Meet the Chef/Owner: Tony Altomare of Tony Roni's in Bala Cynwyd

Tony Altomare insists on doing things the right way. He is a hard-working entrepreneur committed to providing his guests and employees with the best of everything. He grew up eating homemade Italian food and South Philly rolls but his taste for all things delicious did not lead directly into a successful restaurant career. He spent some time as a financial planner and consultant before opening up his first pizza shop in Wayne. His modest beginnings have now expanded into 7 locations of his eponymous business, . Read below to find out more. 

Name: Tony Altomare

Age: 41

Hometown: East Falls, PA

Home now: Horsham, PA

Favorite thing about the community: I like the fact that it’s close to the city. The classic homes and people are very nice. There's a good mix of people from the Main Line and the City. I like the boutiquey-ness of Bala Cynwyd. There are lots of shops that have been here a long time.

Do you do any community work? We just opened a few months ago but we’ve already done a couple of fundraising things. We've donated food and gift baskets to schools and preschools. Every community we go into, we try and support because they are our customers. We also want to support charities and people that don’t necessarily have the means to help themselves.

Years in the industry: 15

Earliest cooking memory: Every Sunday my mom was making chicken cutlets, rolling meatballs, making a pot of sauce. I always knew what good food was. The core of the household was good food. My aunt operated the local Italian club and also made everything from scratch. When I was growing up we didn't go to the store to get bread, my dad would drive to South Philly for rolls and that's what we grew up eating. I remember getting in trouble for sneaking chicken cutlets before dinner time. 

First kitchen job: I owned Altomeo Pizza in Wayne. I was a financial planner and partnered with a client of mine. I worked with him for a year learning the pizza business and then I opened in Wayne. 

What brought you to the industry? I wanted to own my own business, I used to do sales and I liked it and was good at it. It’s a tough industry. This client of mine had a business with good product and not the best service, but I thought I could add that to it. I liked the concept he had and jumped right in. Today, I stress good service in all my businesses. We have "guests", not customers and we have a 3 second rule where anyone who comes in must be helped within 3 seconds. I teach all my management to have a commitment to a great atmosphere for the guests and for the employees.

Advice for home cooks: What you start with is really important. I’m very much into healthy and natural eating. Use fresh and wholesome ingredients whenever possible. Know where your food is coming from. Learn how to cook from raw ingredients instead of eating processed and frozen things. Enjoy and love your food.

Favorite thing to cook: Chicken mushroom tortellini--cheese filled tortellini with sauteed chicken, sun dried tomatoes, fresh mushrooms in a light rose sauce. When I’m home I love grilling turkey burgers.

Favorite menu item: Our tomato pie is phenomenal and I love our homemade turkey (I do everything with it, sandwiches, hoagies, wraps, etc.).

Healthiest menu item: We have 10 salads. The Mediterranean salad is one of our healthiest. The house salad, tuna salad, greek salad and asian salad are also good. The grilled chicken Caesar wrap is healthy, too.

Favorite local restaurant: Bridget’s in Ambler

Favorite restaurant in the world: I got engaged at the Washington Inn in Cape May, NJ. My wife and I love going downtown to Davio’s and Parc. I had a phenomenal meal at Bobby Flay’s in Atlantic City. The restaurant in the One and Only Club in the Bahamas, Dune.

Guilty pleasure (food or drink): French fries, pizza

Last meal on earth: Steak with crab topping and a little bit of a cream, side of garlic mashed potatoes and a glass of great red wine.

Cook for any celebrities? Harry Kalas loved our tomato pie. Radio personalities at 97.5, Preston and Steve (93.3), Boyz II Men, NBA players and other local sports celebrities.

Favorite food shows? I love the Food Network and when they do the food challenges. I love Rachael Ray and Bobby Flay when he was doing the grilling stuff and Throwdown. I want to be on that show.

Biggest kitchen disaster: One Sunday night long ago we had just opened and we were short-handed. I had just started cooking and didn’t know how to handle all the tickets (orders for food) coming in. I was young and just starting out. We were expecting the business that night to be slow and then all these tickets started coming in. I was almost paralyzed because it was so busy and I didn't know what to do.