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ASBURY PARK - For Nancy LaTorre and Cathy Bergamo, owners of Pasta Volo, a business that serves pasta meals on the go, the hardest part about starting was finding a location.
“At that point, Asbury Park was getting popular again,” LaTorre said. “It was really up and coming, so we were really looking for locations based off of the right size and did not want to be on Cookman (Avenue) because it was our first venture into the restaurant business and there were so many other established places there already.
“We quickly course corrected and kept our search going,” LaTorre said. “We saw a couple of other smaller locations around Asbury that we were competing for and ended up finding Bond Street, which is where we are now. We thought it could be very successful or be our demise based off of us not being on a popular street.”
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Bergamo and LaTorre went with their gut and signed the lease, and with that stroke of the pen, Pasta Volo was born in 2016.
“The town was very cooperative and we actually spoke to other businesses around the area, who really accepted us with open arms,” LaTorre said. “Kim (Masi) from Confections of a Rock Star was supportive of us and was also brutally honest about what is took to be a successful business in Asbury Park. She made it clear that we would face reasonable obstacles, but if we worked hard, we would get where we needed to be.”
What they learned from their parents
Bergamo and LaTorre had a work ethic instilled in them from their parents.
“Striving for excellence had always been a part of who we are,” Bergamo said. “Nothing was ever given to me, as I started working retail when I was 13 years old. My father was a chemist and pushed me to always be working, even when I was going to school. I have only had three jobs my whole life and I always gave my best with each of them, even when they were low-paying.”
“My parents immigrated here from Italy,” LaTorre said. “My father came here first by himself and started his own business. He really wanted for my mother and I to wait until he established himself before getting us to reunite with him in America.”
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“Afterwards, neither of them really spoke English very well, so I took up the reins and really assisted them in the day-to-day operations of running that business,” LaTorre said. “That really gave me an idea of what was expected to run a business full time and how to do it the right way. Both of our families wanted us to be successful on our own when the time came and, as it turned out, we were.”
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LaTorre and Bergamo crossed paths while working for a big-box retail store. Bergamo was a store manager, while LaTorre came from the corporate end. After meeting and getting along really well, they soon became friends and would spend time interacting outside of work.
“We had the same work mentality,” LaTorre said. “Cathy was always the last one to leave the store at night and I really admired that in her. We really matched each other with our dedication and loyalty to the company we worked for. We knew that we had the skills to do something better with our lives and skills in the work world. Cathy left before me to get everything going and I followed soon afterwards. It was just something we both really wanted to do and we followed our dreams.”
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After putting their heads together and doing some serious brainstorming, both Bergamo and LaTorre came up with an idea to serve pasta in a cup, something that had not been done before in Asbury Park.
“We did a lot of research and found a place in Venice, Italy, that was doing it,” LaTorre said. “I had family there and we ended up taking a trip over there to source out vendors to give us an idea of where the ingredients could come from. We tried their food and it was good, but we knew we could do it better.”
When they got back to the United States, Bergamo was so inspired that she left her retail job and picked the location in Asbury Park, as well as started construction on that site, in hopes that she could open it as soon as possible.
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After Bergamo finished renovations, she was a little stuck coming up with a name that suited their business, which would give customers an idea of what their product was all about. They finally came up with the name Pasta Al Volo, which means “pasta on the go.” But they thought it would be mispronounced and cause confusion for customers trying to locate them, so they shortened it to Pasta Volo.
“We eventually got everything up and running, but Cathy wanted to open the store on Friday the 13th, which I thought was bad omen, even though it’s considered good luck in Italy," La Torre said. "Instead, we waited until the next day, which was a Saturday and we were more comfortable with that. Cathy would literally sit outside and talk to people, letting them know we were open, so we could bring them in and try out our pasta.”
Pasta in a pandemic
As with any business during this pandemic, Pasta Volo is doing everything they can to maintain safety for their employees and customers. About three years ago, Bergamo and LaTorre installed self-ordering kiosks as a means of cutting down on costs with the way customers ordered their food. As it turned out, when COVID-19 struck, those tablets served as a way of reducing contact between customers and employees.
“In the beginning, each customer would fill out a card to order their food and would hand the card to an employee,” LaTorre said. “This process, although simple and efficient before the outbreak, now is not very practical. With the pandemic, customers can rest assured that using the tablet will prevent hand-to-hand contact and serve as a helpful tool in averting the potential spread of the coronavirus.”
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Bergamo and LaTorre have a full menu of different pasta dishes. Some of the popular highlights include shredded beef and pork with pasta and vodka sauce, macaroni and cheese with pieces of breadcrumbs, as well as alfredo with a heavy pasta sauce.
“It really depends on the day,” Bergamo said. “The days that you would think people would want something light and refreshing are kind of the opposite and vice versa. It’s unpredictable really.”
Bergamo and LaTorre see their business expanding to a franchise operation because they want to be everywhere.
“We are confident that people from all walks of life will want to eat and enjoy themselves at our establishments and we know that the more we expand, the more successful we will become.”
Pasta Volo
Location: 419 Bond St., Asbury Park
Phone: 732-361-5549
Website:www.pastavolo.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays
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The Link LonkNovember 12, 2020 at 05:01PM
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How Pasta Volo duo found success with pasta on the go in Asbury Park - Asbury Park Press
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