The Conversation with Janet Zuccarini

On the merits of chasing sunshine, and finding clarity in the storm.

Janet Zuccarini has spent nearly three decades building restaurants that don’t just feed people—they take them somewhere. In Canadian restaurant circles, she’s a rarefied presence: a hospitality superstar with an instinct for experience, design, and the hard mechanics of making restaurants work. Since opening Trattoria Nervosa in 1996, the founder and CEO of Gusto 54 has grown a roster of Toronto standouts—Gusto 101 and 501, Pai, Chubby’s—then crossed the border to take her biggest swing yet: Felix, a Venice Beach trattoria on Abbot Kinney Boulevard that became a national obsession and was crowned #1 on Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America list.

But Zuccarini’s story is as much about staying power as it is about ascendance. The soaring success of Felix sits in sharp contrast to the heartache of closing Stella, her ambitious West Hollywood venture with Rob Gentile, a reminder that even the best operators are navigating a harsher, more volatile era. That tension between triumph and tough calls is exactly why the industry is watching her so closely. As restaurateurs search for higher ground, many see Zuccarini as a bellwether for what comes next: how to protect quality, build culture, and evolve the model when many of the old rules no longer apply.

Today, the Gusto 54 restaurant family spans two countries and two very different dining cultures. In this conversation, Zuccarini reflects on what she learned the moment she landed
in L.A.—from the “service gap” she couldn’t ignore to the operational realities of building across a border—and why, even after a few hard knocks, she’s still chasing the work, the challenge,
and the next evolution of hospitality.

MENU Magazine: What first influenced your decision to jump into the U.S.?

Janet Zuccarini: Hmmm… I would like to invite you to walk outside your door right now… It’s 75º F and sunny today—that’s really it. I mean, this is my company, and I wanted to grow in a way that I wanted to grow. I was always escaping winter, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I’m going to move to where there’s sunshine and add in a challenge—because I personally need to always have challenges. I fight boredom. That’s my theme in life.

So, go to a different country, open a new restaurant, and do our best work. I had all these boxes I wanted to tick off, and that became Felix. And we are, as a company, very proud of Felix.

MM: What hit you right away when you opened in L.A.—what was different, and how did you have to adapt?

JZ: There’s a real difference in the level of service. Culturally, it’s a surf town. Nobody’s in a rush here. And as a diner, it can be annoying. I saw that service gap and thought, okay—we can bring some Toronto energy into the service. And when I say, “Toronto energy,” I also mean New York and Chicago—East Coast energy. That was the first thing I learned.

Then I met somebody working in a big restaurant group here in Los Angeles and he told me it was going to be very hard to find managers that get that East Coast vibe. So, I look for people coming from New York, Toronto, Chicago—anything on that side. That was my first lesson, and that was the first gap that I saw.

MM: So, the gap is in the pace of service?

JZ: It’s what everyone who’s never lived here imagines: slow and relaxed.

No one walks fast. No one seems to be going anywhere fast. When I was living in Venice Beach, I kept thinking: does anyone have a job? Everyone’s out in the middle of the day — doesn’t anyone have anywhere to be?

MM: Once you adjusted to the pace, what did you focus on or refine to stand out?

JZ: You look for the gaps you can fill and do better, and people will appreciate that. Nobody likes slow service or servers forgetting your order—nobody likes that. And it was culturally accepted here.

I just saw opportunity and so, I leaned into excellent service.

We got one of our first serious reviews—it might’ve been Esquire—and it said something like: you know how some restaurants open and you feel like they might be in kindergarten and they need time, so you cut them a break? Felix opened with a PhD.

So, I knew this was needed in Los Angeles.

MM: What “East Coast hospitality” practices proved most valuable at Felix?

JZ: Hardcore training. You feel very uncomfortable in any job when you’re not trained properly.

We have a whole team, and we brought a whole team. In our company, you may start as a server, but then you get “certified” to be a coach. Once you’re a coach, you can fly down. We had a team fly down to Los Angeles—everyone stayed in Airbnbs close by in Venice—and you coach on the floor with our new hires.

