BIZZ BUZZ

Three former front-of-the-house employees at Hamilton’s Lo Presti’s at Maxwell’s Restaurant are now serving diners at a newly opened restaurant down the street.

Claudio Andreis has opened Claudio’s Ristorante in Lo Presti’s original location, at the corner of Jackson and Catherine Streets.  Joining him in serving customers are former Maxwell’s waiters Rinaldo and Jorgen.

Claudio’s menu is traditional Italian, and Andreis reports that business has been good in the past few weeks since the restaurant opened.  He says that after most recently working in restaurant management in Toronto he was eager to return to Hamilton to open his own establishment.

“I love this location and I love being back at home,” he says. 

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Also on the culinary front, Hamilton-based Liaison College has awarded a new franchise in northern Ontario.  The chef training program will be offered at the Constance Lake Eagle Earth facility near Hearst, with classes scheduled to start this spring.  This brings to 11 the number of independently-owned Liaison College franchise operations in Ontario.  The others are in Hamilton, Kitchener, Kingston, Barrie, Vaughan, Brampton, Durham, Oakville, Toronto Downtown and Toronto West.

Liaison president Rudy Florio notes that two additional franchises are being planned for the Brant/Haldimand/Norfolk and Niagara areas.

Tricia Hellingman is president of Hellingman Communications, a Hamilton-based public relations and marketing agency.  You can email her at thellingman@hellingman.com.  BizzBuzz appears every other Friday.