Francesca Ronzio admitted that her and her husband Matteo’s decision to move from their native Italy to the United States in February 2015 may have been naive at first.
“We were just a bunch of crazy people, very naive people with a dream of changing and seeing what it would be like,” she said. “Even though it was just the two of us, you don’t just miss your country. You miss the people who have known you all your life.”
But the couple, struggling with the salaried lifestyle of working for companies like American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, felt an ambition to start their own business. That naive thinking later led the Rontzios to open Gusto Italiano Market, an innovative dining concept in Bedford. It’s a fusion of Italian culture that combines a grocery store, take-out deli, and pizzeria.
“Everything here is from Italy,” Francesca said.
That includes a large oven behind the market counter, reminiscent of the ovens the couple knew from their childhood. It’s a tradition for Matteo and Francesca, who hail from Florence and Milan respectively, and a spectacle for their customers as well.
“When people sit here and watch us make pizza, it’s a special moment, especially for the kids,” Matteo said.
Francesca and Matteo Ronzio stand next to a gelato cart inside Gusto Italiano Market, stocked with popular flavors like almond, pistachio and vanilla. (Photo courtesy of Trisha Nail)
Gusto’s pizza oven cooks pies at temperatures of 750 to 800 degrees Fahrenheit and fully bakes them in about 90 seconds, Mateo said. Before the rest of the market’s interior was completed, the window and door frames on one side of the building had to be removed in order to install equipment inside. Recently, we introduced an artisanal gelato machine to create Italian-style ice cream using authentic methods.
The market opened in May 2021 and complements Francesca and Matteo’s restaurant Real Italian Gusto in Medford, Massachusetts, which they opened in 2015 shortly after settling in the United States. Opened.
But Francesca said immigration is not as easy as it sounds, and the process of moving to the United States to start a business is “really complicated.” The couple originally had E-2 visas. This visa is issued to nationals of treaty countries to permit entry into the United States upon demonstrating capital investment in a U.S. company.
problem? “If you’re not a citizen, if you don’t live here, if you don’t have a job yet, no one wants to open a bank account here,” Francesca said.
They wanted to open Real Italian Gusto in Boston, but faced the reality of hard-to-find real estate in the city, which led them to Medford. So they converted the office space into the current restaurant. This was another investment on top of the money we had already spent on business development.
“A lot of money was spent. We had no income and we were wondering every day if everything would be okay,” Francesca said.
Gusto’s pizza oven bakes pies in about 90 seconds. (Photo courtesy of Trisha Nail)
Eventually, it paid off, and the restaurant started gaining a local following, especially when customers wanted pizza, and 50% of the restaurant’s weekly sales came on Fridays, the peak pizza day. Ta. The property is located near local theaters, so when a movie does well at the box office, customer numbers spike.
After living in the United States, the Lontzios found the Boston suburbs too busy, so they moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, in search of a quieter place for their personal lives while continuing to run a restaurant in the Bay State. . But soon, for many other small business owners as well, COVID-19 became a new test of their viability.
“During the pandemic…restaurants were only open for takeout, and we didn’t know what the future held,” Francesca said. “We thought having a second location would be like a light at the end of the tunnel, with a closer location to avoid the long daily commute. There was a time when I was visiting (Medford).”
Enter Gusto Italiano Market, developed by the Lonzios as a small business that has been significantly reshaped by the pandemic. They have less seating, require fewer employees to operate than restaurants, and focus on takeout and delivery meals. It’s also a much-needed model for Real Italian Restaurants, which has struggled to retain employees during the pandemic and has seen existing employees leave the business.
In addition to being close to home, opening in New Hampshire gives the Rontzios more opportunities to purchase from additional suppliers to stock the market with products such as tiramisu, coffee, and imported fresh pasta.
For their second foray into the restaurant industry, in contrast to their first restaurant, which Matteo and Francesca owned and operated alone, the couple decided to plan the market in collaboration with friends and, while they were away, The manager was watching over the business. In Bedford.
“I learned a lot by working for an American company…(including) companies are made by people, so what’s good is not the company itself, but the people,” Matteo said.
The Rontzios’ work ethic reflects that quality, and they are often behind the scenes at the two businesses, cooking and preparing food alongside the chefs.
“Everything is a reflection of us,” Francesca said. “These restaurants are like our children.”
The couple dreams of moving back to Italy, but for now Francesca says she’s proud to be establishing an entrepreneurial foothold with Mateo in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She is next looking at the idea of starting a gelato-focused business elsewhere.
“I don’t go back to Italy very often, but every time I go, people say, ‘We’re so lucky to be here[in New England]when everything is so chaotic here,'” she said. said. “And I always thought it wasn’t a matter of luck. We’ve made a lot of effort and sacrifice to get to where we are today.”