The owners of popular downtown eatery Buon Gusto plan on expansion to Guelphify surrounding communities.
Tied at the hip for the last three weeks, new co-owners Ali Merchant and and Khalil Khamis, along with general manager Dave Brown have plans to bring Buon Gusto to cities similar to Guelph.
It’s a two-year plan to level up the restaurant and since this is just the beginning, they aren’t looking at specific locations yet.
Buon Gusto at 69 Wyndham St. has been around for about 13 years. Its Italian menu features antipasti, pasta and wood-fired pizza.
Merchant and Brown don’t plan to change Buon Gusto; they want to implement the same level of food, service and atmosphere elsewhere.
“The reason we are here today is because we love Buon Gusto the way it is,” said Merchant. “Whether it's the menu, whether it's the tapestries on the wall, whether it's the food, the team. We just love coming in here. My in-laws celebrate their anniversaries here, their birthdays, their baptisms, everything. Everything comes through Buon Gusto.”
It’s a full-circle moment for Merchant as he is back on Wyndham Street where he once worked at Diana Downtown. That’s where he learned to open a bottle of wine. When he worked at Kelseys, where he met his now wife, she asked him how to open a bottle of wine. The couple now has a one-and-half-year-old son named Ziad.
Merchant and Brown have a combined nearly six decades worth of experience in the hospitality industry. Both were raised in Guelph and have been in and out of other cities for their careers, but Guelph is home.
Day-to-day, Brown comes through Buon Gusto’s doors around 9 a.m. He polishes the cutlery, folds them into serviettes and sets the tables before lunch service starts. He organizes things in his head and what he does is measured. “I like everything done a certain way,” said Brown.
“I think it's a great balance. And not to interrupt you, but your old school vibes and my new school charm have done some beautiful things in this space. I love what you bring to the table,” said Merchant.
Merchant is a good guy to be around, he’ll do anything for you and beat you to it, said Brown.
“The key to business in the restaurant business, it's consistency. And if you're not consistent in this business, you're not in this business,” said Brown.
There is no such thing as a day off for Brown and Merchant. Pulling in countless hours working in the business, isn’t uncommon for them, they said.
“We love the neighbourhood vibes where Buon Gusto is a place not only to celebrate but to come on a Tuesday night. This is the destination. You know, it’s something that I feel so strongly about that if there’s one go-to restaurant in the city. Sure I’m biased, call it what it is but it always has been Buon Gusto far before we got here, for me. So to grow a beautiful thing will be a beautiful thing,” said Merchant.
The reason for expanding the restaurant in other cities “... is because we know this does well. The menu is beautiful. The offerings are plentiful, so it would be similar in my imagination,” said Merchant.
“You do it with the same pride you do with the same care that you did in the first location,” said Brown. He and Merchant agree it's all about the people that work at Buon Gusto that make it what it is.
“We want you to remember how it felt, how the whole experience felt, not just the food, not just the social power of it, everything,” said Brown.
