La Scena a tavola | Ravioli alla Toscana with Davide Bazzali

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In this latest instalment of La Scena a tavola, we invite you to meet Montreal chef and opera enthusiast Davide Bazzali. As the owner of Restaurant Il Bazzali, in the heart of Little Italy, Bazzali embodies the Italian way of life, blending fine dining with a love of song.

Born in northern Tuscany, he moved to Parma, the city of Giuseppe Verdi, at a very young age. Ironically, he didn’t discover opera in Italy, the home of opera, but in Montreal.

For a while, Bazzali dreamed of joining Opéra de Montréal’s Atelier lyrique. Reality had other plans: having arrived in Canada on a work permit as a head chef, he had to wait several years before obtaining permanent residency. By the time he was 31, his dream of becoming an opera singer was beginning to fade. “If I’d discovered opera singing earlier, I would have given everything to make a career of it,” he says.

Rather than choosing between his two passions, Bazzali decided to combine them by founding Cuisine Opéra, the company that now encompasses both his restaurant and his catering service.

At the start of 2026, the La Scena Musicale team gathered for dinner at Il Bazzali, knowing only two things: the cuisine is Italian and the chef sings opera. The menu, adorned with portraits of Carlo Bergonzi and Maria Callas, hinted at a passion for opera.

Toward the end of a delicious and varied meal that included handmade gnocchi and ravioli with a fillet of cod in a San Marzano sauce, Bazzali appeared, visibly nervous, his hands trembling, his forehead beaded with sweat after a very busy day. Without further ado, he began to sing “Tu ca nun chiagne,” the great Neapolitan classic known for the difficulty of its vocal range.

While we expected to hear a pleasant voice offering a few unpretentious snippets of “La donna è mobile,” we were in for a complete surprise!

Bazzali’s voice is that of a true operatic tenor: clear vowels, natural projection, with squillo capable of filling an entire room. At our table, a colleague instinctively cupped his sensitive ears. Even without having pursued a career in singing, Bazzali possesses a voice that many professional singers would envy. And yet, cooking remains his primary profession. For nearly 16 years, Cuisine Opéra has enabled him to promote Italian culture in Canada. Among the dishes that best tell his story is his ravioli alla Toscana.

Ravioli (Tortelli) alla Toscana

All dishes containing the word “Torta” (tortino, tourtière, etc.) stem from a medieval tradition of stuffing pastry, often with meat, but also with vegetables, cheese, and so on. This trend spread across much of Europe—and also to Quebec!

Bazalli notes that “tortelli alla Toscana is a typical dish from my native region, Lunigiana, in northern Tuscany. Since arriving in Montreal, I’ve stopped using the real name and simply call it ravioli alla Toscana.”

Ingredients

For the dough:
500 g all-purpose flour
5 large eggs
2 tbsp water

For the filling:
300 g minced beef
300 g minced pork
Herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme)
Vegetables (one onion, one stick of celery, one carrot)
A glass of white wine
1 egg
100 g mortadella
100 g chopped Swiss chard
150 g Parmesan
Salt, pepper, ground nutmeg and ground cloves (to taste)

Preparation

Form the flour into a well, add the eggs and water, knead and leave to rest in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours.

The filling requires more work; it must be flavoured with spices and be full of flavour, like that of a Québécois tourtière. Sauté the vegetables with the herbs, add the white wine and, once the vegetables are cooked, blend everything in a food processor or finely chop with a knife. Add the mortadella, chopped Swiss chard and the remaining ingredients.

“Traditionally, ravioli are small squares made with eggs,” says Bazzali. “I make them larger and without eggs, but in restaurants these days, the imperfection of the ravioli is a major asset. Nowadays, mass-produced ravioli, all identical, are the norm. Along with being featured on my restaurant’s menu, tortelli have always been a staple of our festive meals at home, whether at Christmas, a wedding or any other occasion.”

Food and wine pairings

The wines will be from Tuscany, of course. There, Sangiovese is the dominant red grape variety, whether it be a Chianti Superiore with its notes of black fruit, smoke and violets; a Rosso di Montalcino, which is both rich on the palate and wonderfully fresh; or, better still, the king of Tuscan wines: the Brunello di Montalcino.

Upcoming events

Pasta Opera and Pasta POP events at Il Bazzali will continue until May, featuring star chef Bazzali and guests such as baritone Manuel Blais. There will be a break over the summer.