August 12, 2019 | Our Guelph Favourites

Sugo On Surrey

Sugo On Surrey

 

Sugo on Surrey is a casual, fine dining restaurant located in the city of Guelph that serves up delicious Italian food and prides itself on supporting local. This means using local suppliers and showcasing local businesses throughout the restaurant. Sugo is located in a beautiful, 150-year-old, heritage home at 117 Surrey Street. We’re going to be going in to talk to the owner/operator Alex Tami about why he decided to open up this amazing restaurant and why supporting local is so important to him.

Q1: Alex, tell us a little bit about the name Sugo. Any significance to it? Where did you come up with the name?

[Alex] Well, essentially, Sugo means sauce in Italian. My nonna bring this up in cooking. And she basically referred to every kind of sauce as Sugo. But for the most part, Sugo means tomato sauce.

[Trish] Amazing!

Q2: So, tell us a little bit about who Mike and Brian are. I hear their name quite often when people are talking about Sugo.

[Alex] Mike is the general manager here. We actually met back at Symposium, one of my first restaurant jobs, in 2009, in Guelph. Brian was my chef at Milestones in Guelph. We go way, way back ten plus years. So we have a good connection there.

Q3: Tell us a little a bit about the collaborative effort when you’re coming up with the menu.

[Alex] Brian and I, my chef, we worked on the menu because I have a lot of culinary background. I helped him out a bit, but he had the majority of the play with the menu. I want it to be his menu. He’s got his name on the door. As for the cocktails, I have mixology in my background as well, and Mike does as well, so we kind of came up with it on our own.

Q4: Tell us a little bit why supporting local is so important to you. I know that you bring in a lot of local suppliers. You have local artwork up on the wall.

[Alex] Uh-huh. Yeah, well, Guelph just puts out great products. When it comes to liquor, beer, artwork,

[Trish] Yeah.

[Alex] and even the produce and meat. You know Guelph does an amazing job. Yeah. So that is one part of it. And the second part, I just want to support people I know.

Q5: So, obviously, I love coming here. The whole team loves coming here. What do you see sets yourself apart from other restaurants in Guelph?

[Alex] Basically, my staff and I, we go way, way back. We consider ourselves a family. I think people can really see that when they come in to dine. Definitely. So, yeah, it’s just one of those things where you come in and you feel like your at home. Because everybody is very comfortable with each other and they treat our guests the same way.

[Trish]  I know that Sugo’s one of my new favorite new restaurants in Guelph. You guys should definitely come and check it out as well, and make it one of your favorites.

[Alex] Thank you so much.

[Trish] Thank you.

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