“Consider your origins, you were not meant to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.”
RETO CANTONE
Cantone family crest
Born and raised in Switzerland to an Italian father and Swiss-German mother, Reto Cantone begins his life in Basel, Switzerland. This cultural epicentre serves as a meeting point for the Swiss, French and German borders and stands just adjacent to Alsace, France, a historical region in eastern France noted for its contributions to the world of gastronomy, wine and beer. Reto attributes much of his personal and professional success to these origins, as well as noting with pride his ancestry in the 16th-century nobility in Piedmont, Italy.
After studying economics at the Wirschaftsgymnasium Basel, Reto graduates on to Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), the world’s first hospitality management school founded in 1893.
While at EHL, Reto bolsters his knowledge of gastronomy, service, and international hospitality management, through internships at three of the most recognized five-star luxury hotels and restaurant chain in Switzerland: Hotel Baur au Lac in Zurich, Grand Hotel Zermatterhof in Zermatt and Mövenpick in Geneva.
He spends a brief stint working with his father in the fashion industry, not only providing him with fundamental knowledge of style and luxury products but also giving him an appreciation for world class travel and dining. This initial taste of fashion leads him to a buying position with the department store chain Jelmoli in Zurich. Here he goes to the fashion centres of the world - London, Paris, Milan - building an in-depth knowledge of international fashion and design trends that benefit him throughout his career.
Photo: Cantone Family (Swiss Alps, 2015)
While on vacation in Verbier, a 20-something Reto is spotted by renowned Fashion Designer Ted Lapidus - credited as the originator of unisex fashion, military styles and denim - who invites him to model in his show in Paris. In London he is scouted by the Elite Model Agency, launching him into the fast lane of European fashion in the 1970s and a successful modelling career with endless assignments in Paris, Milan, London, Rio, Sydney and back. He is working with world-renowned photographers Marco Glaviano, Guido Cegani, Fabrizio Ferri, , Gian Barbieri, Frank Horvat and many others beeing featured in all the major international fashion magazines, such as Uomo Vogue, British Vogue, Harper's Bazaar. His clients are such world-renowned fashion brands such as Armani and Zegna, featured in their 100-year book.
Reto Cantone for Ermenegildo Zegna (Milan, 2015)
Seeking to continue his professional growth, Reto moves to New York, where he first works for a Swiss Consulting Group. True to his sociable Italian form and his natural ability to sustain strong personal connections, he falls in with the crème de la crème of the Manhattan social scene. In the 1980s he returns to his innate passion and his roots, entering the hospitality industry, where he conceptualises, develops and ultimately owns and operates unique fresh-casual restaurant brands, many of which are foreign ideas to an American audience. Reto quickly becomes known as a pioneer in his field and is the first to introduce New York to real European-style hospitality novelties such as the authentically Venetian restaurant Castellano, Roman trattoria Caffè Roma and Bolidò, a restaurant lounge and nightclub.
In 1992 he founded The Hospitality Group International (HGI), a management advisory and hospitality firm, delivering a broad range of consulting services on a global basis, thus further distinguishing his abilities to identify market opportunities and implement concepts with clients from New York to Seoul, South Korea. His consulting capacities expand through this endeavour as does the breadth of his global customer base.
During this time, he simultaneously becomes a forerunner of "Sous-Vide", French for "under vacuum", a method of cooking in which food is sealed in airtight plastic bags and placed in a water bath or temperature-controlled steam environment for prolonged cooking times. He soon partners with a small sous-vide production company in Vermont, producing innovative ready to use prepared sauces and meals for the restaurant industry, which leads Reto to consult with a hotel to open a restaurant in Vermont, while using food prepared exclusively with this method. Cantone is noted as a published resource on this revolutionary way of cooking and serving food.
Photo: Caffe Roma (New York, 2015)
As this was not enough, Cantone decides to import ready-to-be-baked, frozen baked goods from France to the U.S., distributing them to his brands, as well as other hotels and restaurants in the U.S.
While always looking for new concepts around the world to import to the U.S., Cantone during one of his visits to an International Food Fair in Europe, discovers Obica Mozzarella Bar in Milan and decides to bring them to New York. Soon after Cantone opens the first Mozzarella Bar in the U.S at the IBM building to the high acclaim of the New York Press.
Recognising that one of the crucial aspects of a successful restaurant is its location, Cantone decides to further his career in becoming a commercial real estate broker and partnering with renowned commercial real estate company Lee Associates of New York, with offices in all the main U.S. cities.
With the launch of Swiss-based, Cantone Group in 2015, Reto decides to use his cultural heritage and hospitality knowledge in advising foreign brands on branding and brand translation for the North American market, thus unifying his diverse experience, under one unique umbrella. He maintains a strong reputation as a creative visionary in the hospitality, food services and luxury lifestyle industries.
In his personal life, Reto is an active mentor to young entrepreneurs and graduates from his Alma Mater. Whenever time permits, you will find Reto on a golf course, tennis court or ski slope. He further keeps fit with Yoga, Pilates, and transcendental meditation. You will also find him at all the major art and design shows. He resides in New York with his Korean wife and enjoys to cook for and host his friends and family on a regular basis.
Photo: Reto Cantone (2015)