Wandering Food Dude Owners to Open Brick-and-Mortar Restaurant in Gansevoort
Salvato's Bistro will embrace the community-driven spirit of its owners' catering company...and the place where they met.
Once JD and Lauren Salvato knew they were going to open a restaurant in the former Rozey’s Tavern & Grill in Gansevoort, they turned to the trusty followers of their catering company’s Facebook page to help name it. Ninety comments later, every possible play on the “Wandering Food Dude” name had been considered, including Wander Food, Dudes Food, Wandering Inn, Food Dudes Hideaway, and my personal favorite, The Stationary Food Dude. The name the couple settled on, though, doesn’t incorporate wandering, food, or dude.
“It’s going to be Salvato’s Bistro,” says Lauren, who met her husband, JD, when they were both working at Longfellows—her in the front of house, him in the kitchen. “We were thinking a lot into the name, and we were like, let’s just make it simple. But with the name Salvato’s, we want people to know that it’s not all Italian food.”
So, what will Salvato’s serve? Sure, some Italian specials, but also entrées like steak and salmon, handheld sandwiches of the pulled pork and fried chicken varieties, Wandering Food Dude’s fan-favorite mac and cheese, and a whole host of appetizers to cater to the bar crowd that used to frequent Rozey’s. “And we’re probably going to do pizza, because there’s nothing else in that area that has pizza,” Lauren says. “Quite a few people have reached out saying, ‘Hey, are you going to do pizza?’ Even the building inspector asked.” In other words, if you’ve ever had Wandering Food Dude’s catering, expect some of your favorite dishes, plus plenty of new creations.
As for the vibe of the space, Lauren says she and JD hope to keep things similar to the way they run their catering business: friendly and warm. It’ll be a place where you can relax, because dinner is being taken care of—a place where everyone feels welcome. Actually, the way Lauren describes it, Savato’s Bistro sounds not all that different from the now-closed Longfellows, where many of her and JD’s current employees worked previously.
The best news? Wandering Food Dude isn’t going anywhere; the kitchen in the new space is big enough for both the restaurant and catering company.
“We live in Schuylerville and it’s super tight knit,” Lauren says. “We do a lot of catering for the sports teams, and all the families are like, ‘When are you going to open up a restaurant?’ So this is kind of cool for them, too.”
—Natalie
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