Susanne The list of mouth-watering delicacies continued. The Pollo Pesto Pasta consists of linguine noodles, chicken, vegetables and leeks in a pesto-cream sauce, sprinkled with pine nuts. Soups are home made, and salads are also very popular, especially the Warm Spinach Salad and the Wild Mushroom Salad. Desserts round out the tasty treats and include, among others, a Bourbon Street Chocolate Cheesecake, a Chocolate Raspberry Tartufo as well as an Ice Cream Crepe and various sorbets.
Mural on the second floor
The regular menu is spiced up by nightly features. In the winter a C$21 prix- fix dinner, including a soup, an appetizer and an entré with three to five choices, entices people to brave the cold and titillate their taste buds. Nevada’s Ristorante is open every day, from Monday to Friday from 11 am to 10 pm, and on weekends the restaurant opens up at 9 am for brunch. Chris explained that brunch is extremely busy, and interestingly the most popular item on the brunch menu is the Big Breakfast, consisting of three eggs, maple smoked bacon, sausage, home fries and fruit. Eggs Benedict (with Canadian pea meal bacon), Eggs Nova (with smoked salmon), and Eggs Florentine (with spinach) are also favourite choices.
Interesting art in the staircase
Nevada’s is quite a large restaurant: the main dining room downstairs and an equally sizeable dining room upstairs offer 135 seats, while the patio in the summer holds an additional 35 to 40 people. Nevada’s patio is particularly popular with athletes, for example the beach volleyball players that come up from Ashbridges Bay, as well as the tennis players from the Kew Gardens Tennis Club. The restaurant employs 35 to 40 people in the summer, and has 15 regular staff members during the slower winter months. Chris emphasized that they try to hire local residents as much as possible.
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The team at Nevada’s Ristorante
In addition to learning about the restaurant I wanted to find out a little more about the owners. Chris was born in Greece, and his parents moved to Toronto when he was 18 months old. He grew up in Etobicoke and in the Victoria Park and Lawrence area. Even as a child he often came down to the Beach; he added that he always liked the area and got very excited when Nevada’s Ristorante became available for sale.
Chris’ personal background is actually not in the hospitality industry: he studied computer science and worked for several years for Sony Canada. Three years ago he decided to team up with his parents to get into the restaurant business himself. He indicated that one family member is on the premises at all times, and they enjoy a great working relationship and have lots of fun together. He does not have much spare time these days, but is gearing up towards a big change in his own life: Chris and his wife are expecting their first baby this March!
Chris Housseas, behind the bar
