SOHO, Manhattan (WABC) — A chef who’s used to cooking for popes at the Vatican, is now offering up his divinely-inspired dishes to customers in New York City.<\/p>\n
Chef Salvo Lo Castro has cooked for popes, celebrities and world leaders, but at his new restaurant in SoHo, where a couple celebrated their 60th anniversary on Wednesday, everyone is treated like royalty.<\/p>\n
“I prepare the food the same for everyone,” Lo Castro said. “I smile the same for everyone.”<\/p>\n
That includes the likes of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, golfer Dustin Johnson, and Saudi businessman Majed Al Sorour.<\/p>\n
Before opening Casasalvo on Spring Street in July, Chef Lo Castro spent 10 years at the Vatican cooking for Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.<\/p>\n
Eyewitness News asked Lo Castro what it was like meeting these people.<\/p>\n
“Normally, it’s a very big, big satisfaction for my life, for my work,” he said.<\/p>\n
When you’ve got that clientele, your food better be heavenly.<\/p>\n
He serves up meatballs straight from Sicily, and his signature fettuccine Casasalvo.<\/p>\n
Lo Castro says he prepares the tomato sauce for 12 hours.<\/p>\n
Casasalvo, “Salvo’s House” in Italian, on Spring Street is now open to the general public.<\/p>\n
“In the Vatican it’s the pope, but at the table – everyone is the same,” Lo Castro said.<\/p>\n
But he says that New York City is the capital of the world.<\/p>\n
“It’s a very different city,” he said.<\/p>\n
It’s a dream he says is now a reality.<\/p>\n
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