After 30 years of being a gourmet chef at 5-star hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy, Sicilian chef Salvo Lo Castro came to New York City in late 2022 to launch Casa Salvo, a service providing private chefs in people’s homes, businesses, embassies with catering. And that business led to his launching Casa Salvo, an espresso bar in May 2024 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, with the same name. The retail store will serve to promote the private chef business.
And since Lo Castro is a brand ambassador for Dokito, an Italian coffee supplier, he can buy his beans at lower prices, enabling him to charge only $2.50 for a cup of espresso.
In a city where small cups of coffee and espresso are going for $4 and in many cases $5 and more, espresso for $2.50, prepared by a gourmet Italian chef is, what many New Yorkers, would call, a deal. He had been appalled by the rising price of espresso and cappuccino sold in New York and decided to do something about it.
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Not Just an Espresso Bar
Casa Salvo is also an Italian specialty food market that sells affordable, Italian pantry staples, including a private line of balsamic vinegars, Italian tomato sauces, mozzarella, prosciutto and other meats and cheeses.
An award-winning Italian chef is combining businesses and using an espresso bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side as a steppingstone.
Lo Castro’s café, located on Amsterdam Avenue of 82nd Street, is in proximity to the Museum of Natural History, which attracts a slew of tourists and locals.
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And Lo Castro’s resume reads like a Who’s Who of Italian dining including serving as executive sous chef at Felix Lo Basso Home & Restaurant in Milan Italy, Enoteca Pinchiorri, a Tuscan eatery in Firenze, Italy and chef at 5-star hotels such as San Domenico Palace Taormina, a Four Seasons Hotel in Italy. He also gained the backing of one private investor who financed the Upper West Side retail store.
But he also doesn’t sell any drip coffee, which this reporter found out, when he visited Casa Salvo. Lo Castro also doesn’t speak much English, so Luca Colucci, Casa Salvo’s marketing manager, answered questions.
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Colucci explains that Italian dining and Mediterranean diets have been on the upswing since the Covid pandemic struck. People are more interested in their health, and Italian food is renowned for its quality, he suggests.
There’s no indoor seating, only six tables outside, seating 12. It’s located adjacent to a barber shop, in tight quarters, but the retail shop next door on the other side, is vacant and would be a perfect addition to augment the space and prepare lunch and breakfast items beyond its cornetto or Italian croissant.
Underselling Coffee in NYC
Casa Salvo isn’t the only espresso bar trying to undersell its competitors. Matto Espresso, for example, has been quite a success story, which first sold coffee for $2.50 a cup and then raised its price to $3. It has opened over 35 locations, predominantly in Manhattan with a handful in Brooklyn and New Jersey. When this reporter contacted its CEO, he declined, however, to be interviewed.
Colucci, who is also Italian, explains that the Dokito coffee beans are shipped to New York City and consist of 80% arabica beans, 10% pistachio and 10% Ethiopian.
Pistachio Cream Cappuccino
Its best-selling coffee drink is its pistachio cream cappuccino, which includes spreadable cream made by Italian pistachio, and it also offers bombolonis, an Italian-filled doughnut. In June, it’s introducing new desserts including tiramisu and lemon cake.
Initial consumer reaction on Yelp was extremely positive. Elle from Manhattan said when she and her husband were walking by it, chef Lo Castro greeted them. When they returned the next day, they enjoyed the cappuccino and cornetto. “It was truly the best pistachio cornetto since my last trip to Italy,” she wrote.
Noah from Ocean Beach, N.Y. said “the place was busy, you could tell people were excited, but not overly crowded. I’ll be back and truly hope this place lasts a long time.”
And enterprising Lo Castro wants to use the Upper West Side retail store as a springboard to spawn others. Colucci say that they have started to look for space for a second espresso bar and “open up in another little corner in New York,” and then might explore other states, and boosting sales of products via ecommerce. All of this would be done under the brand name Casa Salvo, which would generate multiple revenue streams.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to bring Italian hospitality to the states, a different way of serving guests, a way to live in the moment,” Colucci explains, as director Federico Fellini called it in his film “La Dolce Vita,” a good life comprised of pleasure and indulgence.
