Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Port Saint Lucie. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Garfield Bowen helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Port St Lucie, Florida.
Is your business serving the residents of Port Saint Lucie? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpPSL.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
EP# 230: From Tech to Taste: Chef Luca Corleone's Recipe for Embracing Italian Tradition and Overcoming Pandemic Challenges
What makes Chef Luca Corleone with Ristorante Corleone a good neighbor?
Embark on a tantalizing journey with Chef Luca Corleone as we explore his transformation from IT specialist to the heart and soul behind Ristorante Corleone. In our latest culinary adventure, Luca generously shares not only the mouthwatering secrets behind his authentic Italian cuisine but also the stark realities of navigating a restaurant through the stormy seas of the pandemic. His tale is sprinkled with personal anecdotes, raw industry insights, and an infectious zeal for Italian traditions that resiliently translate into his dishes. As he unveils the challenges faced and overcome, it's impossible not to be drawn into his vibrant social media world where he extends his kitchen to include food enthusiasts across TikTok and Instagram.
The heartwarming saga continues as we virtually step into the cozy ambiance of Ristorante Corleone, nestled in the charming city of Port St. Lucie. Lucie's invitation extends beyond the realms of audio, urging listeners to physically savor the tastes that echo the streets of Italy right at 8621 South US Highway 1. It's more than just a dining experience; it's a culinary journey that commences with a single bite. As you tune in, prepare to be not just informed but wholly captivated by a story that goes beyond plates and into the very essence of following a dream, adjusting sails in the face of adversity, and embracing the joy of sharing one's heritage. Chef Luca awaits your presence at his table, where the language of food speaks volumes.
To learn more about Ristorante Corleone go to:
https://www.corleonesrestaurant.com/
Ristorante Corleone
(772) 323-0355
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Garfield Bowen.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of some delicious Italian restaurant food? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure introducing to you Chef Luca Caglione with Restaurant Caglione. Chef Luca, how are you doing today?
Speaker 3:I'm doing great. How are you?
Speaker 2:I am well. We're excited to learn all about you and your delicious food at your restaurant.
Speaker 3:Awesome. Yes, so I have a restaurant. Name is the Ristorante Corleone, as you said during the intro. Uh, we are located on the US 1, a block north of Crosstown. Uh, we are purists, so to speak, in that we serve only authentic dishes as we make them and eat them in Italy. So we are an authentic Italian restaurant.
Speaker 2:So, chef Luca, how did you get into this business?
Speaker 3:It's a long story. I wasn't always in this business. I was actually in IT when I came from Italy. I started as a QA analyst working for Kodak, and then worked my way up, and then, after 25 years of doing this, I had no more interest in continuing in my career, and so I always had a dream of owning a restaurant, because I have a really strong passion for cooking, and so I decided to just quit my career, get into culinary school, and here I am.
Speaker 2:So from INT to restaurateur? Yes, that means you got to swing for your dreams, right?
Speaker 3:That's right and this is the right country to do that right.
Speaker 2:Listen, a lot of people don't know this, but I actually have my degree in accounting. I used to work for a CPA firm, so we're right on track here. So what are some of the myths and misconceptions of owning a restaurant?
Speaker 3:Yes, the myths are that all the store-in-tours, they have money to waste. We're all rich people and just because we have a restaurant, we have stashes of cash, and nothing could be further from the truth. I've been open for only six years and I'm telling you, I just managed to make a decent living and that's it. So just to mention one.
Speaker 2:Okay Outside of work, when you're not so busy running a restaurant. What does Chef Luca like to do for fun?
Speaker 3:Oh my God, you would never guess Cook. So I am a major influencer on social media, namely TikTok and Instagram respectively, so during my free time, I actually catch up and shoot videos for these two platforms, shoot videos for these two platforms, and it is a lot of work. With the number of followers that I managed to reach, it's become almost like a second job, and so there's a lot involved with that. So that's basically what I do during my days off. I do video recipes.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you're all in huh.
Speaker 3:I am yeah. I'm as committed, as one can be, of course.
Speaker 2:Let's change gears a little bit. Life often does us curveballs. Let's talk about one hardship, one challenge, something you went through and you can look back to and see you're better and stronger because of it. What, what comes to mind?
Speaker 3:Well, if you are a business owner, you must be able to respond to pretty much any adversity that is thrown your way, right, which is also the way life works. A little bit, and as recent as COVID, we were into our second year of operation. That is, by all statistics, the most dangerous year for a restaurant to be in business, as 98% of all restaurants do fail within their second year. And here we are now. We have a COVID pandemic and the restaurant is just like. All restaurants are being shut down because they don't want people out and about, and so I'm like okay, here I'm faced with two choices. One is I shut down for good, call it quit, I tried, thank you very much. Or the other one is OK, let's roll up the sleeves here and let's do something. So I retire my regular menu and I started doing finger food for takeout Mozzarella sticks, pizza, chicken wings, wings, panini, you name it and that I was very lucky because people responded and, uh, you know. So that's that's how I was able to overcome that.
Speaker 2:Uh, uh, very stressing, uh, period well, plus you know no matter what's going on. People got to eat, right.
Speaker 3:Exactly, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:They have to eat. So what I like to do is I know there's a lot you like to share about your restaurant, but I want you to narrow it down to one thing, one thing that you want our listeners to remember about Ristorante Caglioni, one thing that I want our listeners to remember about Ristorante.
Speaker 3:Calioni. One thing that I want people to remember yes, One thing that I want people to remember is that I will never compromise on quality. The people that come here to visit they realize that we may not be the cheapest option, but that's exactly what I want to be. I may not be the cheapest place in town for you to come and have a nice Italian dinner, but I know what I put on your plate. People appreciate that and they respond favorably.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, right now we're recording this. It's about lunchtime and people are probably licking their lips and want to know how they can get information on Restaurante Calián. How can they connect with you, get some of the food that we've been talking about?
Speaker 3:Of course. So you can visit our website, which is corleonesrestaurantcom, or you can also. We also have a page on Facebook. You search Facebook slash Ristorante Corleone. You can also, if you want to see some of the dishes that I cook and you are interested in joining me in this journey. On social media, you can look Chef Luca Corleone on both TikTok or Instagram.
Speaker 2:What about an address or a phone number? Is that something like this here as well?
Speaker 3:Yes, so our address the restaurant is 8621 South US Highway 1, and that's in Port St Lucie. Again, we are a block north of Crosstown, right across the street from the racetrack Crown Plaza.
Speaker 2:Okay, chef Luca, we really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your business the very best moving forward thank you for having me thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast port st lucie.
Speaker 1:To nominate your favorite local businesses to be to gnpportsaintlucycom that's gnpportsaintlucycom, or call 772-362-3840.