Opening Alert: Mediterraneo Kosher Italian Steakhouse in Ville Saint-Laurent

Mediterraneo, a kosher, Italian steakhouse in the former TerraCotta in Ville Saint-Laurent, is now open. The ambitious project, with a prodigious menu, is the brainchild of Amir Toledano. The restaurateur was most recently in the news when his NDG restaurant, named, ironically, Fuego, was razed by fire a year and a half ago. The alleged arson was seen by some media outlets as the climax of a Montreal kosher restaurant price war—a war punctuated by persistent Molotov cocktail attacks.

In a detrimental article published by the Toronto Star prior to Fuego's flare-up, Toledano dismissed the notion of a price war: “When the first [attack] happened there was no competition. So it cannot be a price war. And competition? There’s no competition.” Toledano also told the newspaper—eleven months before his restaurant was firebombed—that "police testimony about [my] past and possible links to gang members" had "no bearing on the Molotov cocktail attacks against kosher restaurants" in the city. The restaurateur assured that there were "no outstanding concerns about his credibility," as he had subsequently been able to secure alcohol permits for other businesses. Toledano has now moved on, in Ville Saint-Laurent.

Status: Mediterraneo, 1875 rue Saint-Louis, Ville Saint-Laurent, (514) 855-1500, certified open.