Buon Riso brings Roman supplì pop-up to Pasta Forever in Toronto

A handmade pasta shop on Dundas West is about to become a very specific Roman detour. Buon Riso, the new concept from chef Kaitlyn Lasagna, will launch a pop-up residency at Pasta Forever, 1693 Dundas St W in Toronto, with pre-orders set to open the Monday before opening day.

The draw is supplì, the Roman fried rice ball that Lasagna is building her project around instead of the better-known Sicilian arancini. Supplì are smaller and oval-shaped, with a molten mozzarella center and the stringy cheese pull Romans call al telefono. That distinction gives Buon Riso its edge: it is not just another Italian snack counter, but a regional crossover with a clearly defined point of view inside an existing pasta destination.

The residency will begin June 14 and is scheduled to run through at least July 26. For now, it will operate out of the back of Pasta Forever’s takeout shop, with the possibility of becoming a recurring Sunday residency over the summer if demand supports it. That slower rollout fits the way Lasagna is approaching the project, treating Buon Riso as something to build carefully rather than as a one-night stunt.

Lasagna’s path to this point runs through Toronto kitchens and her own family table. She studied at George Brown College, assisted with cooking classes at Loblaws early in her career, and worked in kitchens including Woodlot, Robinson Bread and Tutto Panino. She has said the idea for Buon Riso took shape after her sister traveled to Italy and tried supplì there nearly two years ago, turning a trip into a concrete menu direction. Her background also matters to the concept’s tone: she grew up in an Italian household where food was central to family celebrations, with a father who owned bars and restaurants and a mother and grandmother who shaped her cooking from an early age.

The menu will start with traditional Roman-style supplì, but Lasagna has also pointed to more experimental versions shaped by Toronto’s food culture, including a Kraft Dinner-inspired supplì and possible collaborations with local chefs. In the longer term, she hopes Buon Riso can grow into a production space and eventually a storefront supplying restaurants and bars around Toronto.

Pasta Forever gives the residency a ready-made neighborhood base, not a blank canvas. As a handmade pasta and Italian-goods store, it already speaks the same language of regional specificity that Buon Riso is trying to sharpen. Together, the two businesses are betting that a small Roman rice ball, served inside a pasta shop, can pull Toronto deeper into the details of Italian street food.