Why is it Called The Olive Press?

The name comes from the olive mill in our ancestral village. It is a tribute to the memory of seeing olives from our grove get crushed by stone wheels and pressed to extract fresh oil.

Who Owns The Olive Press?

The Olive Press is Canadian owned and operated since its founding in 2007. It is a local, independent business, with no affiliation to any other restaurant or chain anywhere else in the world. The Olive Press^® is a Registered Canadian Trademark.

What is Italian Canadian?

20th century Italian immigrants combined their “cucina povera” with the abundance they found in Canada to create Italian Canadian dishes with decadent use of pasta, dough, sauce, cheese, meat, and seafood.

What is a Red Sauce Joint?

Because tomato sauces like marinara, meat sauce, and pizza sauce feature so prominently in Italian Canadian and Italian American restaurants, they are affectionately known as “red sauce joints”.

Sauce Everywhere

Slow-simmered tomato sauce is used liberally in dishes like pizza, spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parmesan, and for dipping calamari, calzone, and fried mozzarella. Alfredo, pesto, and lemon sauces are also popular.

Cheese, Cheese, Cheese

Generous amounts of cheese add richness and flavour. Mozzeralla is everywhere. Parmesan is offered on everything. Alfredo is made in giant batches with real Parmigianno Reggiano (“the king of cheeses”).

Thicker Pizza

Italian Canadian pizza has a thicker crust, cooked tomato sauce, high-fat low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, lots of toppings, and is baked in a deeper pan. Our dough is made in house, cold-fermented 48 hours, and risen twice.

Meat Dishes

Meaty dishes like lasagna, meatballs, sausage, chicken cutlets, veal cutlets, ribs, and chops are staples. Meat toppings on pizza and pasta are plentiful.

Seafood Dishes

Calamari and mussels are standard. As are seafood pastas, which are unapologetically saucy, not "lightly dressed" and unlike Italy, you will definitely be offered grated parmesan on seafood dishes (gasp!).

Non Traditional Ingredients

Italian Canadian cuisine uses ingredients not traditionally found in Italian cooking, like cream, and relies less on seasonal ingredients because of climate.

Portion Sizes

Italian Canadian portions are generous. Eating too much bread is encouraged. Leftovers are expected.

Richer and Saucier

The two cuisines have diverged more in recent decades. Modern Italian is lighter and more vegetable-forward than before, and Italian Canadian is cheesier, saucier, more decadent than before.

Examples of Italian Canadian Dishes?

Spaghetti meatballs, chicken or veal parmesan, chicken or veal limone, chicken pastas (alfredo, tetrazzini, pesto), balsamic cream, baked ziti, stuffed shells, penne alla vodka, linguine with seafood sauce, meat lasagna with ricotta instead of bechamel, Hawaiian pizza, pepperoni pizza, cheesy garlic bread, chicken or veal cutlet sandwiches, ceasar salad, fried mozzarella, these are all Canadian or American adaptations of Italian dishes by Italian immigrants. They did not originate in Italy.

More About Red Sauce Joints

Danny Palumbo. Red Sauce Joints Are Enjoying a Revival. Slate.

Sam Stone. How Carbone Put the Red Sauce Joint on the World Stage. Bon Appétit.

John Kessler. I’m Still Searching for My Dream Red-Sauce Joint. Chicago Tribune.

Roxane Gay. Red Sauce America. Bon Appétit.

Michael La Corte. My Love Letter to Red Sauce Joints. Salon.

Amiel Stanek. Why Everyone Loves a Red-Sauce Joint. Bon Appétit.

Dennis Lee. Red Sauce Joints are Forever. The Party Cut.