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Ciro Philobes,
La Vecchia Ristorante,
Toronto, Ontario
By Gary Lipovetsky, President of MenuPalace.com
This past summer we spoke with Ciro Philobes from La Vecchia Ristorante and got to learn a little bit about how his great restaurant came to be, after opening up its doors at 2405A Yonge Street a prosperous 16 years ago. We caught up with Philobes this month to see what’s new at the restaurant and what tasty dishes are in store for us.
MP: Tell me a bit about yourself.
CP: I'm a good-looking owner and I like people [laughing], but I don't like to talk about myself. I'd rather talk more about the restaurant and the menu. We strive to make our menu from the best of Northern and Southern Italian dishes. Our fish comes in fresh daily, we don't keep it at the restaurant and we are known for that. By nine o'clock it's here and we even have delivery on Sunday.
MP: La Vecchia has gone through a few renovations, what is new at the restaurant?
CP: Every year we do some renovations, we close for a few days and do something. This year we installed new hardwood flooring throughout the dining room, it looks like bamboo but it's hardwood. We also installed stainless steel along the walls in the kitchen and put in some new lighting at the bar.
MP: What is La Vecchia best known for?
CP: We are well known for our fish, steak and our pasta. But I would say our penna alla vodka. We have customers tell us they've tried this dish all over the place, but it's never like ours. We're also well known for our homemade tiramisu, we have won awards for having the best tiramisu in the city in different years.
MP: What is the most popular dish on your menu?
CP: I can't say just one because there are a few. But our zuppa di pesce does very well. It is a combination of different types of fish in a white wine tomato broth, it's amazing and a lot of people come for it. We are also known for our homemade gnocchi made with ricotta cheese and spinach and our risotto La Vecchia, it's a kiwi risotto.
MP: What challenges have you faced in operating and maintaining a successful business?
CP: The challenge is keeping things at the same level; for example, we don't change our quality, ever. We make the same tomato sauce since the day we opened until now – it's never changed. Our chef is the same. Our sous chef is the same. Our challenge is to keep the people as happy as we can, like any other restaurant. We like to keep everything the same because everything has to work together: ambiance, food and service.
MP: If you had to describe La Vecchia in one word, what would it be?
CP: The best [laughing], no I can't say that because it's not fair. I would say it's unique.
MP: What inspired the restaurant's décor?
CP: Actually, we designed our décor ourselves. To he honest with you my brother, Massimo, he's the one who took care of that. Everyone that comes to our restaurant says, “wow, it's a small place but it's amazing. It's well done.” We always say it's a small taste of Italy. We have black and white pictures from Italy on all of the walls, they are unique and some are collectable.
MP: What do you love most about being in the hospitality industry?
CP: Dealing with the people. You can't be everybody's friend but we have a good connection with our customers. People love having this friendly ambiance.
MP: What's the best thing about being located in the Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood?
CP: It's a challenge having so many restaurants around and having to prove yourself; but we believe in competition. If you are good at what you do then competition is always good. It was a long time ago when we got the place and it is a good neighbourhood. You're not far from downtown, you're not far from uptown so we have a lot of people come in from all over, even from Woodbridge.
MP: What does the future have in store for La Vecchia Ristorante?
CP: There is always something to do and we always improve ourselves. Along with our regular menu we have a special every day and it's always something different. We have a meat special every night, a fish special every night and a pasta special every night. Our specials are not something you'll see on the menu, so whatever it is it's something unique just for that day. |