Sleek, stylish Birreria Volo carries on family tradition
Ralph Morana and sons open new establishment after bidding farewell to Bar Volo
As Ralph Morana walked down Yonge St. earlier this month and gazed upon a pile of rubble where his beloved Bar Volo once stood, he couldn’t help but stop and ponder the three decades he’d spent there.
“It hit me. Twenty-nine years. That’s half my life, basically,” said Morana, whose popular beer hot spot Bar Volo stood until recently on what is now a construction site at Yonge and Dundonald Sts.
“That really put the nail in the coffin.”
It closed at the end of September. In November, the wrecking ball came crashing through.
Yet like a slightly tipsy phoenix rising from the ashes, a shiny new brew emporium has already taken its place on the city’s beer scene. In early October, the irrepressible Morana and his two sons Julian and Tomasz opened up Birreria Volo on College St. in Toronto’s Little Italy district.
Where the old place started out as an old-school trattoria and gradually evolved into the one of the city’s best beer bars, the new Birreria — as the name suggests — is brew-focused right from the start.
Morana is excited about his newer establishment. Housed in the narrow confines of what used to be the Souz Dal cocktail bar, the space is industrial chic combined with touches of old Italian train stations from the ’50s: Exposed brick, metal, old wine barrels repurposed into tables in the thin, long stretch. There’s a wider space at the back of the bar, which can open into the Royal Cinema next door. In it, there’s a rusticlooking, long wooden table.
There are small-plate food options designed to go with the beer: charcuterie, cheese, olives, cured white anchovies.
And then, there’s the beer: All 20 draft taps and 50 or so bottled varieties. The focus tends to be on imported brews, large bottles and barrelaged or sour beers. (There are also four ciders and two wines on tap).
On a recent visit, there were draft taps pouring beers from Oregon, California and Ontario, among others.
There were also rare bottled brews from Italy, Belgium, Denmark and the U.S., along with some local con- tent. The selection will be rotating constantly, says Morana. Those bottled beers — some of which are more than $40 apiece — are also available by the glass.
The old Volo had the warm, cosy appeal of a family living room with familiar old friends. The new one has a sleeker, cooler feel.
“It’s a different crowd here,” said Morana. “At Bar Volo, there’d be a lot of regulars, and you’d see a lot of them at the beer festivals too.”
Eventually, Morana and his sons would like to replicate the original Volo to draw in the old loyal customers, while continuing to run Birreria Volo.
For now, though, there’s the novel and stylish allure of the Birreria.