Fratelli brother left a huge mark on local resto scene
When Roberto Valente, 46, died on Saturday, he left behind a young family, parents, a brother who is now only half of a once-dynamic business team — and a huge mark on the Ottawa restaurant scene.
Roberto and his brother Richard, 50, started “the first first hip Italian restaurant in the city” when they opened Fratelli in the Glebe 20 years ago, says Pat Nicastro, co-owner of La Bottega Nicastro Fine Food Shop.
“I always thought they were the two coolest guys — we looked up to them. We knew that if they were doing something, it was going to be exciting.”
“The sad part of what they’ve built over the last 20 years is what it’s called,” said Nicastro. “Fratelli means brothers.”
The brothers’ Fratelli empire eventually grew to five restaurants. The pair decided to sell the Beechwood Avenue and Barrhaven locations when they got “offers too good to refuse” at the same time that their young families were growing.
But Richard went looking for a buyer for the first Fratelli, on Bank Street in the Glebe, after his brother was diagnosed with brain cancer in the spring.
“We had plans to renovate it, but life gets in the way,” said a tearful Richard. “I couldn’t go on and I was happy to sell to Ion (Aimers, the Ottawa restaurateur who started The Works chain), but still, I regretted it at first. It’s where we began as a real family business. It was always Richard and Roberto.”
Richard says that his younger brother was the steady influence.
“I drove him nuts. He didn’t want to have all these restaurants. The things I would try to do would drive him crazy. He cooked for the first 10 to 12 years and he was the best chef we ever had.”
Former Citizen restaurant reviewer Anne DesBrisay said in 1998 that “all that we ate was grand” at that first Fratelli, where the whole Valente family worked. She described the soups as “dynamite,” salmon as “impeccable” and fettuccine as “homemade and cooked perfectly.”
In more recent years, Roberto no longer worked in the kitchen. But “he took over the creative side, planning menus and the look and decor of each place,” said Richard. “I didn’t appreciate how cool and talented my brother was. You don’t realize what you’ve got until it’s gone.”
Roberto leaves behind his wife, Katie, sons Luca, 8, Enzo, 6, twoyear-old daughter Bria, and his parents, whom he visited every day. Pasquale and Louisa Valente ran Pasquale’s restaurant on Baseline Road after emigrating to Ottawa from the Calabria area of Italy 45 years ago. Louisa, 69, stayed at Roberto’s bedside day and night after he was admitted to intensive care a few weeks ago.
Richard Valente still owns two remaining Fratelli restaurants, one in Westboro and one in Kanata, the area where he lives with his wife and two sons.
“Thank you for always having the best pizza in town,” Top Chef Canada winner René Rodriguez tweeted to the Fratellieats Twitter account on the weekend, along with his condolences. The Westboro Fratelli is a favourite spot for chefs and restaurateurs to hang out and share pizza after they finish their shifts at their own restaurants.
“Lost a great friend today,” wrote the owner of Anthony’s Pizzeria on Saturday.
“My heart goes out to @fratellieats family tonight,” wrote the Ottawa Senators’ Chris Phillips, owner of Big Rig brewery and restaurant. “You will be missed Robert, but never forgotten.”
Richard Valente started plans for small pizzeria on Preston Street after Roberto got sick “to get his mind onto something other than the cancer.”
“I can’t even consider it a restaurant,” says Richard. “It’s just 24 seats. It was just going to be mine and Rob’s fun place to go.
“At first, he refused to get involved. He wouldn’t even put a toe in the front door. He wanted me to get used to life without him.”
Eventually, though, Roberto went into his usual careful planning mode and set out detailed instructions for wall murals, signage and logos and even light fixtures for the bathrooms before he underwent a second surgery in November, in case he didn’t survive.
“He wanted it to be called Cugini, which means cousins,” says Richard. “It said it was on his bucket list to see Cugini open, but that obviously didn’t happen.”
Richard says the new spot will likely open in the spring, before Italian Week in June.
“The sign has a five-pointed star for our five children,” he says. “Roberto was adamant that he wanted his sons to work in the business, starting as bus boys. He wanted them to know that it’s their legacy.”
But in his first move as sole boss, Richard decided to change the name of new pizzeria, against his brother’s wishes.
“I’m going to call it Roberto, so I can still go visit Roberto every day.”