Gruppo Terroni’s founder, Cosimo Mammoliti, describes his passion, 40 years in the business and a typical workday at Spaccio.
As Steve Jobs once remarked, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do,” a quote that beautifully captures the passion that has fuelled Cosimo Mammoliti’s career.
Mammoliti opened the first Terroni restaurant on Toronto’s Queen Street West in 1992, bringing contemporary Italian flavours and cherished traditions to the city. Over its decades in the food industry, the Terroni brand has grown and now has locations in Canada and the U.S.
What hasn’t changed is his sheer love of authentic Italian tradition and his ambition to serve his guests the best of Italian food and culture and give them a memorable experience.
Mammoliti highlights the importance of using the right ingredients and practices to build a legacy business like Terroni. “It’s been 40 years and I still love my job. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t be here,” he says.
In 2020 the Terroni Group opened its first Spaccio, which went on to become a central commissary playing a triple role: that of a restaurant, store and production facility that provided fresh bread, pasta and pastries to the expanding Sud Forno and Terroni locations.
Sharing the vision behind Spaccio (Italian for “shop”), Mammoliti recalls how there was a surge in demand during COVID and how within a span of months, it developed as a commissary to supply the restaurants. It also acted as a wholesale spot for customers who could buy baked items frozen to take home, which ensured they’d stay fresh longer, which was much appreciated during the pandemic.
Mammoliti comes to Spaccio almost every day, he tells Dolce, and loves seeing the smiles on the faces of the people there being served delicious food with the utmost love. He also likes seeing people in the restaurant celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions. He says, “To be able to see years later all these places we created and seeing people happy is so special. I wish to continue doing that.”
An unusual feature of Spaccio is that the dining tables are close to the production area, so that guests can see the food being prepared in front of them, an open-kitchen approach that allows for an immersive, sensory dining experience that just makes the meal more special.
Mammoliti admits that there are some aspects of creating this splendid experience that customers don’t get to see. There’s a great deal of behind-the-scenes work that also goes into it, for which he proudly credits his team.
Gruppo Terroni places special emphasis on sourcing or producing all the best elements and then bringing them together, and various components of a dish might be made at different locations before being mixed together. For example, Spaccio, which sells gelato bars, cakes, and specialty items for occasions such as Valentine’s Day and Christmas, has two rooms it reserves for the production of gelato, which must be done at a cooler temperature.
When asked to define what sets the Terroni brand apart from others, Mammoliti says, “It’s the people. Our chef is trained in Italy by the best and knows the quality of ingredients. He moved here but continues to follow traditions we grew up with, and that just makes everything special.”
He stresses the deep-rooted care that Terroni takes to embody these values and that includes respecting the farmers who grow their food and the people who help them. “How do you put a price tag on that?” he adds. “It’s pretty special.”
Mammoliti’s journey of creating a space for Italian cuisine in Toronto is beautifully recorded in La Cucina di Terroni: The Cookbook, which he co- wrote with Meredith Erickson and was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. The book became a national bestseller and also won the Special Award of the Jury at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
With more than 100 recipes, the book is also an ode to ancestors who shaped the Italian food and culture scene as we know it today. Mammoliti began working on the book during COVID — a three-year project that turned out beautifully, he says. It is something to hold onto and for his children and grandchildren to read, and he is honoured to share so many traditional recipes with people who can’t make it to the restaurant. He feels happy when people message and tell him that they enjoyed the book.
The past few years have been difficult for the world and people have lots of worries, Mammoliti observes. He wants them to have a joyous experience at his restaurants so that they can forget their troubles for at least a bit of time and celebrate with loved ones.
Recognizing the efforts of his team, he wants to invest in their potential and celebrate their contributions. He also wishes to stay focused, reinvent and settle down. With 40 years in the restaurant business and more than 30 years after starting Terroni, he is always reminding himself that, in the end, “We live for people coming in daily here.” Therefore, he wants to continue to keep the experience extremely memorable for them.
“Coming to work is not work for me. I eat and breathe my work,” he says, and outside of work he loves spending time with his wife and family in Italy in their beautiful house surrounded by trees. His dolce vita comes from both his work and family: it is all about simplicity, getting away to spend time with family and appreciating life.
