Braserie Bardot

Having gotten his start in the restaurant industry in the 1980s at the age of 14, Violino’s general manager Adrian Solomon has seen it all, but his passion for food has always driven him forward.

Originally from Romania, he earned his culinary school degree before he was 18 and went off to study hotel management in university for five years. Adrian travelled through Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and other places around the world as the assistant maître d’ for an Italian restaurant on a cruise ship, and finally came to Edmonton in 2009.

“Restaurants have been my lifelong passion and, to stick with my tradition, I was looking for an Italian place,” says Adrian. “Violino had recently been bought by a local family. The previous owner sold the restaurant because it was too high end; we renovated it completely to become more accessible to Edmontonians.”

Now, Edmonton has the benefit of Adrian’s professional training and polished skillset. “At Violino,” he says, “I take care of all the needs of the restaurant: reservations, accounting, advertising, paperwork.”