Consistency is longevity.
And that’s what Cosmo Dominelli believes has kept Cosmo’s Ristorante around for 30 years.
He started the restaurant in 1989 out on Memorial Avenue, from where he moved to his current location on Mississaga Street in 1995.
Dominelli, the owner of the downtown restaurant, came to Orillia when his mother and nine siblings followed their father here from Italy in 1964. A 12th sibling was born after they had settled in Orillia.
As a nine-year-old who couldn’t speak or write English, Dominelli said he had a tough time settling into a community that had no Italian city community.
“We got pretty abused when we came here, especially in Orillia,” he said. “All the kids were picking on us and calling us spaghetti vendors — it kept going on for a while.”
There were times when Dominelli said he questioned his dad about having brought them to Orillia.
“But my dad called it home and so we stayed,” he said.
Growing up, Dominelli worked at Fern Resort for a number of years — cleaning the rooms and helping with breakfast, lunch, and dinner — and at Horseshoe Valley Resort for a year.
That gave him the taste for working in the hospitality industry, but his love for cooking came from time spent helping his mother at home.
“Sundays used to be our family dinner, and she used to invite people over,” said Dominelli, recalling time spent at his family house on Dunlop Street. “I would help her do lasagna. As I got older, I would get up earlier and make omelettes for myself and my siblings.”
Just before he was set to go back to Fern Resort, Ralph Cipolla approached him to open Carmine's on Collegiate Court.
“We opened that up in 1979,” said Dominelli. “I was managing that and serving at the restaurant. I did that for almost 10 years.”
After that, he moved to Oakville to manage a restaurant franchise for a while, but eventually decided to come back home to Orillia to do his own thing.
When he bought the space on Mississaga Street, Dominelli said, there were times he thought about hanging up the towel.
“That's when we were having problems with chefs,” he said. “But it wasn't just me, everybody was going through that.”
Then there were the changes made by government over the years, such as the HST and alcohol restrictions.
“They changed the way people can write off business expenses, so we don't see a lot of business parties coming in here,” said Dominelli.
But he’s made it through all that, he noted.
“It's a tough business,” Dominelli said. “But I've been very fortunate that I've had family come in and work here in different roles. Now I have staff that has been here for a long time.”
To make sure the restaurant steps up to the challenge of changing times, he said, they incorporate all sorts of dishes.
“We have a little bit of everything — even at lunch time I can make an omelette and serve it with a salad,” said Dominelli. “We don't deep fry anything, everything is made to order. We also have gluten-free options and vegetarian choices for people.”
His favourite food is an Italian home-cooked meal enjoyed with family around the table.
What makes any business successful is a steady stream of loyal customers, Dominelli said.
“We've got a lot of regular customers from day one that drive up from the city and come down from Gravenhurst,” he said. “They come from all over the place.”
Since he’s been on the main street, Dominelli said, he has seen a lot of restaurants around him change hands, open up and close down.
“It's a lot of hard work to do business in Orillia,” he said. “We haven't grown that much (in population).”
What’s needed to make every business in Orillia successful, Dominelli said, is more investment, such as the Matchedash Lofts, or development on the waterfront.
“It's too bad somebody wasn't thinking when they took out all the (railway) tracks,” he said. “If they'd left the tracks in, that could have brought a GO Train to Orillia.”
Still, Orillia is a great city, Dominelli said.
“You can't beat it,” he said. “We've got two beautiful lakes, and we're just an hour from the city.”
Orillia has a lot of potential, Dominelli added.
For those who have helped keep his business around for three decades, he said, “I would like to say thank you for supporting us for all these years. It's what keeps me going.”
Customers who make a point to come back to the kitchen to thank him makes it all worthwhile, Dominelli said.
“I really appreciate everybody in Orillia and the surrounding area,” he said. “We've been very fortunate to have this support from customers for over 30 years, and it just makes a world of difference.”
