PUSATERI’S
Ida Pusateri, Rosanna Pusateri, Sammy Pusateri, Dina Luchetta, John Mastroianni and Frank Luchetta.
GOLD STANDARDS
Pusateri’s silver anniversary comes with a new set of gold standards. In this Dolce Vita exclusive, Toronto’s luxury grocer opens up about overcoming recent challenges and the fruitful future ahead.
It’s
just another Friday afternoon at Pusateri’s Fine Food flagship store on Avenue Road: a palpable rush of shoppers, the sweet aroma of freshly baked pastries and a signature traffic guard navigating the parking lot outside. In fact, there’s nothing that would indicate that the upscale Toronto grocer has recently undergone the roughest week in 25 years until you follow a flight of stairs to corporate
36
DOLCE VITA MAGAZINE
•
WINTER 2011/12
www.dolcemag.com
headquarters, and meet the fatigued faces that stand behind the thriving family run food chain. “That day was devastating,” says president Frank Luchetta, sitting at a table surrounded by his sister Ida Pusateri, her children Rosanna and Sammy Pusateri and general manager John Mastroianni. The day he’s referring to is Oct. 20, 2011, when Pusateri’s
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY ARNAL
PRODUCED BY MICHELLE ZERILLO-SOSA