Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Black and Antonio Mure.
Tony and Antonio, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
The chef’s story is that he is from Sicily, came to the states and worked in Vegas for Luciano Pellegrini, as his Executive Chef – they were awarded the James Beard Award then came to Venice and opened his first location in Venice at 5 Dudley, Piccolo. From there, his restaurant group opened La Bote in DT Santa Monica, there he received 1 Michelin Star.
Chef Antonio Mure walked away from that group, citing differences in integrity. Since his departure, the original Piccolo group has faltered. Chef Antonio went on to start Ado Ristorante in Venice, which birthed Casa Ado in the Marina and AdoTeca in Brentwood. His partner at the time, Paolo Cesaro split for Mexico, so they decided to sell off Casa Ado and AdoTeca. This is where I came along and bought out Paolo at the original Ado in Venice.
We closed Ado and reopened, rebranded into Barrique Venice. I was a server for the chef at Ado when the opportunity came open to partner with the chef, I took it.
I was an entrepreneur hungry for an opportunity, I had moved out for acting, and my career was going well. My daughter was born, and I took six months off of work, then when I was ready to get back to work, I couldn’t book a job to save my life. Coincidentally, this is when the chef needed a new partner. Thus, started the beginning of Barrique.
We just signed the lease of our second location in Santa Monica, I proposed to the chef that we revisit Piccolo. I know that his heart broke when he decided to walk away from his first baby, so in honor of that, we are revisiting Piccolo and creating the space and running it with the integrity that he envisions.
We are also in talk to sign a lease at the new Hollywood Park in Inglewood for the new stadium.
I’m still acting, the chef is still cooking and we’re running this little family-owned spot, thats growing, as is our families. I just built an app that will launch Q2 of 2020 that is like Instagram, but your pictures are for sale, automatically released on our platform, I’ve also partnered with Kodak. I also have a script that I wrote based on a book that I own the rights to, about the Korean War, it’s financed and looking to shoot this fall for $40M!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
In regards to Barrique and life, there are always ups and downs. All we’ve set out to do is to provide great food, with great service to our community, and it has organically grown because of this mindset.
I know, as the chef’s partner, that he was really bummed about walking away from the original Piccolo. But look, after he left, that group tanked, he survived and went on to become more successful, that says to me that operating with good morals, good principles goes a long way. Ha! Now, we get to open another Piccolo, his Piccolo!
Please tell us about Barrique Venice.
The chef created this dish, called the Red Beet pasta. It is easily one of the best dishes that we have. The chef just has a way of playing with you pallet. He can balance the savoriness and sweetness of each dish perfectly. The dishes that he creates are dishes that can not be recreated by anyone else because it is a mixture of his past and he really puts his heart into creating these dishes, he has a certain style that I have not seen anywhere else.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have asked Jonathon Gold to come in and eat. He was such a force and I believe that he would have really loved the cuisine.
Contact Info:
- Address: 796 Main Street
Venice, CA 90291 - Website: www.barriquevenice.com
- Phone: 310-399-9010
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @barriquevenice
Image Credit:
Tony Black, Mia Mourouzis
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