Holy cannoli!<\/p>\n
In his storied career in the kitchen, chef Salvo Lo Castro has been a star around the world and at the Vatican, plating pasta for popes, world leaders and movie stars alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These days, he\u2019s traded a life of crosses in Rome for the crosswalks of New York City.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe secret is I prepare everything with my heart, OK?\u201d Lo Castro told The Post of an acclaimed career that has seen him reach the heights of culinary fame.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe restaurant is my home, and the people who dine with me aren\u2019t clients \u2014 they\u2019re guests who come to my home,\u201d Lo Castro said of his delicious philosophy, alluding to his restaurant\u2019s eponymous moniker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lo Castro\u2019s new eatery is on Spring Street. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n
While Lo Castro has been behind an eponymous chain of busy espresso bars<\/a> that dot Manhattan since 2022, his sleek, new Soho restaurant, Casasalvo<\/a> \u2014 which opened in July on Spring Street \u2014 marks the first time the public at large can feast on his most famous dishes, all with a spiritual pedigree.<\/p>\n For 10 years, he cooked at the Vatican, cultivating special relationships with both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, serving his mother\u2019s meatballs and his namesake fettuccine Casasalvo, both of which are now available to the masses.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery pope is a normal person,\u201d Lo Castro said of his sacred tenure. \u201cThough while John Paul was very charismatic, for me the best was Benedict,\u201d he said of the leader, who served as pope from 2005 to 2013.<\/p>\n Lo Castro was a Vatican chef for a decade and developed a relationship with Pope John Paul II. Getty Images<\/p>\n Lo Castro also worked for Pope Benedict XVI during his stint there. Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a very incredible man,\u201d said Lo Castro, who worked for the Pontifex, born Joseph Ratzinger, for six years.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHis eyes were magnetic, and his voice to me was God in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Celebs, politicians don\u2019t fluster him: \u2018Just concentrate on the food\u2019<\/p>\n A view inside his lush Italian spot. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Lo Castro has also cooked for everyone from Muammar Gaddafi and the Saudi royal family to Tom Cruise and Robert De Niro.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor important events, if I\u2019m ever nervous to cook, I prepare everything badly,\u201d Lo Castro confessed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI prepare everything fantastically when I\u2019m calm and zen. When I arrive in the kitchen, I don\u2019t use the telephone; I only speak with the fish, with the beef, with the lamb. It\u2019s very important you just concentrate on the food.\u201d<\/p>\n Lo Castro also cooked for former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Getty Images<\/p>\n Not that his A-list connections phase him: For a dinner next month that he\u2019s prepping for Rolex, expected guests include Leonardo DiCaprio and Roger Federer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNormally, for other people, it is not normal, but for me, it doesn\u2019t matter if I\u2019m cooking for a pope, president or ordinary person,\u201d Lo Castro said. \u201cEvery man I cook for is a king, and every woman I cook for is a queen.\u201d<\/p>\n While popes and cardinals regularly devoured his pastas and cannolis, he said he had the least amount of menu leeway during the church\u2019s holiest holidays.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery religious period for the Catholic Church, like Christmas, is very strict when it comes to what food to serve,\u201d he said. \u201cOn Easter, for example, I\u2019d prepare lamb and it\u2019s all very traditional.\u201d<\/p>\n The chef also served up his own inventive dishes. <\/p>\n His aforementioned fettuccine sauce is made through an hourslong process where he slow cooks beef, tomatoes and vegetables (including carrots and celery) separately, before combining them alongside a knob of fine, fresh Italian butter and a hunk of special, 48-month-aged Parmesan cheese.<\/p>\n Aside from his divine clients, Lo Castro has also prepared feasts for the world stage\u2019s other major figures.<\/p>\n \u2018Every man I cook for is a king, and every woman I cook for is a queen.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The esteemed chef waves to folks outside his new Soho restaurant. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Lo Castro prepares a creamy cacio e pepe in a wheel of cheese. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n For example, he was in the kitchen in 2008 during a summit on Sardinia between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and then-Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it came to security before the dinner, there were an incredible amount of restrictions,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cBut after you serve the meal, they come into the kitchen to compliment you, and it turns into a very kind situation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m cooking for the world\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cEvery man I cook for is a king, and every woman I cook for is a queen,\u201d he boasted of his everyday clientele. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Born in the blue-collar Sicilian city of Catania, Lo Castro grew up in Linguaglossa, north of the city atop Mount Etna.\u00a0<\/p>\n From the beginning, a culinary life was in his blood.<\/p>\n His grandfather, Nino, sold hazelnuts, even earning the regional nutty moniker \u201cKing of Hazelnuts.\u201d Orazio, his grandfather on the other side, who ran a local rotisserie, was also a mentor in the kitchen.<\/p>\n He began cooking at 12 when he befriended the chef at a local restaurant, Gatto Blue.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very small, but I\u2019d stay all day in the kitchen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n After attending chef school, he got his start in the luxury resorts of the Italian island, including Taormina\u2019s swank San Domenico Palace, the setting for the second season of \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d and the recent Honeymoon spot<\/a> for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez.<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest satisfaction is that I came from a small town, and now I\u2019m cooking for the world,\u201d said Lo Castro, who has also lived and cooked in Milan and Florence, as well as Montpellier, France, and Brazil.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, I\u2019m still a very normal man,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Long days mark his culinary quests<\/p>\n He starts his workday with a trip to his espresso bars via his Vespa. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t rest on his laurels, either, despite his stacked resume.<\/p>\n Waking up at 5 a.m., the passionate chef starts his exhaustive 18-hour workday zipping around Manhattan on his Vespa, checking in on each of his three espresso bars in Midtown, the Upper East Side and Upper West Side.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n