Rising from the floodwaters: A new beginning at New Camp Table & Bar

New Camp Table & Bar wasn’t even open for a year before it was forced to close its doors in December because of a flood.

It wasn’t anything a remodelling couldn’t fix and now, less than three months later, New Camp Table & Bar has reopened its doors.

Restaurateur Tony Nicastro just launched the southwest restaurant in March of 2022, so when the flood hit, he was concerned about losing the rapport the new business had gained with its customers.

“When a restaurant closes, you lose the momentum that you have been generating, especially because it wasn’t open for even a year yet,” Nicastro says.

Back to the drawing board

Nicastro and his team had built relationships with returning customers, so they wanted to get the word out as soon as they opened the doors again.

“People are creatures of habit. If you close, you tend to lose customers as they adjust their habits, and often they just don’t know why they stopped coming,” Nicastro says.

With many restaurants opening their doors over the past year, Nicastro and his team felt the pressure to reintroduce customers to their brand and elevate what they had already built.

Starting from the drawing board and rethinking old ideas and making them new for the restaurant might sound like onerous work but Nicastro was up for the challenge.

“I don’t think the flood was necessarily negative,” Nicastro says, adding that while it was a setback, he and his team came back stronger than ever.

A family affair

Nicastro knew he wanted to be in the restaurant industry from a young age—he grew up working at his family’s restaurant, Pulcinella, which was formerly called Stromboli Inn.

“My family started it in the ‘70s and I was washing dishes as early as nine. You really can’t get away from the restaurant industry once everyone in your family is in it,” Nicastro says.

With plenty of experience under his belt, Nicastro was able to think quickly on his feet when the restaurant flooded, and he began to reimagine everything.

“I had the time to re-evaluate it, look over some of the trends that we saw, and actually spend the time that you’re not really normally allotted to analyze all of the products you’re moving,” he says.

“I could analyze customer feedback and talk to the servers and staff about what needed to be fixed and tweak those things.”

A name with meaning

While Nicastro loves his work as a restaurateur, he also enjoys a good story, which New Camp Table & Bar has.

Nicastro pays homage to his family's legacy through the name of his restaurant; their last name translates to New Camp.

New Camp Table & Bar is also located on what was one of Canada’s largest military camps, Sarcee Camp, where 50,000 First World War soldiers trained.

“With my last name and paying homage to the area, it just made a little story,” Nicastro adds.

The restaurant reopened less than two weeks ago and has already seen a rush of customers.

“I think the first day was like 48 phone calls before the staff stopped counting. Regulars that hadn’t been there in a month-and-a-half were just happy we were back.”

All about the menu

Nicastro wanted to revamp the menu before the grand reopening by including classic favourites and familiar foods while adding something for those looking for a little more pizazz.

“My background coming from food-primary restaurants, I wanted to highlight the food,” Nicastro says.

“There are some comfort food items there, but there are some items that, if someone is a foodie, they can see the elevation.”

Not only is Nicastro proud of the new design and menu, but he is also proud of his team, exemplified by the dedication of his head chef, Cody Draper.

“He just wants to make sure that we are executing everything well and that all the staff are looked after and makes sure that everyone enjoys working,” Nicastro says.