A Dream Come True — Viron Rondo Osteria
Posted by estiator at 15 May, at 18 : 54 PM Print
■ By MaryEllen Fillo
CONNECTICUT RESTAURATEUR VIRON RONDOS PLANS A MAJOR EXPANSION AT HIS ACCLAIMED MEDITERRANEAN-INSPIRED RESTAURANT.
Ask his family and friends to describe celebrated Connecticut restaurateur Viron Rondos. The answer… smart, generous, welcoming, focused, dependable, and above all, a perfectionist. Then ask his business associates and the tens of thousands of guests who have dined at his famous, award-winning Cheshire, Ct., restaurant, Viron Rondo Osteria. The adjectives are all that and then add “visionary” as the 50-year-old Greek from Albania prepares for another huge leap in his very successful career; one that is bigger, better, and higher, literally and figuratively.
Rondos is preparing for a multimillion, 30,000-square-foot addition to his 11-year-old restaurant on Highland Avenue, a main thoroughfare gateway to this suburban town. The scope of the project is jaw-dropping. It is one that will include a new three-story addition complete with a rooftop four-season, 200-seat, specialty dining room and garden with its own menu, an additional 16,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art kitchen, expanded existing kitchens, three additional bars including two on a massive, doubled-in-size, outdoor dining area complete with the detailed landscaping and Mediterranean gardens that have made his restaurant a destination dining must in the state.
But that’s not all.
Known for his very successful attention and appreciation of quality and statement-making when it comes to décor, Rondos has a new wow factor up his sleeve, and it’s from his private collection: A 1920s Grand Large Marie Therese 72-arm crystal chandelier, which once hung in the opulent Gold Ballroom at New York City’s former Pennsylvania Hotel, will be prominently displayed in the new space.
Plans also include small party, private dining space, more general dining area, more parking space, elevators, a second wine room, and of course, menus that, he promises, will be better and more extensive than ever.
He dreams it, he says, and when it comes to his restaurant, it’s all about making it come true.
“When I was young, I would imagine what my restaurant would look like if I had one someday,” reminisces the always “GQ”-dressed Rondos, who began his restaurant and hospitality career path as a young teenager. “And this is my daydream for the past couple of years,” he says, lighting up as he explains the project. “I see it in my head and now I want to make it happen.”
Ambitious from the get-go, Rondos learned the art of hospitality at home in Himara, where his mother, Katerina, not only tended to her magnificent gardens, but then used her homegrown produce to prepare huge, amazing weekend dinners for their friends and relatives. He went on to cut his professional teeth working at a restaurant in Greece, where he learned firsthand about the benefits of hard work and taking a job seriously.
Then it was on to New York City, where he began building his career in earnest, working in some of the city’s most well-known restaurants.
Eventually moving to Connecticut, Rondos first opened restaurants in Litchfield and Avon, then found his way to Cheshire, where he saw the potential for the dream he had carried inside him for decades: a Mediterranean-inspired oasis that was a combination of Greek hospitality and New York sophistication, with farm-sourced foods, impeccable service, and creative chefs to match.
It didn’t take long for Viron Rondo Osteria to make the culinary “best of” lists.
Not content to stop there, a few years later he undertook a smaller multimillion expansion, one that incorporated his roots with his drive. That included new dining space, the addition of a huge underground kitchen, and a centerpiece main bar crowned with a vintage, 14-foot, 1,500-pound midcentury chandelier from a New York City theater, and a stunning patio featuring a terraced dining space, hardscapes, crafted stone walls, carefully manicured evergreen and floral vignettes, and a huge outdoor bar that became the seasonal place to be.
Rondos wasn’t done.
“I have been thinking about this expansion for a couple of years now,” says Rondos as he prepares to take the first steps in the approval process for the project. “One that not only gives me more space, more parking, more possibilities, and allows us to be even more creative in the kitchen. Expanding will let us source more local fish, expand our steak offerings, just do more, because dining out is about the best food possible in a setting that is also the best possible.”
His menu emphasizes quality, consistency, and fresh ingredients.
The Greek salad with farm fresh tomatoes from nearby March Farm is eagerly awaited each spring. Seafood choices include the popular Cacciuocco, a tantalizing seafood stew of mussels, clams, octopus and squid. Organic salmon, a “butcher shop” choice of prime beef ribeye, roasted half chicken featuring the premium Bell and Evans brand poultry, and his signature zucchini and eggplant “Mother’s Chips” are among the extensive menu choices that have guests coming back time and time again, and reflect his commitment to quality.
With a menu, a place, and a staff that he compliments every day, Rondos is dead serious about being the best in every way.
The restaurant has already racked up a long list of kudos including the very prestigious federal Small Business Administration’s Connecticut “Small Business of the Year” award. He and his business have also received honors including the Greater Waterbury Chamber of Commerce’s Harold Webster Smith award and the Cheshire Chamber of Commerce “Business of the Year.” He also received the Ct. Restaurant Association “Restaurant of the Year.”
He has won a slew of statewide awards for his menu, his outdoor dining, for being “Family Friendly,” “Most Romantic,” and “Best Fine Dining.” He has received numerous accolades for the extensive wine list that is featured at the restaurant, including multiple, annual “Award of Excellence” nods from the well-known Wine Spectator.
His success, town officials say, is theirs as well.
“Viron is a selfless individual who puts his heart and soul into his business, and it truly shows,” says Cheshire assistant town manager Andrew Martelli. “As Viron moves forward, it shows his commitment to our community. Not only does he provide world-class service with exemplary culinary offerings, he creates a dining experience,” he continues. “Everything Viron does, he does world-class, and I am certain this expansion will be no different. We look forward to the reinvestment.”
While a successful business and its taxes are more than welcome by any community, Martelli adds that Rondos is viewed as far more than that. “From the food pantry, public schools, community events and the chamber, Viron is always there to personally lend his support,“ Martelli notes. “We are truly lucky to have him as an integral part of the fabric of this community.”
Rondos is equally appreciative of a community he says has been exceptional in its support of his business.
“If you do something well, if you work hard, if you step up, you will succeed,” he says, emphasizing that much of his success is due to the support of the town, dining guests, and a staff that has put his restaurant on the map. “I am super excited, super happy, and doing exactly what I love to do as a businessman and a member of the community. This is my dream.”
Viron Rondo Osteria
1721 Highland Ave,
Cheshire, CT 06410
📞 (203) 439-2727
🌐 www.vironrondoosteria.com
