Former Vatican chef cooks up divinely-inspired dishes at new restaurant in SoHo
SOHO, Manhattan (WABC) -- A chef who's used to cooking for popes at the Vatican, is now offering up his divinely-inspired dishes to customers in New York City.
Chef Salvo Lo Castro has cooked for popes, celebrities and world leaders, but at his new restaurant in SoHo, where a couple celebrated their 60th anniversary on Wednesday, everyone is treated like royalty.
"I prepare the food the same for everyone," Lo Castro said. "I smile the same for everyone."
That includes the likes of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, golfer Dustin Johnson, and Saudi businessman Majed Al Sorour.
Before opening Casasalvo on Spring Street in July, Chef Lo Castro spent 10 years at the Vatican cooking for Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
Eyewitness News asked Lo Castro what it was like meeting these people.
"Normally, it's a very big, big satisfaction for my life, for my work," he said.
When you've got that clientele, your food better be heavenly.
He serves up meatballs straight from Sicily, and his signature fettuccine Casasalvo.
Lo Castro says he prepares the tomato sauce for 12 hours.
Casasalvo, "Salvo's House" in Italian, on Spring Street is now open to the general public.
"In the Vatican it's the pope, but at the table - everyone is the same," Lo Castro said.
But he says that New York City is the capital of the world.
"It's a very different city," he said.
It's a dream he says is now a reality.
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