Celebrating a Quarter Century

By Sam Calhoun

H i g h C o u n t r y M a g a z i n e Winter 2005

     “It all began with my father’s vision, Peter Pedroni,” said Rick
Pedroni, owner of Casa Rustica.

     Peter’s vision was a restaurant based upon consistency, value
and great service—a solid foundation that has kept diners coming
back to the “Rustic House” on Highway 105 in Boone for 25 years.

     Rick Pedroni was 8 and his sister Laura was 12 when Peter Pedroni left a promising position with the Marriott Corporation, moved his family to Boone and opened Casa Rustica.

     Rick and Laura watched their father’s vision unfold while helping with whatever needed to be done around the restaurant- folding napkins, busing tables and assisting in the kitchen. In the early days, Casa had only six customers, and one of them crossed the highway on his tractor to get to the restaurant.

     "We just grew up in it,” remembers Pedroni. “We watched my parents go from really nothing and then further into nothing, into debt and then expanding. When times were hard, my father still had the vision to add on the veranda and the bar. Grow rather than be afraid even when times were tough and that made all the difference. That got us over the first five years which is the make or break point for restaurants.”

     In the early 1990s, when the restaurant was well established and successful, Rick started to learn the business from his father. But they both recognized the value of gaining broader experience outside the family restaurant.

     “I needed the hands-on experience which prevailed to be the right move at that time,” explains Pedroni. “It became, ‘own a restaurant right now,’ which I wasn’t ready for, or go and get experience.”

     So Rick went to California to work with some of Peter’s old friends in the hotel industry. Within one year at the Palm Springs Riviera, Rick was promoted to management and subsequently became the hotel’s banquet manager.

     Back home in Boone, however, Peter began having serious
health problems—a heart attack, a kidney transplant and an operation to install a pacemaker. Laura took over the day-to-day management of the restaurant for her father. When Peter had another heart attack in the mid-1990s, Laura called her brother for help.

     Although reluctant to leave his job in California, Rick returned to Boone to run the restaurant with his sister. Rick worked in the kitchen; Laura worked the front. But the brother-sister team ended when Laura left Casa to pursue a fruitful position in the wine industry.

     Rick was about to sell the restaurant on behalf of his father when the dream chef of a lifetime walked through the door. This culinary gift allowed Rick to move from the kitchen to the front and to reestablish the family touch that has characterized Casa Rustica for decades.

     In 2000, Rick approached his father about buying the restaurant, and the two agreed on a business deal through which Rick’s payments support his parents’ retirement. With the restaurant’s future his responsibility alone, Rick immersed himself in its operation.

     Although Rick continues his father’s focus on consistency, value and great service, some aspects of the restaurant have changed since the days of Peter Pedroni. “We’ve updated, we’ve changed with the times,” Rick says.

     One change is the addition of wines and wine features.
The days of offering only Chianti and Merlot are long gone, and
unique varieties from all over the globe have found a new home
at Casa. Rick’s wine features change every 30 days, reflecting his
favorites and interesting vintages from the new age of organics.

     “Instead of the glass of wine or beer being a glass of alcohol,
now it’s more of a side dish,” explains Pedroni.

     The menu has also seen some changes. In all, Rick has added
five dishes, including Eggplant Parmesan, Grilled Chicken Alfredo
and the popular Six-Cheese Pasta Purse.

     “I didn’t want to change what my father did because it worked… I just wanted to make it better,” says Pedroni. “[Casa Rustica] is traditional Italian cooking at its finest. Throughout the years, we’ve been consistent, given great service and offered people a great deal. It’s making people know that they are getting their money’s worth that adds to their dining experience.”

     “You know what you’re going to get when you come to Casa Rustica,” smiles Pedroni.