Canadian restaurant chain Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar will open its first Ottawa location at Kanata Centrum this fall.
Service Inspired Restaurants, the parent company of Canadian restaurant chains such as Jack Astor’s, Reds and Duke’s Refresher + Bar, said Scaddabush, an Italian-inspired restaurant, will open at the former location of the Velvet Room at 625 Kanata Ave. in September.
With locations around the Greater Toronto Area, the Kanata location will be the chain’s first Ottawa location.
“Kanata already has a strong Italian dining tradition, which made it a natural next home for Scaddabush. The restaurant group is clear that it’s not positioning itself as a replacement for all the places people have known and loved for decades, but as a complement to them,” the company said in a news release Friday.
“We’re adding a fresh layer to that conversation with an experience that blends Italian indulgence with a lively, modern night-out energy,” Mike Cappiello, senior vice-president of operations at Service Inspired Restaurants, said in the release.
The restaurant will include a “large, communal kitchen meant to echo the feeling of gathering with family” as well as a “mozza bar,” where a cook hand-stretches mozzarella, made-to-order. The menu will include dishes from across Italy, leaning toward traditional foods from the south such as eggless fresh pastas.
Cappiello said the restaurant’s brand represents the idea of Sundays spent around the Italian family table, making pastas and slow-simmered “Sunday sauce.”
“This tradition reflects core Italian values: cooking from scratch, using simple ingredients and celebrating a generous, convivial spirit,” Cappiello said.
Each year, the restaurant’s culinary and operations teams travel to Italy to inspire the menus.
“Last year’s trip focused on Veneto, so this winter, feature dishes and cocktails will reflect what inspired the team. Two feature menus rotate annually, each tied to these trips,” according to the release.
When it opens in September, Scaddabush will join 20 other dining locations at Kanata Centrum, including Bâton Rouge, Crazy Horse, Jack Astor’s and Milestones.
Scaddabush will not be the only Italian-inspired chain opening an Ottawa location this year. In January, popular American restaurant chain Olive Garden announced it would return to the capital with a new restaurant in Westboro slated to open this summer.
