You’ve probably already noticed that I spend most of my free time in Toronto’s beachside neighborhood. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to visit several hospitality establishments on the beach, and one of my favorites is Nevada’s Ristorante. Centrally located at the intersection of Queen Street and Kenilworth Avenue, it’s an easy walk from the Boardwalk; its attractive warm decoration and the colorful murals inside and outside the building create a unique atmosphere. But even more important is the food, and I have always enjoyed the culinary offerings at Nevada’s.

So I decided to make the call and find out who is behind this fine establishment. I arranged an interview with Chris Housseas, co-owner of the restaurant from Nevada, and on a cold Friday night at 6:00 pm I had the opportunity to sit down with Chris for an interview, just before the evening activity began. His mom Dimitra, nicknamed Toula, joined us and told me the story of the Housseas family.

Chris grew up in the restaurant business. His father, Gus, a Greek immigrant, opened his first restaurant in Canada in 1961, long before Chris was born. Even before that, at age 17 he had embarked on restaurant ownership in Greece. After his arrival in Canada, he moved several times between his native country and Canada. During one of these trips back to his home country, he met Chris’s mother in 1976 and they fell in love with her. Soon after Chris was born, and in 1978 the whole family, including parents, two sisters and a brother, moved to Canada.

Gus had originally worked as a dishwasher and a waiter. Once he arrived in Toronto, he owned several fast food outlets, including a Dairy Freeze outlet near St. Clair and Caledonia. Several other fast food outlets followed near Bloor and Christie’s, and he added a Steak Queen near Rexdale and Martin Grove avenues to his hospitality portfolio. Both the parents and Chris came together as a team to purchase Nevada’s in 2004. Nevada’s has a long beach tradition, and Chris said it has been around for about 50 years.

Chris explained that the cuisine at Nevada’s Ristorante is a mix of Californian and Italian with a dash of Asian influences and several New Orleans-style dishes. The star dishes of this restaurant are the Chicken Gorgonzola, which includes chicken, penne and mushrooms in a gorgonzola sauce. New Orleans-inspired Bourbon Street ribs are baked for two and a half hours and covered in a delicious honey-garlic sauce.

The list of delicious delicacies continued. Chicken Pesto Pasta consists of linguine noodles, chicken, vegetables and leeks in a pesto and cream sauce, sprinkled with pine nuts. The soups are homemade, and the salads are also very popular, especially the Warm Spinach Salad and the Wild Mushroom Salad. Desserts round out the delights and include, but are not limited to, a Bourbon Street chocolate cheesecake, a chocolate raspberry tartufo, as well as an ice cream crepe and various sorbets.

The regular menu is spiced up with late-night features. In the winter, at a fixed price of C$21, the dinner, which includes a soup, an appetizer and an entree with three to five options, invites people to brave the cold and stimulate their taste buds. Nevada’s Ristorante is open daily, Monday through Friday from 11 am to 10 pm, and on weekends the restaurant opens at 9 am for brunch. Chris explained that brunch is very busy, and interestingly, the most popular item on the brunch menu is the Big Breakfast, which consists of three eggs, maple-smoked bacon, sausage, home fries, and fruit. Eggs Benedict (with Canadian pea meal bacon), Eggs Nova (with smoked salmon), and Eggs Florentine (with spinach) are also favorites.

Nevada’s is a fairly large restaurant: the main dining room on the ground floor and an equal-sized dining room upstairs offer 135 seats, while the patio in the summer seats an additional 35-40 people. The Nevada Courtyard is particularly popular with athletes, for example beach volleyball players who come from Ashbridges Bay, as well as tennis players from the Kew Gardens Tennis Club. The restaurant employs 35 to 40 people in the summer and has 15 regular staff members during the slower winter months. Chris emphasized that they try to hire local residents as much as possible.

In addition to learning about the restaurant, I wanted to know a little more about the owners. Chris was born in Greece and his parents moved to Toronto when he was 18 months old. He grew up in Etobicoke and in the Victoria Park and Lawrence area. Even as a child he often went down to the beach; he added that he always liked the area and was very excited when Nevada’s Ristorante became available for sale.

