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DEDHAM —
It all started with forced labor as a child at her parents’ Rosindale bakery, called Santoro’s, she jokes.
Tina Santoro Asmar, owner of Santoro’s Sicilian Trattoria on Bridge Street, developed a work ethic early, starting and operating business after business throughout her life.
While she has fond memories of the ice cream truck she drove when she was 17 and of the nail salon Blooming Nails she ran for decades that still exists in Wellesley, it is the Trattoria that now getting Asmar widespread attention.
Santoro’s has been featured on “The Phantom Gourmet,” and “Chronicle” on WCVB-TV Boston. She says this media attention could lead to a reality television show. While Asmar does not want to reveal too much, she says two different producers have approached her.
“For a tiny place like this to be noticed and recognized, that’s when I knew I made it,” Asmar says.
But Asmar is also just glad she is able to make ends meet. Starting the restaurant in 2008 right at the start of the recession, she received advice from many close friends to hold off.
Asmar, however, had the secret to success.
“It takes a product that is so high quality that you don’t make any money,” she says.
Asmar is devoted to her food, and she isn’t shy about patting herself on the back.
“I love turning people on to new things, and every little thing is done for the taste buds and the texture,” she says. “I spent time with each sandwich on the menu and my lasagnas are stupendous if I do say so myself.”
She and her staff are constantly baking bread and putting together orders for customers. At noon, things start to get busy, and except for a lull between 2:30 and 3 p.m., there is a constant stream of people coming into the restaurant, she says.
That’s why Asmar is glad she has Bill Dufresne. Asmar has never had a partner in any of her businesses — she’s a control freak, she says — but Dufresne has been with her from the first day, when she called him in to replace someone who was too slow.
“We’ve been dancing back there since we opened,” Asmar says.
Dufresne even kept his job after doing something that would have gotten most people fired — stabbing his boss.
On Monday, they get their knives sharpened, and one week Dufresne pretended to stab Asmar in the jeans, a joke that unfortunately went awry when the blade slipped.
It all started with forced labor as a child at her parents’ Rosindale bakery, called Santoro’s, she jokes.
Tina Santoro Asmar, owner of Santoro’s Sicilian Trattoria on Bridge Street, developed a work ethic early, starting and operating business after business throughout her life.
While she has fond memories of the ice cream truck she drove when she was 17 and of the nail salon Blooming Nails she ran for decades that still exists in Wellesley, it is the Trattoria that now getting Asmar widespread attention.
Santoro’s has been featured on “The Phantom Gourmet,” and “Chronicle” on WCVB-TV Boston. She says this media attention could lead to a reality television show. While Asmar does not want to reveal too much, she says two different producers have approached her.
“For a tiny place like this to be noticed and recognized, that’s when I knew I made it,” Asmar says.
But Asmar is also just glad she is able to make ends meet. Starting the restaurant in 2008 right at the start of the recession, she received advice from many close friends to hold off.
Asmar, however, had the secret to success.
“It takes a product that is so high quality that you don’t make any money,” she says.
Asmar is devoted to her food, and she isn’t shy about patting herself on the back.
“I love turning people on to new things, and every little thing is done for the taste buds and the texture,” she says. “I spent time with each sandwich on the menu and my lasagnas are stupendous if I do say so myself.”
She and her staff are constantly baking bread and putting together orders for customers. At noon, things start to get busy, and except for a lull between 2:30 and 3 p.m., there is a constant stream of people coming into the restaurant, she says.
That’s why Asmar is glad she has Bill Dufresne. Asmar has never had a partner in any of her businesses — she’s a control freak, she says — but Dufresne has been with her from the first day, when she called him in to replace someone who was too slow.
“We’ve been dancing back there since we opened,” Asmar says.
Dufresne even kept his job after doing something that would have gotten most people fired — stabbing his boss.
On Monday, they get their knives sharpened, and one week Dufresne pretended to stab Asmar in the jeans, a joke that unfortunately went awry when the blade slipped.
“She was like ‘ahh…. ahhAHHahh…’ like in an opera; I was like ‘how much longer do I have here?’” Dufresne says.
Stabbings aside, Asmar says Dufresne has worked well, and he even costars with her on her Dedham Community Television show, “Bon Apetina.”
Asmar has a large, Italian family. She and her sisters are the first generation born in America.
In homage to her roots and family, Asmar named her sandwiches after members of her family.
Originally, each sandwich matched the personality of the person it was named for, but Asmar’s niece, who was putting the menu together, changed them around because she didn’t like the sandwich named for her.
A few stayed the same, however.
“My father is the meatball and my husband is the roast beef,” Asmar says.
She takes her roots seriously, giving her parents credit for many of the recipes she currently uses, and including a family history on her website, www.santorosdeli.com.
As with everything, Asmar likes to change things to her own satisfaction.
Her life motto rests in the window of Santoro’s: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
Her other motto is on the menu: “Chi mangia bene vive bene.”
“Who eats well, lives well.”
