TORONTO – It’s not a real “ban”, but rather a “warm invitation”, with a final prize: if you don’t touch your cell phone during dinner, you go home with a $5 discount voucher for your next evening in the restaurant. And the place in question could only be Italian, because for people originally from the “Bel Paese” the meal is sacred. “A real sensorial experience, I would say…” explains Gino Benevenga, owner of the pinseria-restaurant “Venga Cucina”, where the original “ban” has been in force for a few weeks, with a sign at the entrance. 

To see it, just stop by the place located at 3076 Dundas Street West in Toronto: “Enjoy your dinner and lock up your phone: eating a meal in Italy isn’t just about the food: it’s a dining experience that appeals to all the senses and engages conversation. To devote your full attention to dining at ‘Venga Cucina’, we proposte the option of storing your phone beside you in a locked pouch – with no access until the conclusion of the meal. In thanks, receive a $5 dollars coupon off your next bill from Venga Cucina. Buon appetito!”.

“Our customers appreciated the idea”, explains Gino Benevenga, born in 1958, originally from Palomonte, a town in the province of Salerno on the borders of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, in Italy: he has been in Canada for over forty years and almost ten years ago he opened “Venga Cucina”, the only one pinseria in Toronto (there are only two in the whole of Canada). His restaurant is appreciated both locally and internationally (he is now a regular guest of the prestigious Gambero Rosso “Guida”) and is also known for numerous charitable initiatives: two years ago, he donated the entire proceeds of dozens of “pinse” to the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great of the Monastery of St. Peter and Paul, in the city of Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, hard hit during the conflict with Russia. Previously, he donated $1 for every “pinsa” sold over an entire week to the SickKids Foundation. And just over a year ago he donated the proceeds of twenty super-pins of 100 dollars each to the Princess Margaret Breast Cancer Foundation. Now, the new initiative “Enjoy your dinner and lock up your phone”, which reconfirms the originality of Gino Benevenga’s pinseria-restaurant.

His place is the only certified “pinseria” in Toronto, one of only two in the whole of Canada (the other is in Ottawa). And, throughout the world, there are around 130 venues that can boast of this recognition. A prestigious recognition, recognized by the Opr association (Originale Pinsa Romana) only to those who, like Gino Benevenga, offer their customers the original product, rigorously made with high quality products starting from the flour, that of Corrado Di Marco, creator of this particular “dish” that is literally becoming popular wherever it is offered.

Gino Benevenga, born in 1958, originally – as we said – from Palomonte, a town in the province of Salerno on the borders of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, has been in Canada for forty years. After a lot of work behind bar counters and between restaurant tables, he had the intuition to open a “pinseria” in Toronto. And, thanks to his long experience, he hit the mark.

In the pic above, Gino Benevenga at the entrance of his “pinseria”, Venga Cucina