Interview with Patrick Saurette of Il Portico
“In my early 20s I realized quite clearly that I didn’t have the dedication to be the actor that I wanted to be, whereas, as a waiter I enjoyed what I was able to accomplish. It’s very much like being on stage. You have your section that you’re entertaining and informing. I really did approach each night as an opening night. Maybe that sounds really hokey but that’s the way I looked at it.”
Patrick Saurette wanted to be an actor when he grew up. His mother advised him to become involved in the hospitality industry so that he would have the skills to feed himself. Not only did he learn to feed himself, Patrick discovered he was also able to apply his acting abilities by working as a waiter.
1. When were you first interested in the restaurant business?
My mother happened to be working for a catering company in Edmonton, so I started doing catering. I worked with a European trained gentleman that taught me an awful lot. We did a lot of interesting catering for consuls that were still here in Edmonton and I even had the opportunity of doing a luncheon with Princess Margaret. We had some pretty interesting guests that we were helping entertain and I caught the bug from that. The wonderful thing about the business is you can take it on the road and do it everywhere. That was when I really became interested in it because I enjoyed the people and the flexibility. I was probably 15, 16 at the time.
I’m 42 now and I like to say that I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. Am I spinning my wheels, I don’t think so. I really enjoy what I’m doing still, but in my role now I’m a coach, rather than an actor. I’m still acting as a host, but now my more important role is to steer the ship.
2. What interested you about this particular kind of restaurant?
I really cut my teeth in Edmonton on French cuisine. I had the opportunity to work with a gentleman by the name of Claude Buzon. I worked with him for a good seven years of my life, and then as the business began to sink I decided to go elsewhere.
The reason I started working at Il Portico was because in those days, 13 years ago, this was a pretty innovative approach to dining in this city. When we opened in 1993 there wasn’t much going on in the city. We were just coming out of a recession. The city was at a second low from the 80s recession and then the struggles we had in the early 90s. I knew of this group from Vancouver that was coming to the city and I decided this would be a good place to hang my hat for a while. Get out of the management role and work on the floor. So I did that for a couple of years. I’m not actually an owner of Il Portico, I am the general manager of the restaurant.
3. What makes Il Portico interesting and unique to other restaurants, chain restaurants in particular?
What makes us different than anybody is that we have created a family like environment within our employees. We have our natural turnover, but we have a tremendous amount of longevity with our employees. Even though they’re not the owners they care about it. We have trained and retained a high quality of server and kitchen staff member. The result is a far superior finished product. If we don’t have the customer walking out with this “wow” in their vocabulary then we haven’t done our job well. That’s not going to happen all the time, but we hear on a very consistent basis that we are able to surprise and surpass a lot of people’s expectations. That’s what we strive for from every detail that we work at.
I think one of the differences that independent restaurants has is that we are able to be the masters of our own destiny. We can react very quickly. We have less red tape. For example if there’s a mistake at the table that’s happening, we’ve empowered our servers to make it right. If there’s something that can be done proactively, they can do it. In other words they don’t have to run around the room and find an assistant manager and explain the story. This shows the customers that we’ve got a competent server that can do something and that they do care. It also shows the server that management has faith in them and trusts them. That empowerment gives them a sense of ownership as well. It’s more of a long term approach.
4. What are the most significant joys and struggles of being the general manager of an independent restaurant?
At least from our ownership perspective, we agreed right at the beginning, that it’s family first. Maybe that’s an Italian tradition, maybe that’s the way we should all think about things. But if we are more in-tune with our daily lives and our families and our private lives, then as we approach work we will be fresher and we will not burn out. That attitude with the upper management is very strong. You go home. You have something to do with your family. However if I am needed, I am here.
There is a give and a take without a doubt. From the very beginning when I started as a manager here my children were quite small, and I was working the hours that allowed me to be home during the day so I was able to spend a lot of quality time with my children when they were small before they went to school. I was very lucky while most fathers had to go to their 9-5 jobs. Now the result is they’re at school all day and I’m at home the odd evening. I’m getting into the process of doing fewer nights and more days. Especially since my son is approaching 12 and my daughter is ten. I know four years from now they won’t want me in their lives.
This business is fun but it’s definitely challenging. What I’ve noticed over the last while is the more experience you get, the easier it becomes. For example, when someone gives their notice and quits, in the past I would internalize it so much. Now I just take it in stride.
5. Is your family involved in the restaurant?
One of the things that I’m really fortunate of is that my wife is absolutely fantastic. She works here part-time. She is not heavily involved, but she knows the business. My wife really is a good sounding board and none of it really goes home. It almost becomes unbiased advice. She’s good at that. She’ll say, “You screwed up here, or this is the way you should have approached this.”
