Through Gusto 54, Janet Zuccarini has built an empire of restaurants across Toronto — we’re talking King West, Young & Eglinton, Ossington, Corktown and beyond. But it all started three decades ago with a little yellow house in Yorkville.
A timeless institution celebrating 30 years, Trattoria Nervosa has become synonymous with the upscale district, boasting a beloved rooftop patio and serving up classic Italian dishes and drinks. It’s hard to believe it all began with Zuccarini taking a chance on herself.
“I never had the notion that I would ever go into the restaurant business,” she says. “But sometimes you just have to be open to opportunities that are presented to you and that’s what happened to me.”
After spending eight years living in Rome for university and earning a master’s degree, Zuccarini moved back to Toronto with just one notion in her mind: she wanted to work for herself. When the opportunity came up to be a partner for what would become Trattoria Nervosa (originally called Café Nervosa) she couldn’t say no.
“I had never worked in a restaurant business before, but I saw that corner of Yorkville and Bellair as just location, location, location. I said there could be no better location in Toronto in my mind,” she says, noting the patio to be especially enticing. “Nervosa was one of the few better-value neighbourhood restaurants in a high-end neighbourhood, so I just thought this is going to be a good business. This has legs, this will have longevity.”
While 30 years later, that prediction has proven true, it isn’t just the ideal location that has gained Zuccarini success. Instead, it was about knowing when to play it safe and when to take a leap of faith. That’s why she saved money for ten years so she could buy the building and “secure the corner of Yorkville and Bellair.”
“Once I had the building, I felt that I had a secure foundation, and I just thought I can take more risks. I don’t mind rolling the dice, but I also like security,” she says.
Since then, she has left her footprint across the city, opening restaurants in neighbourhoods that were only just up-and-coming at the time with Gusto 101, Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen, Gusto 501, Azhar Kitchen & Bar, and more. She is also in partnership with Jeff and Nuit Regular to open five different Pai restaurants—including the Michelin-recommended original in the Entertainment District—with a sixth on the way.
When that one comes to life, Gusto 54 will have 13 restaurants across the city, as well as one in Los Angeles, where Zuccarini currently lives. That Italian trattoria has attracted celeb diners like Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino (to name a few). And, of course, Zuccarini’s own late husband, Robbie Robertson, a Toronto native Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who was in the Band and once a lead guitarist for Bob Dylan.
Though much has changed in 30 years, hospitality is still a largely male-dominated industry, with women accounting for a small percentage of ownership and executive chefs positions globally. And yet, Zuccarini has never let this get in her way.
“The prize of an Italian family is having sons, and my father, much to his chagrin, had three daughters, so he raised us like the sons he never had, and I really personally have a lot of male energy and I own it. I never walk into a room and feel different than any man,” she says, noting her father always told them she could do anything, even physically, a man can do. “That’s how we were raised. And I’m grateful for that. So, I never feel different in a room. Sometimes I see people have a little bit of an issue with a woman being a leader, but I feel it’s their problem, not mine.”
As for the secret ingredient that has makes Trattoria Nervosa still just as busy and loved as it was back in 1996, Zuccarini suggests it’s all in the people behind the scenes.
“I believe that people go back to restaurants that have soul and we have a lot of people that have been there many, many years. Our GM Christian Alfarone has been there 15 years and he knows everybody’s name and they come back to see him,” she says. “We’ve always maintained the food at a high-level and offered good value. Nervosa offers good value and I think, even more so now, people are looking for that. When you go out, you don’t mind spending, but did you get the value? We try to price as aggressively as we can and we’re in a high-end neighbourhood, but we want it to be a neighbourhood restaurant that people can come to two days a week.”
In honour of their 30th anniversary year, Zuccarelli says Trattoria Nervosa will be bringing back an updated version of the warm chicken salad they took off the menu about ten years ago and have not stopped hearing customers ask for since.
“Year after year, everyone’s like ‘I love your chicken salad.’ One day we took it off the menu. I’ve never had more ruckus than having people stopping me in the street and saying, ‘I can’t believe you took that chicken salad off,’” she says. “That’s what the people are asking for. I promised the people.”
