La Cucina
La Cucina is a fine-dining Italian restaurant located in the heart of downtown Guelph. It’s located at 25 Macdonell Street and is home to one of the best patios in town. Or as they call it here, il terrazzo. The terrace is even covered so you can enjoy the beautiful views of the city rain or whine. Watch as Trish Lewis with the GoWylde Team chats with Bruno about the inspiration behind opening up the restaurant and the authentic Italian cuisine.
Q1: Bruno, can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind opening the restaurant and how long have you guys been open here for?
Bruno: It’s been a bit less than eight years now we are here. I owned a place in Toronto and after a good friend around here told he there is a small place to take over and I come here and I take over the place. I’m very happy to live in Guelph now.
Q2: Can you tell us a little bit about your chef David and is he the inspiration behind a lot of the meals that you cook here? I know you guys do a lot of seasonal menu changes. Do you collaborate on that or does he take over?
Bruno: Yeah, he is the guy, he’s my guy from a long time ago. He used to work for me in Toronto and now he follows me here. He takes care of the changes to the menu. The new plates he wants to put, he ask me all the time the way, what we have to choose, which one and you know we do together but he thinks about the new plates. I give him the okay, this is okay, this maybe you have to change something. We do together everything.
Q3: Great, and what would you say one of your favourite meals is here at La Cucina?
Bruno: You know I am Italian, I like pasta.
Trish: Yes, you have incredible pasta.
Bruno: Yeah we make the pasta here from the scratch, you know. Yeah, I like the pasta. They make some tagliatelle with lobster, shrimp, with a rose cream sauce. It’s an amazing dish. It’s our best seller from day one, it’s kind of different now.
Q4: Absolutely and what do you think sets apart La Cucina from other restaurants here in Guelph? What makes you unique?
Bruno: Not unique, you know, we try to do our best and we have a good chef, good servers and the spaghetti is nice. Me and my wife we try to take care & know a lot about the customers. We have lots of them they are our friends now and you know, when you give good food, good hospitality, people they come back.
Trish: You come here and it feels like you’re part of the family.
Bruno: Yeah, we try to let them feel they are at home. We do better food.
Trish: Yes, so Bruno, can you tell us a little bit about your family history with restaurants?
Bruno: I born near the stove, my mother delivered me near the stove.
Trish: Oh my gosh.
Bruno: In Italy, a long, long time ago. I born in a restaurant. This is the, I call it the school of the industry when I was young. And I keep going in Italy, from the restaurant in Italy move here. I open a restaurant here, you know, it’s my life. This is the only thing I think I’m good to do it.
Trish: Yes, and you do an amazing job.
Bruno: And my wife has helped me a lot, it’s 45 years we worked together in the restaurant.
La Cucina is one of Guelph’s amazing unique hotspots and everybody should definitely come out and check it out.
