Chef Belvedere opens restaurant at College

It’s always a great feeling when you can give back to someone who helped you.

In this case, former Bermuda College Culinary Arts graduate Antonio Belvedere is putting the knowledge he learned from his teachers to good use as he runs Peppino’s on the college campus.

Mr Belvedere graduated from Bermuda College in May 2012. 

His restaurant Peppino’s has been in operation since September, and, with a bit of irony, replaced Buzz as the campus eatery, something he helped lead protests against as Student Government president.

Mr Belvedere told the Bermuda Sun: “This has been a good experience and it happened at a good time for the students and for myself. I was Student Government president when I attended the College. I was part of the Buzz boycott when it came to prices, quality service and food. 

“I am excited to be able to give the students good prices, quality food and good service.”

Mr Belvedere said he submitted a proposal to the college, but he was unable to follow through at that time. However, the College called him “so I put in my proposal and I’m here now.”

Just prior to opening up his own restaurant, Mr Belvedere cut his teeth as the head chef at The Beach. 

He said the menu includes a variety of salads, wraps, soups, wings, tenders, paninis, baked goods, fries, breakfast items as well as a daily hot special. 

Peppino’s is open from 8am to 8pm Monday through Thursday and 8am to 3pm on Friday and is open to the public. 

He said Peppino’s “is named after my dad. He passed away almost four years ago now, and his name was Guiseppe. Peppino is short for Guiseppe in Italy”.

Mr Belvedere added it means “a lot to honour my dad this way. He was in the hospitality industry as well. He came to the island as a waiter on the cruise ship (Atlantic) and met my mom here when she was working at the bank.”

Now that he has opened up his first restaurant, Mr Belvedere is thinking about adding a second. But the new one would be a departure from Peppino’s, which is primarily aimed at satisfying the college market and the new one would have a Bermudian-Italian cuisine theme.