Passion for quality fuels restaurant success

Lorne Eckersley

Chef Aldo Alaia spices up a dish at Aldo & Co. Ristorante Italiano.

With fond memories of a childhood in Calabria, Italy, chef Aldo Alaia seeks to recreate the combination of quality food, good wine and friendship for his restaurant guests. As the second anniversary of Aldo & Co. Ristorante Italiano nears, Alaia and his staff have a long string of happy customers who would agree he has succeeded in his mission.

“For me, cooking is about sharing my enjoyment of good food with others,” he said. “When I say good food, it doesn't have to be expensive, using luxury ingredients — it can be simple food using fresh ingredients.”

From a kitchen that offers the chef an open view of the dining room, Alaia maintains close contact with guests. The restaurant is designed to allow its owner to ensure all aspects of his customers' dining experience are up to his exacting standards.

“Nothing gives me more pleasure than to see and hear the enjoyment my cooking gives customers and friends,” he said. “Food and wine is a great catalyst for conversation and it provides lasting memories of travel, people and childhood. It is something that I will always appreciate and I would love everyone to derive as much pleasure from cooking and eating as I do.”

The youngest of four children, Alaia was an eight-year-old when his family emigrated to Canada. But close family and cultural ties were maintained by annual summer visits back to Italy.

“Italians, we like to share with people,” he said. “However simple the food might be, it's always served in abundance. We like to feed people. It's about the social gathering.”

For as long as he can remember, he wanted to be in the kitchen.

“When I was five or six I'd pull up a chair to the counter and climb up, wanting to stir the sauce for my mother,” he recalls. “Later, when we spent our summers in Italy, I'd wander off from the family to check out the street vendors and restaurants.”

As a teen, he began his chef training on those summer trips to the family's home country, earning his chef's papers by the time he was 19. With plenty of restaurant experience behind him in Calgary, Alaia discovered Creston after he met Michelle Mayer. Once they were married, he prodded Mayer until she agreed to move back to her hometown and establish her own chiropractic business.

“I believe Creston is a diamond in the rough,” he said. “We have everything right here at our fingertips — clean air, beautiful scenery, fresh food.”

And, although he grew up in the city, the Alaia family's lifestyle was distinctly rural.

“We had 12 chickens in the backyard, right there in the inner city,” he smiled. “And of course all those summers in Italy left their imprint.”

Even though his family was relatively poor, the Italian passion for good food was never abandoned.

“We still bought good quality food products from the local markets,” he said. “The family table was central in our lives.”

Construction of the restaurant in Creston was a slow process, one that continues today with an addition in progress. Built on the foundation of what was at one time a heritage building, the multi-purpose design includes Mayer's chiropractic office and the couple's home.

“I'm a hands-on person and I enjoy it,” he said.

While he described the addition to the restaurant as still being very much in the planning phase, it will include a wood-fired pizza oven. That's an appropriate evolution for a chef whose childhood home wasn't far from Naples, where pizza originated.

Business has grown gradually, allowing Alaia to find his niche in the marketplace, and to train a core of staff who are as dedicated to quality service as their employer. He's created a lunch menu with competitively priced meals that still reflect his commitment to using fresh, quality ingredients. More and more customers are learning that a fine meal can be enjoyed in a one-hour lunch break.

Evenings, though, are dedicated to creating a more leisurely atmosphere, where friends and family can gather to enjoy conversation along with wine and meals (“The best steak I've ever had,” is a common compliment).

“If I can help people enjoy their evening out like Italians enjoy their family table, I'm a happy man,” he said. “Excellent flavours are created from the best ingredients available, treated with respect and passion.”

Mix in friendship and family and the recipe is perfect.

Aldo & Co. Ristorante Italiano is located at 1821 Canyon Street and is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Friday, and dinner only on Saturday. Reservations are encouraged and can be made by calling 250-402-6895.

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