The secret ingredient to Salvatore Meo’s success
What Salvatore Meo loves most about being a chef is the lack of restriction on his creativity. He loves growing his career a single dish at a time and he thrives on the action going on around him 24-hours a day. His brain is constantly working and developing new ideas to carry his recipes to the next level. He carefully crafts each of his restaurant menus with care and expertise and his customers are all the more thankful for it. The secret ingredient to his success is his unwavering passion for cooking and he has risen above his competitors because of his unique combination of natural talent and savvy business sense.
“I became a chef because of my passion. Simple and clear. As a child, I watched my father create and speak through his kitchen and I have done everything in my power to become like the man I idolized so much as a child,” stated Meo.
What Meo has established out of his childhood dream is astounding. Having lived in both Italy and Germany growing up, he has developed a very unique cooking style and combined the two cultures in an unexpected fashion. As a result, he has owned restaurants all over Germany and Italy and has cooked for thousands of people from all over the world. For restaurants like Trattoria Fornareto, Meo had the opportunity to stick solely to Italian cuisine; however, each of his restaurants have an Italian inspiration and flair.
When Meo opened Ristorante Rossini Bischoscheim, he had the unique challenge of turning a former dance studio into a successful restaurant. He used the layout to his advantage and with the help of an architect, he turned it into an ambient restaurant equipped with a piano bar area, a dining room surrounded by glass walls and and outdoor seating area. The open layout complimented the remarkable food he served and his restaurant goers were blown away by the atmosphere he created.
For Meo, the true joy of his job comes when customers offer him feedback on his food. He is motivated by people responding well to his ideas. It is a testament to his hard work and it reminds him that success is not necessarily measured in revenue but rather in the satisfaction he feels when food lovers rave about his creations. In addition, any constructive feedback that he receives inspires him to change or improve recipes wherever necessary.
When Meo looks back on his experience running Ristorante Rossini Bischoscheim, he reflects on how much he enjoyed the warm, welcoming, and upscale environment he created. Even more so, however, he was humbled by his ability to surpass major restaurant companies that surrounded his restaurant.
Claudio Leci, who had the pleasure of working at Ristorante Rossini Bischoscheim alongside Meo enjoyed his time learning from Meo. According to Leci, Meo’s contributions to the restaurant were invaluable.
“Thanks to the efforts of chef Salvatore, we succeeded in bringing true Italian cuisine to Germany. He served only the best products for our guests to enjoy, especially the wide variety of brunch and lunch items. Not to mention his freshly produced in-house bread,” noted Leci.
As Leci observed, Meo’s talents were irreplaceable to the restaurant. His vast knowledge in the industry allow him to see his job in a light that not many other chefs ever reach in their career. He combines his ingredients in ways that the average chef might not think of and he makes it seem easy. What truly differentiates Meo from his competition, however, is his discipline. He knows what is expected of him, and he knows of the lengths he is willing to go to shed success on his career. He takes this knowledge and he refines his creative edge to suit each task at hand.
“I have always known that being a chef was what I was destined to do, but I never realized how much it would truly fulfill me. My career has been an overwhelmingly pleasant experience and I am fortunate to be able to do what I love for a living. Following in my father’s footsteps is an honor and if I am even half the chef that he was, I would consider that to be the greatest success of all,” he concluded.
