She owned a pizzeria in Italy. Now, she’s running a Maple Ridge bistro

Growing up in eastern Italy, Veronica Reale frequently watched her grandmother’s hands, which somehow always knew how to make something new. 

She made pasta from scratch, kneading the dough and slicing the beige mass into thin spaghetti strips. She rolled out pizza dough and baked loaves of bread. Anytime her grandmother stepped into the kitchen, Reale was determined to learn and then make a dish herself. 

“I invented dishes,” she said. “Anytime I opened the fridge, I invented dishes.” 

In some ways, cooking was an escape from the doldrums in her daily life. 

When Reale was five, her parents separated. She didn’t get along much with her stepfather or mother and spent a lot of time with her grandparents. 

As she got older, she worked in cafés, and eventually, opened her own pizzeria in Pescara, a town roughly 200 kilometres east of Rome. But even though there always seemed to be a line out the door of her restaurant, she wanted to move from Italy.

“I didn’t have a nice life,” she said. “I was working like crazy… 12 hours, 13 hours, seven days a week.” 

In April 2012, in search of a better and more sustainable future, she left her family behind. 

One decade later, she’s using her grandmother’s lessons to build a new restaurant in Maple Ridge. 

Cooking in the Ridge

On a mid-April day in 2012, Reale stepped out of the Vancouver airport and was greeted with clouds. Great, grey winter-like clouds that promised to drench the region with rain. 

Tears dripped down her face. 

“It was raining and I didn’t like it,” she said. “I want to go back, I want to go back.”

Although the weather was a far cry from what she was used to in Italy, Reale slowly found a routine through food. She found work as a line and prep cook at Italian restaurants throughout the Lower Mainland. She even briefly worked as a pizza maker — bringing back memories of her days as a pizza chef in Italy. 

In 2017, Reale also briefly experienced what it was like to own her own business again.

She started making lasagna and advertised it on Facebook Marketplace. Her Italian dish became so popular with customers online that she rented a kitchen and started catering around the Tri-Cities and Ridge Meadows.

The culinary jobs, which provided her with a sense of home in a new country, also gave her financial stability. That stability was especially important in 2015 as she started a family with her partner. 

“I was making gnocchi with my [pregnant] belly,” Reale said of starting her catering business. 

When the two separated in the late-2010s, however, she wanted to find a new culinary job — one that wasn’t purely dedicated to Italian food.

“I’m Italian, right. I’ll always be an Italian chef and know how to cook Italian,” she said. “I never worked for a breakfast place in an American restaurant, in Italy we just do cappuccinos and croissants… never fried eggs and bacon.” 

So early last year, as she was scrolling through job postings on Indeed, Reale applied for a job at Humble Roots, a café and deli in Maple Ridge. 

Reale learned a lot about Canadian culture during her time at Humble Roots. She enjoyed frying eggs in different ways, sizzling bacon, and placing it all on top of a steaming pile of potatoes amid a morning rush of customers. 

“She’s a very talented chef,” said Tyler Towe, owner of Humble Roots. “She’s very vocal about her gratitude, works well in a team, and was a great find when a lot of places were experiencing work shortages.” 

But even though she enjoyed her time at Humble Roots, something was missing.

She longed to be her own boss again.

Forging her own path, one more time

Earlier this year, Reale and her current partner were driving along River Road in Maple Ridge when they stopped at a building. 

She thought the building, a tall grey structure wedged against an industrial park, might be the one she saw for sale online. For years, the building was home to another restaurant, Summer’s Diner, before it closed. 

She stepped out of the car and pictured how she could transform the building: place pots of flowers and hanging baskets outside the front door, build a new patio, hoist a sign, “Ronny’s Bistro,” overtop the front awning. 

A few months later, after purchasing the building at 23382 River Road, her visions came true — opening her own breakfast and lunch bistro in May. 

“I like to have my independence,” she said. “Opening a restaurant is not just about making money, it’s because you get to work for yourself.” 

Despite her desire to work for herself, Reale’s business has also received support from her former employer. 

In August, Humble Roots posted a message to their Facebook page encouraging residents to check out Ronny’s Bistro, suggesting that it was important for small businesses in the city to support one another.

“It’s always better to collaborate rather than compete,” Towe said. “It’s the unique, privately owned businesses where you learn about your customers a bit more… It strengthens the community and that’s what we should be all about.” 

The post did not go unnoticed by Reale. 

“I’ve never had something like this for myself,” Reale said after seeing the post. “Supporting each other just makes the world better.” 

Reale should prioritize her mental health and be patient while navigating the early days of her new bistro, Towe said. 

“The worst thing she could do is make a mistake I made where you take too much on,” he said. “If something’s not working, just try something else or be patient with it. Trust the process.” 

The bistro may still be relatively new, but Reale is hoping it will resonate with Maple Ridge. 

The city, she believes, is quite similar to her hometown in Italy. Maple Ridge, like Pescera, is filled with working-class, nice people, who need a reliable place to get breakfast or lunch before heading back to work. 

Maple Ridge residents recognize hard work and are willing to support someone who is dedicated to their craft, Reale said. 

“They can see the quality, they can see your passion,” she said. “Maple Ridge is forever.”