The appeal of the restaurant has lost it’s sheen on my kids. I really try to separate them from my work. When my kids were younger, everyone was really impressed that their dad worked at Il Portico so they would bring their friends here and their families would come here. Now that they’re involved in other things like competitive swimming, the swim families come. At first every once in a while when I’d get my picture in the paper or an article written about the restaurant, they would think that’s kind of cool. But that’s about as romantic as it gets.
6. Where do the ideas for your food come from? What is the inspiration behind the masterpieces?
The root of the cuisine has been in Tuscany and that is primarily because some of the owners are from Tuscany. The menu we started with was developed by one of the past owners. Over the years a lot of those original menu items are gone. But the philosophy our chef has brought to the table is that there are about half a dozen items from the original menu that are untouchables. The ideas come from him and myself, but primarily from him, and we try to sample them and try to test with as specials with the public.
We have a story already, but the story evolves in changes so we take a chapter out and mix it around and put something new and fresh in to make the final ending somewhat the same but to give it a little bit more life. The chef was classically trained in French cuisine so he brings that to the table. Stylistically he’s still Italian but more creatively he’s trained in French cuisine.
7. How large a role do ethics play in your choice of products? Do you buy locally, organically, fair trade?
We buy with quality in mind. We’ve made a commitment to Alberta Beef. Local, organic, fair trade, these sorts of things are not top of mind for most people though. As a group we have discussed whether this is important for us to support. It is, but to what degree are we going to be able to do that? The role we have to play with that is more of an educational role. We buy from a few groups.
Since we do relatively higher volumes I can’t go to the Farmer’s Market and wander around and shake hands with Mr. Bean Grower who makes one crop a year. That’s romantic and it’s wonderful and it’s a connection to the community, but by the same token, it goes back to the life. Do I want to spend my Saturdays wandering around the market shaking hands and making connections, a part of me does, but I also want to go to my kid’s swim meet.
I think that commitment can be made in different ways, in different educational perspectives. I went to Sysco and we had a meeting with a bunch of different people. Sysco is a huge food provider out of the United States. Everything you’d want for a restaurant. We did an orientation with them. We met with the produce manager, meat manager and they wanted to know what we can do differently. I asked what sort of organic products they have available. The produce manager said they have bits and pieces but not very much, he didn’t think there is much of a need for it.
I think in one way he’s right. I see people coming out and eating and very rarely do they ask about organic vegetables or chemical free beef. If I had to pick a number it is less than 5% that would ever talk about this. However, the very next week there was an article in the journal talking about organic produce and how larger companies are getting into organics in a huge way because people are buying it at home and they are using it at home. And they don’t mind that extra 20 or 30%.
What I’m trying to say is that concern for organic food is coming, but not with the speed that people think it is. Does that mean that I have time to drag my feet? Not necessarily. We support these programs in theory, but not with our dollar. I think there are other approaches we can take.
I think as a group, Original Fare needs to embrace these approaches—fair trade, and sustainability, with our voice. Not necessarily just our dollar but more importantly with our voice. To educate and make it known. I think there’s credence to our voice. That also helps bond Fare, as a group. Really one of the most important factors of this group is we are able to discuss these sort of positions. Not necessarily all come to a consensus, but there must be a common voice to a degree.
We need to find something that is not general or specific but is something that will give us a nugget to support. An offshoot of the nugget could be generating awareness of fair trade or local growers. Dine Alberta is an approach where they are trying to create more of a liaison between the producer and the final end user. They have put the restaurant and the farmer together. They will create menus that will have a certain percentage of only Alberta products. Two things will happen—they will teach customers about it and themselves about it.
Hopefully these products will get integrated into their daily use. And they have to a degree. But the problem is in California there are at least forty crops of tomatoes, while in Alberta we’re lucky if we have one. But there are other specialty crops such as honey, mustards, and beefs.
8. Where does the restaurant’s name come from?
Il Portico is an architectural term. I believe it’s regionally specific to the North. In and around Florence. If you go to an estate, you will often find there is an area where you could have driven your carriage. An area that juts out. We had a double entendre. It is an architectural terms, but it also means a garage. A place where you keep your tools.
9. What are your interests/hobbies outside of the restaurant?
Because our children are so active, we’re really involved in their lives. My children swim competitively with the Keyano swim club and they also ski with the Edmonton Nordic ski club. So we’re basically ski parents and swim parents. My wife and I both love to run and we love to ski. So we try to stay active that way. But as a swim parent you’re required to do an awful lot of volunteer work. My hobbies and interests right now are my children.
