The longtime West Island pasta brand is entering a new generation, with Vincenzo Curro’s son Gianluca relaunching it as a delivery-only fresh frozen pasta business.
My first time having Pastamore was back in my high-school days, so I was sad to hear that its Sources Boulevard location had closed earlier this year.
But there’s some good news.
Pastamore isn’t disappearing. It’s changing.
The Montréal pasta brand, whose roots go back to 1981, is getting ready for its next chapter, and this time, a new generation of the Curro family is taking the lead.
Vincenzo Curro’s son, Gianluca, is relaunching Pastamore as a delivery-only fresh frozen pasta brand, bringing many of the pastas, sauces and recipes longtime customers know directly to their homes.
There won’t be another restaurant or storefront this time. Instead, the new Pastamore is being built around making an easy pasta night at home.
More than four decades of pasta
Pastamore’s story began in 1981 at Marché de l’Ouest in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, where it was founded by Mario Novati, a longtime chef, cooking instructor and hospitality professional.
Novati created Pastamore as a fresh pasta and sauce business, developing the recipes that would become the foundation of the brand. He ran the business for about 12 years before selling it to the Curro family in the early 1990s.
Under Vincenzo Curro, Pastamore continued serving generations of West Islanders, keeping the original recipes at the heart of the business while becoming known for everything from ravioli and tortellini to gnocchi, lasagna, cannelloni and its lineup of house sauces.
Eventually, the business left Marché de l’Ouest and moved into the larger Sources Boulevard restaurant that many West Islanders will remember.
When that location closed earlier this year, longtime customers understandably thought it might be the end of Pastamore.
It wasn’t.
A generational handoff
Pastamore’s next chapter is being led by Vincenzo’s son, Gianluca Curro, who grew up around the family business.
The original Pastamore recipes and standards will continue to guide the food, while Gianluca is taking the lead on the new version of Pastamore — from the product lineup and packaging to the website and delivery operation.
Rather than trying to recreate the old restaurant, Gianluca is taking what Pastamore has been known for all these years and making it easier to enjoy at home.
“My job is making sure you can take home our sauces and pastas easier than ever, bringing our flavour and comfort straight to your door,” says Gianluca.
The new Pastamore will focus on fresh frozen pasta and the house sauces longtime customers will recognize.
The lineup will include classic pasta cuts, stuffed pastas and gnocchi, along with sauces including classic tomato and meat sauce, plus Pastamore favourites like Diavolo, Romanoff and Alfredo.
There will also be a family-size lasagna, and Pastamore says its products are made without preservatives.
The idea is convenience without turning dinner into a project. The pasta goes straight from the freezer into boiling water with no thawing required. Heat up a sauce alongside it, give everything a quick mix, and dinner can be ready in as little as eight minutes.
Launching this fall
Pastamore is planning to launch the new service this fall.
Orders will be placed online at Pastamore.ca in English, French or Italian, with same-day delivery available across Montréal, Laval, the South Shore and surrounding areas.
Until ordering officially opens, you can sign up here to be among the first to know when Pastamore launches.
For Gianluca, the opportunity is to offer something between supermarket pasta and going out to a restaurant: a better pasta dinner that can still be made quickly at home.
Correction, Sept. 24: An earlier version of this article omitted Mario Novati’s role in creating Pastamore and incorrectly implied that the Curro family had been behind the business since its beginnings in 1981. Novati developed the recipes that became the foundation of Pastamore and operated the business for approximately 12 years before it was sold to the Curro family in the early 1990s. The article has been updated to reflect Pastamore’s history more accurately.
