The Liguore Family at their restaurant in Redondo Beach - Bettolino Kitchen

A Story Of Resilience

In what feels like a lifetime ago, at the start of April, I wrote about the joys of ordering takeout from Bettolino Kitchen. That meal not only fed our bellies, it also nourished our souls to have food that was made by someone else. Since that time, we have ordered from them on other occasions and it has given us something to look forward to, knowing a delicious dinner is coming our way with the bonus of no dishes - for once! I interviewed Andreanna Liguore, pictured above with her beautiful family, to see how they have persevered in these ever-changing circumstances. I was thrilled to see that they were once again open for indoor dining and then just this week that was put on hold. The good news is they now have outdoor seating in their repertoire as well as curbside pickup and delivery options. They pivot and persevere!

Q & A With Andreanna

When you aren’t at Bettolino, how do you like to spend your free time?

We have two kids at home, a 3 year old and a 4 month old. So whenever I am not at Bettolino, I am most likely changing diapers, playing dress up or taking walks around our neighborhood.

You are 4th generation South Bay restaurateurs, what’s the most important thing you have learned from your family’s experiences?

There are so many things I’ve learned from watching my parents, grandparents, great grandparents and relatives do what we do. One important thing that I’ve learned that has helped us through this whole corona virus experience is that restaurant people are resilient and can make it through just about anything. My dad passed away a year after he and my mom opened Gaetano’s in 1995. There were some definite bumpy roads where I wasn’t sure my mom could pull it off but I watched her excel under pressure and create a place where families and friends could come together and enjoy good food. During the COVID-19 closures, there were several instances of uncertainty when it would have been much easier to close and wait until things started to get back to normal. Thinking back to my mom’s resilience at a dark time, it helped us push through and keep working to make sure our community had our food to rely on and our employees had a paycheck they could count on to feed their families.

What’s the upside of working so closely with your husband?

The best part of working with family is it doesn’t feel like work.

My husband and I actually met while working at a restaurant in college, and we’ve worked together ever since. I honestly don’t know what it would be like not to work with him. Being that we opened Bettolino in 2015, the year before we had our daughter, it prepped us for parenthood and we treat it kind of like our first-born child.

Where did the name Bettolino come from?

You’ve probably heard of ristorante’s, trattorias etc. Years ago, a Bettolino was just another type of eating venue that was usually a small family run restaurant in small villages in Italy. Being that we are in the Riviera Village and are family run, we couldn’t think of a more perfect name.

What’s your favorite meal on the menu?

Toretlloni al Limone would have to be my number one. It is the perfect simple comfort food that can cure almost any bad mood or ailment. They are handmade tortelloni stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese then sauteed with a lemon cream sauce that is so delicious that I could drink it.

What’s been the most challenging part of the last few months?

The stay at home order began one month after the birth of my son. Before he was born, I had planned out all marketing for the restaurant for the next 6 months so that I could focus my energy on my newborn baby and his big sister. Obviously, corona had other plans for us. Being the control freak that I am, the most challenging part for me was really just rolling with the punches and letting go of any plans we had for the restaurant. In the beginning things were changing so rapidly that we had to change policies and marketing initiatives daily. We’re still not sure what the future holds for our industry so we’ve learned to try to take it all day by day and pray for the best.

What’s been the silver lining from the past few months?

We have always tried to make an effort to be involved in our community whether that means raising money for local charities through our Giving Tuesday fundraisers, donations to schools or sports organizations or our staff volunteering program. I think because of what we have done in the past, people recognize that it is their turn to help support us and other local small businesses. We’ve seen an incredible amount of support through people ordering takeout, dining in, buying gift cards to use later or sharing a social media post. It has been amazing to see everyone come together in their own ways to help keep small businesses alive during these trying times.

Can you tell us about your recycling program that helps reduce your carbon footprint?

Because of the new state requirements, that all menus be paper and one time use, it is important to us to continue to recycle all of our menus. To take things one step greener, we offer scannable QR codes on each table where our guest can scan and view our menu on their phones to not only reduce contact but also reduce our carbon footprint. We also try to source as much produce as possible locally. We have a wonderful partnership with Valmonte Farm & Garden where they grow our basil and kale.

You do an excellent job with digital marketing, in particular your email newsletters and your use of Instagram. How have these platforms impacted your business?

Thank you so much for the compliment. We recognize that 80% of our revenue comes from 20% of our clientele. Meaning we rely heavily on repeat business. Continuing to stay in front of our guest and remind them that we are still here is paramount especially during these uncertain times. During the stay at home order, social media engagement went up 40%. We found the days we sent emails to our Insider Club members or posted on social media had a direct correlation on that days sales.

They Get Digital Marketing

Bettolino Kitchen truly does an amazing job on the digital front. They send out excellent email newsletters to their Insider Club members alerting them of the latest news, specials and health protocols. {Sign up so you know what’s going on before everyone else!} They have utilized video so customers can check out what it’s like to dine in with them {hopefully again in a few short weeks}. And it does my little digital marketing heart good to see how well they use their Instagram and Facebook pages. Show them some local South Bay love by giving them a follow and absolutely give them your business. You will not be disappointed!

Images: Bettolino Kitchen

To Market We Go | How A Restaurant Perseveres In A Pandemic