Chris’s personal background isn’t really in the hospitality industry: he studied computer science and worked for several years for Sony Canada. Three years ago he decided to team up with his parents to go into the restaurant business himself. He indicated that a family member is on the premises at all times, they enjoy a great working relationship and have a lot of fun together. He doesn’t have much free time these days, but he’s preparing for a big change in his own life: Chris and his wife are expecting his first baby this March!

Dimitra, Chris’s mom, was born in Greece in Kalamata, located on the large peninsula in southern Greece called the Peloponnese. She graduated from high school in 1973 and by then her older sister and her brother had immigrated to Toronto. Her mother was here too, and in 1974 Dimitra herself came to Canada. From 1976 to 1978 she returned to Greece, where she worked together with her husband. The couple has since returned to Canada, where they now have strong roots. In total, 16 of Dimitra’s nieces and nephews were born in Canada and all of the aunts, uncles and cousins ​​have a close family relationship and enjoy spending time together.

Gus and Dimitra only live ten minutes from the restaurant, and Dimitra usually comes here to cover the midday shift, while Gus or Chris covers the night shift. Gus also does the shopping and buys the fruits and vegetables at the Ontario Food Terminal. Chris added that they have made a commitment to healthy eating, which is why they now use vegetable oil instead of shortening in the fryer. 95% of the sauces are now homemade and have minimized the use of preservatives or monosodium glutamate.

Chris enjoys making people happy. He said that when people go to a restaurant he wants to have a good time. Many of the regulars have become family to Chris, and are drawn back again and again by the welcoming atmosphere, friendly service and great food.

There are also some new initiatives on the horizon for Ristorante de Nevada: In the coming weeks, the restaurant will close for two to three weeks for some renovations. Chris plans to relocate the bar to the rear of the main dining room so that tables can be moved to the front, allowing for a beautiful view of the action on Queen Street. He has also been thinking about integrating live music and theme nights into his entertainment offerings. This could include a Greek night with some belly dancing, or an Italian or Mexican themed night with ethnic food and music.

Another new initiative will include freshly baked bread that can be purchased on a walk-in basis. This will include olive bread and foccaccia. Cooking classes are another idea that has been floating around in Chris’ mind; he is planning to set up the dining room upstairs for free cooking classes that he plans to hold three or four times a year. Chris is envisioning many things to get the neighborhood more involved in the hospitality experience.

Creative entrepreneurship is also manifesting itself in the form of a collaboration with the recently opened Bizzy Bee Playcentre, a safe and fun indoor play area with slides and ball pits, pretend play areas, sand table, painting and crafts, games construction and a children’s area. . Along with a number of other local businesses, Nevada’s Ristorante participates in a Shop + Dine program, where patrons receive two hours of free child care at the Bizzy Bee Playcentre if they spend $25 or more per child. A practical idea for a local romantic dinner getaway…

After this detailed explanation and a tour of the facilities, I headed upstairs to prepare for my own dinner. My friend Leslie and I sat at a cozy table on the second floor overlooking busy Queen Street. We both commented that we really enjoyed the decor, and one table in particular, a small northwest corner table with a private window, is ideal for a romantic tête-à-tête dinner. With Valentine’s Day approaching, we figured this table would have no problem selling out.

All this dinner talk had prepared us for our own culinary experience. I started my meal with a tasty Potato and Leek Soup, accompanied by a piece of foccaccia bread with subtle Mediterranean flavours. I’m a big fan of appetizers, and it was difficult to choose just one from a wide selection of enticing options. I settled on a Walnut Crusted Brie while Leslie had the Indochine Spring Rolls. I then moved on to a shrimp and asparagus risotto while my friend had the Pollo Maximus which consists of a chicken breast with wild mushrooms, leeks, sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic in a sweet basil chardonnay reduction. After an incredibly filling and delicious dinner, neither she nor I had any more room in our stomachs to sample some of the amazing desserts. I would have loved to try some of the Nevada sweets, but I couldn’t even finish my main course and had to take half my dinner home in a doggie bag.

Chris and his staff came by several times to check on us and see if we needed anything else. The service was discreet but attentive. Leslie and I had a wonderful time catching up, two busy women who hadn’t seen each other in quite some time, and our evening at Nevada’s Ristorante was the perfect opportunity to reconnect.