer high-quality pasta in a comfortable atmosphere at affordable prices. That's where Pasta Basta comes in.

Gianni Bardini (right) and his team are working to open Pasta Basta by fall 2026. Photo courtesy of Pasta Basta.

Tapping regarded Italian chef (and George Brown College instructor) Dario Tomaselli, alongside a crack team to manage all the other elements of building a restaurant, Bardini plans to offer a curated menu of classic pasta dishes — think carbonara and pesto genovese — made with care, attention, and quality ingredients, just the way it's done in Italy.

For Bardini, finding the perfect location for the restaurant was of equal importance to building the perfect team and menu to bring his concept to life. When he found Mirvish Village, there was no question in his mind: it was where Pasta Basta was destined to live.

"I immediately fell in love with Mirvish Village," Bardini tells blogTO. The tree-lined pedestrian feel of Markham Street, the foot traffic and the careful curation of other businesses at the development all appealed to him deeply, but another factor played a key role: the history of the area.

"History is for us, for Italians, so important. We feel that we are rooted in the past, and we feel this somewhat obligation to carry the past with us. Of course, Italy has a much longer history than Canada, but Mirvish Village has an important place in Toronto history, because it was a place where Honest Ed's was, where the early immigrants used to go to buy stuff," he explains.

"So there is this link with the past, which for me is very inspiring and reminiscent of the link with pasta that we have in Italy."

While Bardini says that he intends to open Pasta Basta "as soon as possible," there's still work ahead — the ugly bureaucracy of licensing and waiting for Mirvish Village itself to officially open — to get it showtime-ready, but, optimistically, he estimates that Toronto residents will have the chance to experience what it's all about by October 2026.

Pasta Basta will be located at 595 Markham St.