It’s a lot of training, but it’s also a lot of respect. You want to treat your team well. You want to feed them well. If you sit at a restaurant and your server is kind of nasty or short, you know what’s going on above. You have to make your team happy, and that comes from the leaders. Everyone up here has to be really happy, treated well—it trickles down.

When I started off in the business, I was only ever fed carbs at my own restaurant. I can’t survive on a plate of pasta six days a week—I need protein. I learned, by being a server, that we have to treat people well. Happy people make people happy—that’s another saying in our company. Then they come to your table happy to work for the company. A server with
a smile on their face—that’s the most important thing in service.

When we open a restaurant, I’ll work the floor, I’ll work the door, and I just keep telling people: keep smiling. Mistakes can happen during service, but if you have a nice person serving you—actually caring—it feels great.

MM: How do you keep your cross-border teams united?

JZ: The office and leadership team are in Toronto, and they will fly to Los Angeles and spend time here when needed. I don’t think it’s ideal, but it’s what we have to do.

There are a lot of meetings. We got comfortable over Zoom, and once in a while we do longer stays. Demetrio Bianco, our head of operations—he’s been with me for 30 years—just spent three weeks in Los Angeles at Felix and boy did I notice the difference. The team just stepped it up.

We need that regular injection—a presence of leadership—and we’re constantly fine-tuning how we’re operating here. Whatever’s needed, we fly people down. It’s an expense we take on.

Also, our leadership team is unchanged. We’re very proud of this: there’s not been one leader that has been replaced. Head of operations: 30 years. Our president has been here 12 years—but I didn’t have a president prior to finding her. Our team stays. When you treat people well, and pay them well—people stay with you, and that helps operations.

MM: So, you don’t see U.S. versus Canadian operations as distinct—it’s one family. Gusto is Gusto no matter where you are?

JZ: Yes.

MM: What’s your big preoccupation right now in your career?

JZ: Managing lawsuits is number one.

Our lives in hospitality were very different pre-COVID. I was on easy street for about 20 years. We were making money. I felt like I could not fail at anything. We were doing so well—then Covid hit, and it changed how we operated.

We went from thriving to surviving. It was terrible timing: 2020 was our big year—we had five restaurants under construction—after growing the company so slowly. And I’m still paying for that today.

We survived by getting into debt. We were very proud that we self-funded every project—every project in my group was funded with revenue from existing restaurants. Then 2020 happened. Revenue went to zero. But we had millions and millions owed on construction sites. Disastrous.

It’s been almost six years since COVID. When it started, I said it set me back 10 years—and I was right. We were set back a decade. Before the pandemic, it was, “Let’s open restaurants. Let’s go.” Now, I’m focused on paying down debt.

I’m excited to get back into thriving. I think 2027 is going to be a turn for us. Hospitality has changed a lot. There are so many factors that make it more challenging than pre-2020. It was easy. People used to say, “You’re in a challenging industry,” and I was like, “Well, I’m always making money. Our profit margins are huge. I don’t understand why everyone says it’s difficult.” It really wasn’t for us. But now, you have to be astute in business. You have to figure out this new terrain—because we’re definitely in new terrain.

People aren’t drinking—especially in L.A. —and where do we make our money? Alcohol. Who’s your best diner? The person drinking a lot who orders a lot of food. And now people are on GLP-1s. They’re ordering less and sharing mains. People are also worried about the economy and aren’t spending as much or dining out as much. Now that you can order in nearly anything, people are staying home.

So, we’re looking at ways to exercise economies of scale and manage tighter. We have 13 restaurants, but independents have an even harder time. We’re all asking how we’re going to survive the changing times, and I’m embracing it. AI—how are we going to use it? I love AI. Let’s go. Figure out everything. You have to move with the times or you’re a dinosaur and you’re done.

