Raphael Conte: restaurateur journeys from fate to fortune

Nation's Restaurant News, June 3, 1996 by Robin Lee Allen

If the key to success is adapting to change, Raphael "Ralph" Conte already has unlocked many of fortune's doors. While a student at Johnson & Wales University, t*e Providence, R.I., native overcame a motorcycle accident that nearly cost him an arm and destroyed his dreams of a culinary career.

Then, as the flashy 1980s gave way to the earth-toned 1990s, Conte successfully -- if not regretfully -- volleyed his popular and pricey restaurant, Raphael's, into an equally popular, less expensive bistro called Raphael Bar-Risto. Today, still lacking 30 percent of his arm's mobility, Conte claims that a warm kitchen is actually one of the best environments he could work in. And grateful regulars still flock to taste the authentic Italian fare they crave at any price point.

Title: Chef-owner, Raphaeel Bar-Risto Providence, R.l. Birthdate: Oct. 23, 1957 Hometown: Providence, R.I. Formal education: Johnson & Wales University, Providence, R.l. Career highlights: Living in Itri, Italy, for two and one-half years working and studying with an uncle who is a culinary professor there, cooking at the James Beard House. Menu sampler: Grilled squid with fennel, onions, herbs and pepper relish on balsamic bread crumb sauce; walnut-Gorgonzola sausage with white-bean fritter and sweet fig grappa sauce; fire-roasted pepper chicken with potato gnocchi, wild mushrooms tomato and leeks in Provence cheese sauce.

How did you get interested in cooking?

I started out as a child living in the Italian ways., meaning that every day we had as food staples of today's chi-chi eating -- lentils, broccoli rabe, polenta, osso buco. That was all an everyday practice. I started playing in the kitchen with my grandmother, doing culinary chores and being part of this Italian heritage.

Then I washed dishes, was a busboy, a waiter, a bartender and cooking part-time in jobs during high school. Later I went to the U.S. Air Force, and then I hurt myself on leave.

What happened?

I was in the Rhode Island Air National Guard, and I was working on a full-time basis with the civil service and going to Johnson & Wales at the same time. I would work at the airport all day and then go to school at nighttime. That's what you do when you don't come from a family with money. It happened during my college vacation. I was on a motorcycle, and I severed my right arm and they told me I could never use it again. I had a choice to be a mailman, truck driver or whatever, and I was determined not to do those things.

With extensive surgery and therapy and the help of close friends and family, I started working in kitchens part-time again. After my fifth muscle transplant, about six months later, I started getting about 70 percent of my arm's use back again. That's what made me decide to go into my own business....Today I have about 70-percent usage, which is better than nothing.

Tell us about your first restaurant.

I was 23 years old, and I opened Raphael's in North Kingston, R.I., which I rapidly outgrew. It was a 30-seat restaurant with no lounge and just a beer and wine license. It wasn't really a big project, so I went in with $10,000 and a lot of bills. Then we came to the big city of Providence in 1985.

This was a big, powerful restaurant -- 4,000 square feet, 120 seats with a lounge and bar in an old, historic jewelry factory. The setting and style were very formal. The waiters were in tuxedoes, and the maitre d' was in a full suit. The food was very flamboyant. It was all influenced by the big California kick, money didn't seem to be an object and people were mixing and eating things that didn't even seem to go together.

We stayed there from 1985 to 1992. In 1989 we opened up a pizzeria that was real high-fashion. cool, chi-chi and everything else, called Raffi's. In June 1992 we sold everything to Johnson & Wales.

Why did you sell the restaurants?

Times were changing, and we felt that the '9Os were in our face and we needed a change -- to get out of the formalities and go into something more "everyday."

We started noticing in the restaurant that people were getting more simplistic. We started noticing that as the era of money was changing, so did food. The big meal and big-ticket items weren't selling as well anymore. People started going out with their family and eating good, wholesome, hearty dishes....We had more requests for vegetables, oils. So we started to change to a bar and bar-ristorante.

Was the transition difficult?

I always had a flair and touch for the Italian product that's light and refreshing. I was never known for the thick, heavy red-style Italian foods. So it was just the setting that changed. [My wife] Elisa, who is a designer from RISD [Rhode Island School of Design] did the upscale, high-energy design.

Do you get a lot of the same customers as Raphael's in the '80s?

Sixty percent of the customers are all repeat business and just followed us. They were very accepting of the change.

What do you do in your free time?

I like to watch my children grow up. I'm in the restaurant most of my life, so I like to watch them play. In the fall the bluefish break the water, and even though fishing for the kids is stressful, I like to do it. I like to be in my little boat running around with a few cigars and a lot of beer, yelling to my wife that the fish are over there now. I also enjoy my gardening and yard work.