He’s cooked for popes, presidents and celebrities. Now, former Vatican Chef Salvo Lo Castro is plating up pasta for everyday New Yorkers at his restaurant in SoHo.
CasaSalvo, Lo Castro’s first restaurant in New York City, opened in July.
“All my life, New York is the capital of the world”
Lo Castro said he started working at the Vatican during the Great Jubilee in 2000 and stayed on until 2010, cooking for Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
“Normally, I prepare for the pope before your guests,” he said. “It’s a very big experience in my life for 10 years.”
But now, he’s bringing his secret sauces from Sicily to New York City.
CasaSalvo, Chef Salvo Lo Castro’s first restaurant in New York City, opened in July 2025.
CBS News New York
“All my life, New York is the capital of the world. I don’t think one day I’m staying in New York, I’m living in New York, I have a restaurant in New York,” he said. “This is just my dream, but now my dream is reality.”
Lo Castro says New York is his “big family” and the restaurant is his home – he’s there 18 hours a day.
“I go in the kitchen. I don’t have a telephone. I don’t have email. I don’t have nothing. I speak just with my fish, my beef, the chicken,” he said.
Chef Salvo Lo Castro is bringing his secret sauces from Sicily to New York City.
CBS News New York
And, of course, the one ingredient he says he never forgets: “The gold of Italy – the parmigiano.”
Lo Castro says right now, he’s serving up specials for the U.S. Open.