MM: Your grit and resilience are impressive. Do you still love this business as much as you did earlier in your career?

JZ: Oh my god, yeah. It’s the only thing I’ve ever done, and I absolutely love it. But I see times are changing. I’m looking out: what are we going to do? I recognize restaurants have to offer some entertainment now. To me, that means: if your restaurant does not have a vibe, you’re missing out. There are many areas we can move into, and I’m excited about it.

I’m not going to be a victim in any part of my life. I recognize it’s harder now. Food costs are up. Labour costs are up. Operators are settling on slimmer and slimmer margins, and at a certain point you’re like: why are we doing this? But we have to find our way. And this becomes another challenge that I, in a way, get excited about. At this stage, I wish I was a little more on easy street, but we’re not. So—suck it up, buttercup.

MM: As a Canadian operator in the U.S. right now—are your sourcing pipelines fully separate, or is there crossover?

JZ: For food product—it’s California. There’s nothing better. Everything is sourced very locally. If we can, we get everything local. Tariffs are an issue for sure—we bring in some Italian products—we look for substitutes. But we manage our supply chains separately.

MM: What were the biggest hurdles opening in U.S., coming in with Canadian regulatory, labour laws, and real estate experience?

JZ: When I came here 11 years ago, I saw lots and lots of opportunity. A huge population. There weren’t that many Italian restaurants, other than old-school Italian restaurants—which I have a lot of respect for—but this was something new and fresh.

Felix has been our greatest success. At that point, I was bringing 20 years of experience
to L.A. and wanting to do our best work. In Toronto, a lot of our restaurants are neighbourhood restaurants, and that’s a model I really like—becoming a fixture in a neighbourhood. Nervosa is going to be 30 years old in June. We’ve become a fixture in Yorkville.

And I had a dream of a location on Abbot Kinney, one of the coolest streets in North America. I wanted a chef-driven restaurant, incredible food, incredible design. I wanted to train and open with service that was memorable. We were going to bring our best work, and it’s been our best work. Our best accolade in 30 years was Esquire naming us best new restaurant in America three months after we opened. That was like…I could retire after that.

Because there were a lot of naysayers: “Who do you think you are—Toronto—going to L.A., the big leagues?” Nobody really cares about restaurants if you own one in Toronto. It doesn’t carry the same weight, and that’s sad. Toronto is a fabulous town for restaurants, but the world doesn’t care. You have to open in New York or L.A. to become somebody. Nobody was
interested in me as a restaurateur until I opened in L.A. Then it was: “Hey, can we interview you? You’re kind of a somebody now.”

Twenty years in Toronto—nobody was interested. Zero interest. And I’m fine. I’m just saying: kind of like, you have to go to the States and do something.

MM: That’s so real—Canadians need third-party authentication.

JZ: Yeah. I had the honour of sitting beside Lorne Michaels at a dinner—he was a very good friend of my husband’s—and I said, “What is it about Canadians needing to make it in the United States to be acknowledged in Canada?”

He said, “Canadians have an inferiority complex. They’re not going to believe it until you go somewhere “hot” in the United States.” And strangely, I agree with that. There is some kind of inferiority complex, because Toronto is fantastic for restaurateurs. As a restaurant city, I think it’s unbelievable. It’s so great.

MM: Working with U.S. talent—were there big differences with chef personalities?

JZ: They’re just different individuals. Finding Evan Funke—he’s a phenomenal chef, and a verifiable superstar now.

After Felix was so successful—we had a 300-person wait list every day for probably two years—it was impossible to get into. We opened with such a splash. I recognized his talent and I wanted to open exclusively with Evan. We had plans to bring Felix to Toronto and New York, and then COVID hit. I put the brakes on. Evan said, “What are we doing?” and I had to tell him, “I can’t—financially—I can’t do anything.” Another restaurant group scooped him up, and now he’s got other restaurants and he’s a mega superstar.

