Downtown Ottawa’s dining scene is about to get a little more Italian. Carletto, a new trattoria from Montreal-based hospitality group Gray Collection, is set to open at the Metcalfe Hotel on August 31, bringing modern Italian classics and a healthy dose of tableside theatre to Metcalfe Street.
A New Chapter for the Metcalfe Hotel Carletto joins Cocotte Bistro as the second Gray Collection restaurant to call the Metcalfe Hotel home, adding to a portfolio that also includes Auberge du Vieux-Port in Montreal. The new space seats 134 guests indoors, plus another 24 on its terrace, and will be open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. The name is a nod to the building’s own history. Carletto is the Italian diminutive of Carlo, itself the Italian equivalent of Charles, a reference to Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, the man behind the names of both Metcalfe Street and the hotel.
What’s on the Menu The kitchen will lean into quality ingredients with a contemporary spin on Italian staples, including house-made focaccia, rigatoni alla vodka, spicy soppressata pizza, and chicken puttanesca. For guests looking for a bit of spectacle with their meal, pasta will be prepared tableside in a wheel of Parmesan, while pizzas are baked in an oven imported straight from Italy and finished with terracotta tiles. The menu comes from consulting chef Giovanni Vella, with executive chef Simon Brière-Audet, who also leads the kitchen at Cocotte Bistro, running day-to-day operations.
The Vision Behind It Gray Collection president Dimitri Antonopoulos said the goal was to build more than just a restaurant, describing Carletto as a place designed for sharing meals, enjoying the atmosphere, and grabbing a drink at the bar just as much as for the food itself. That intention carries through to the design, with a large central bar, sweeping arches, and warm terracotta tones drawing from contemporary Italian style throughout the space. With just under three weeks until opening night, Carletto is shaping up to be one of the more anticipated downtown openings of the month.