Toni & Sergio Gastro Italiano:
Italian Resto with a Spanish Twist

‘Pizza Gamberetti con Rucola’ is tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, shrimps and arugula on hand-tossed pizza dough

HOW would you like to dine on authentic Italian pizza, pasta and risotto in a lovely Italian resto pub ambiance at a leisurely pace by a grand canal that reminds you of the Venice canal complete with gondolas?

Now, you can do so at Toni & Sergio Gastro Italiano, which is located at the Venice Grand Canal Mall in McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. The restaurant, which fronts the new mall’s famous Venetian canal, offers a cool and relaxing air-conditioned indoor dining area that’s perfect to beat the summer heat with during the daytime, but it also features outdoor seating right by the grand canal, which is perfect for dining under the moon and the stars in the evening.

Toni & Sergio Gastro Italiano just recently opened at the Venice Grand Canal Mall in McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City

Al fresco dining by the grand canal at Venice Grand Canal Mall

Brothers Antonio Carmine ‘Toni’ Iapino and Sergio Candido Iapino flanking Toni’s son Giulius Caezar Iapino

The restaurant is named after Eatalian Inc. and Rigatoni Corporation president Giulius Ceazar Iapino’s father, Antonio ‘Toni’ Carmine Iapino, and Toni’s younger brother, Sergio Candido Iapino. The brothers hail from Rome, Italy, where Toni owns several restaurants and pubs while Sergio is an accomplished TV director. The brothers are both managing directors of Rigatoni Corp., whose business ventures include Parmigiano Ristorante Pizzeria at Newport Mall and Giulius Boracay Italian in Boracay, Malay, Aklan.

The ‘Frutti di Mare’ pizza is loaded with tomatoes, mussels, clams, squid, prawns and mozzarella cheese

‘Pizza Margherita con Bufala’ is simple but flavorful tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella cheese and basil leaves

‘Pasta Bolognese’ is a classic Italian meat and tomato sauce based pasta

‘T&S Roasted Chicken with Chorizo and Olives’ is garlic, lemon and rosemary infused chicken baked with chorizo, olives and potatoes

‘Grilled Chimichurri Salmon’ has the perfectly grilled fish served with chimichurri aioli sauce

Toni & Sergio, which just opened in mid-April this year, specializes in authentic Italian cuisine with a sprinkling of Spanish dishes. The chefs use authentic ingredients which are imported from Italy and Spain, and these are meticulously prepared. On top of the list is pizza, which is intrinsic in Italian cuisine. The pizza at Toni & Sergio is cooked in a brick oven, and the dough is hand-tossed, so diners can be sure that the pizza is freshly made using the high quality standards required in Italian cuisine. The pasta dishes also make use of only the freshest ingredients available. There are wide selections of pizza and pasta dishes, as well as other Italian specialties such as risotto and main dishes.

‘Paella dela Casa’ is the house specialty, with prawns, mussels, clams, chicken, chorizo, marinated artichokes and black olives

‘Paella Nero con Frito Misto’ is black ink paella topped with calamari and fried shrimps

‘T&S Nachos’ is nacho chips topped with homemade savory pulled pork and chicharones

‘Pizzaiolo Burger’ is a juicy 200-gram burger and pizza in one

Italian Sodas in Green Apple (left) and Blueberry (right) flavors

Spanish dishes at Toni & Sergio area also prepared to conform to the strict requirements of authentic Spanish cooking, including its paella; and since Toni & Sergio is a resto pub, it also offers an impressive menu of bar chows, including nachos and burgers, as well as an impressive line of Italian wines, liquors, local and imported beers and signature drinks and cocktails. But don’t forget the Italian sodas, which come in different flavors, such as Green Apple, Strawberry, Raspberry and Blueberry, which are great thirst-quenchers.

“We want Toni & Sergio to be the place where good friends meet. But, more importantly, we would like to hear diners say that they will come back, because that’s the only time we will feel satisfied,” says Giulius Ceazar Iapino.
Operations manager Arnel Due adds: “We want our customers to experience how the Europeans eat and enjoy their food. They are most welcome to spend hours at Toni & Sergio while enjoying the flavors of cuisines that the Italians and the Spanish have become famous for.”