And by the way—we only have Felix left, right? I’ve had two failures here. L.A.’s kicked my
ass—legit kicked my ass. It’s a regret—there was nothing I could have done about it—but I saw the opportunity.

Back in Toronto, we’re in a partnership with Nuit Regular—a mega talent. Unbelievable superstar. Jeff and Nuit are an amazing couple. So, every restaurant has a different story. Some are neighbourhood restaurants where we hire an executive chef. In others, we’re building a brand around a chef. With Jeff and Nuit, we’re building a brand around them, and we’re supporting them.

With Stella—which we closed—we brought Rob Gentile from Toronto to L.A. He had left his restaurant group and was available, so he came here—another Toronto person coming over.

MM: If you were to open a new restaurant in L.A. now—what would you do differently, or would you wait?

JZ: It’s very difficult right now in L.A. I’m trying to get to politicians to advocate for reform because I think it’s on the verge of unworkable.

Stella was a nine-million-dollar investment. The first year, we did close to nine million in revenue and we still lost money. I was like, “What is it going to take to make money in this town?”

And then we were sued by employees—unpaid break time, was essentially the complaint. These PAGA lawsuits here only exist in California, and PAGA was created to make sure employers wouldn’t be bad employers, but it’s so hard to defend. There are all of these ambulance-chasing lawyers, and they came after Stella. Most restaurants just write a cheque, but we start defending ourselves. We got a lawyer, and then we closed down Stella.
Now they’ve moved all the lawsuits to me—
and then piled on ten more. I don’t want to operate in L.A. anymore.

So, I’m trying to get to politicians for reform. I have some great restaurateurs gathered together and we’re saying it’s just not workable right now.

MM: How has the mix of soaring success and crushing defeat changed you as a leader?

JZ: It hurt me a lot to close the first restaurant—another Covid story. There was ego attached because we’ve never closed a single concept down. That was a badge of honour.

Now? I have no ego. I’m leading the company in a way that says: if we have a restaurant that isn’t making money, we’re shutting it down. I’m not here for the glory. We have to have successful restaurants. If they’re not working, we close them—or we work at it to figure it out. I have to get back into thriving, and that means making money. My background is business. So, let’s have profitable businesses.

Stella had a big splash. We were on every list—top new openings. Leonardo DiCaprio
celebrated his 50th birthday at Stella just before we closed. And it still wasn’t enough

for this town. It’s freshly closed, so people are like, “What happened?” We couldn’t make it. We couldn’t do it, couldn’t make money, so we had to shut it down. It’s as simple as that.

Zero ego. You win some, you lose some. You take away lessons.

Right now, to open in L.A., it would have to be an absolute sweetheart deal—meaning somebody wants me, they’re the landlord, they become a partner, they put money in.

I’m not financing restaurants anymore. I’ve been at this for 30 years. I’ve been in the hamster wheel. So, I’ve said to my leadership team, “If we never open another restaurant again, we have 13—we’re good. We have enough work to level up what we already have.”

About Janet Zuccarini

Janet Zuccarini is the founder and CEO of Gusto 54 Restaurant Group, an acclaimed hospitality company behind restaurants including Trattoria Nervosa, Gusto 101 and 501, Pai Northern Thai Kitchen, Chubby’s, and Felix in Los Angeles. Since launching Trattoria Nervosa in 1996, she has built a reputation for transporting guest experiences—pairing standout cuisine with inspired design and warm hospitality. Felix was named

Esquire’s #1 Best New Restaurant in America, recognized by Eater L.A., and honoured with James Beard and Michelin Guide recognition.

Zuccarini is also a resident judge on Top Chef Canada and has been recognized with multiple leadership awards, including honours from Canada’s 100 Best, Foodservice & Hospitality, and the Italian Chamber of Commerce.

Zuccarini is the first Canadian woman to become an AVPN (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana)–certified pizzaiola and is proud to be counted among the roughly seven per cent of women restaurateurs worldwide.

Follow Janet: IG: @janetzuccarini