Following news the Villa D'Oro site has been sold by the landlord and will be repurposed, managing director Claude Guido said the function venue will continue to hold events until the end of 2022.
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Mr Guido said all events booked for next year will go ahead and Villa D'Oro's take away and catering services will continue.
December 3 marks 20 years since Mr Guido, his wife Maria Guido and business partner and brother-in-law John Cicero bought the business from Mario and Sam Barnava but plans for a celebration with present and former staff have been pushed back because of COVID-19.
Mr Guido said Villa D'Oro having to close its doors for the last time in a little over 12 months does mean he will have to make new plans for the future.
But presently he focused on making the most of the year the Villa D'Oro team have left.
"We, like all of our valued clients are saddened by this announcement, but this also means a new chapter for Villa D'oro and our business," he said.
"We look forward to celebrating the next year of events and special occasions with our clients and continue to do what we love."
Mr Guido is considered by many as an Illawarra icon in the hospitality industry but said to run a successful business over so many years requires loyal support from the community.
"I have some amazing clients," he said.
"Some people have had all their family events here and some corporate clients have had all their business events here. And I lot of my staff, especially in the kitchen, have been with me since day one."
Clients and guests always knowing what they are going to get has been one of the secrets to Villa D'Oro success.
"You can't do that without the right people working for you," Mr Guido said.
His own career started in the late 70's at The Fraternity Club.
By 19 he was managing a restaurant that could seat up to 350 people upstairs.
"At 17 I got an apprenticeship at The Fraternity Club," Mr Guido said.
"My bosses were Giovanni and Lola Comelli and I got to learn from two special people.
"My love of food came from my mum."
Mr Guido's parents Antonio and Giovanna Guido migrated to Australia before he was born and set up a shop in Corrimal.
After 18 months at The Frat the Comelli's retired and he was asked to take over management of the upstairs restaurant.
"That put me but that put me on the path to a great love of food , catering and functions," he said.
After five years he was asked if he would like to work at Mimmo's restaurant which he did for three years before returning to The Frat for four more years.
He also dabbled in catering before managing the Portofino from 1993 to 2001.
Mr Guido was 40 when he decided to approach friends the Barnavas about taking over Villa D'Oro.
They had just started operating the venue and were also known for Barnies On Crown and the Continental Tavern.
"I always wanted to own my own function centre," Mr Guido said.
"That was the dream I always had. All I ever wanted to do was to have events, make people happy and provide good quality food. I think we achieved that."
Mr Guido said after four decades in the hospitality industry the last 18 months had definitely been the most challenging.
"With the first lockdown I think we were all scared," he said.
"We didn't really know too much about what was going to happen to our business."
Mrs Guido suggested her husband offer lasagna and cannelloni as takeaway.
So he kept the kitchen open to produce the food Villa D'Oro clients enjoyed.
"One of the things that COVID has taught us is you have to improvise," Mr Guido said.
"Government support was also important last year.
"Then functions started happening fairly quickly from about June onwards."
Villa D'Oro had an extensive takeaway menu by the time the second lockdown occurred mid 2021 which Mr Guido said was important because the impact on business was far worse than last year.
He said bookings are starting to come back again now but it will be a while yet before clients confidently book business functions and weddings again.
Mr Guido thinks business will pick up again in the New Year and expects 2022 will be particularly busy for weddings. He thinks the biggest challenge then will be finding enough staff.
Mr Guido does not yet know what he will be doing in 2023.
He said there are already a few options but he has made no decisions.
"If I don't find the right venue I won't just get into events for the sake of it," he said.
"It has to be the right venue. If I don't open a new one I will definitely be doing takeaway and catering. That maybe out of a cafe but I just don't know at this point."
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