Pizza Battista

Home-cooked, traditional Italian cuisine is no stranger to Battista Vecchio, who was born and raised near Edmonton’s Little Italy. He was brought up on the delicious culinary culture by his immigrant parents. From his mom’s layered meat lasagne to her spaghetti and meatballs, he remembers how food made him feel connected.

“I like people, and what does food do? It brings people to you,” says Battista. “I want to talk to them; it gives me energy and it gives me life. I feed off of this. I love this connection. You have food and that’s the medium that brings everyone together.”

When the tenant occupying what is now Battista's Calzone decided to vacate, Battista wanting to do something with the space himself. After considering his love of people and calzones, he set out to become a restauranteur. In 2010, he officially opened doors to Battista’s Calzone Company. Wanting to find his own niche in Edmonton’s food scene, Battista decided to stick to calzones. “I said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to be a full-scale restaurant,’” he recalls. “‘I’m just going to do one thing and do it well.’”