The nomadic kitchen of Pasta Pooks has set up camp in Little Italy

After years of pop-ups and festival takeovers, Pasta Pooks has finally put down roots. The team behind one of Montreal’s more boisterous pasta operations, Luca Vinci and Victor-Alex "Coach Vic" Petrenko, has taken over the former Dinette Triple Crown space and transformed it into a mostly takeout counter with just enough room to perch and inhale a rich and saucy plate.

It’s their first permanent home, a significant evolution for a project that started as a pandemic-born passion and has been snowballing since.

Their new space in Little Italy stays true to the energy that's fuelled their pop-ups and appearances in the past: Across from the front counter, there’s room for about five diners to along the wall and window, surrounded by checkered tiles and a menu scrawled on a chalkboard. Behind the scenes, a separate dining room plays host to private meals and Italian cooking classes, where guests can get a firsthand look at what makes their pasta operation tick.