Panini Pizza & Pasta Italian Eatery Ltd

The Carusos are a close knit Italian family, so it’s only natural their business, Panini’s Italian Cucina, represents that authentic, down-home Italian upbringing. “The vision we had is, because it is family run, we know the food and we’re going make it like we’re inviting people into our home,” says Tony Caruso, who runs the small Jasper Avenue restaurant with his two brothers, Jamie and Robert, and his mom and dad, Anna Maria and Roberto.

They all left their respective careers to open Panini’s Italian Cucina in the summer of 2016. Roberto had gotten his start in Canada by working in restaurant kitchens in Edmonton, and also owned a successful pizzeria in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Prior to opening Panini's, Roberto and Robert ran a flooring company. Jamie was looking to get out of the hairstyling business and Tony was studying opera singing abroad. They all needed a change and the timing was right.

Jumping into a new business venture could be daunting for a group from such varied backgrounds, but the Carusos fell back on their solid family foundation. “We got together to decide who was best at what,” says Tony. “So we said ‘this is your role and now it’s your time to become an expert in it.’”