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MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — At some restaurants, the food can be like a religious experience. That could be said for a new Italian restaurant in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, where the owner was anointed “papal chef” in Rome for 10 years.
After preparing meals for two popes at the Vatican — John Paul II and Benedict XVI — it was Salvo Lo Castro’s dream to cook for New Yorkers.
Inside the Spring Street eatery, there’s a divinity to New York City’s newest Italian spot, CasaSalvo. Some say the food prepared by Chef Salvo Lo Castro is heavenly.
“Do you feel blessed? I think yes,” Lo Castro said with a laugh.
His first full-service restaurant has been open for one month, and Lo Castro has quickly gained a faithful following for his mother’s meatball recipe and famous fettuccine. The 52 year-old, who cut his teeth in Sicily and Rome, says dining at CasaSalvo is like coming into his home.
“The name is a very big deal for my guests. CasaSalvo, this is my house, and every day I live here 18 hours a day,” he said.
For a decade in Vatican City, his days were filled with cooking for about two dozen people daily, including each Holy Father.
Anthony DiLorenzo, reporter for Nexstar’s PIX11, asked Lo Castro what the papal meal of choice was.
“The pope is a very simple man,” he said. “Pope John Paul, in the last years of his life, one diet, very light. Pope Benedict, I prepare the meatball for him… schnitzel.”
Lo Castro predicted the next pope following Francis could be American. Sure enough, next month, he was preparing a personal menu for Chicago’s Pope Leo.
“When I shook his hand, I felt it was holy,” said customer James McHugh.
“We’re very amazed at the exciting story behind his experience,” added diner Yoo Kyung Chang.
So what’s next for the man in the white coat? Lo Castro says, God willing, he hopes to expand his culinary sanctuaries to cities worldwide.
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Anthony DiLorenzo
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