We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gio Osso a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Gio, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Naming a business is extremely difficult. The name Virtù Honest Craft came from a trip to Italy back in 2005. I was going to little restaurants that were family owned and operated. They changed their menu based on what they grew in their personal garden and harvested that very morning. The same went for their protein selections. It was typical to see the fisherman’s catch that came in that morning on the menu or if the catch was limited, they might have a chicken or rabbit that became lunch for that day. These restaurants were maybe 8-10 seats, so changing daily was an incredible task but not to the level of a 40 or 50 seat restaurant. When I said that that’s what I wanted to do but obviously here in the States, one of my friends mentioned the name Virtù. I asked what it meant, and she responded with it being a term Machiavelli used for a leader to have all the attributes to achieve greatness. I loved it! At that time, the culinary world was swooning at molecular gastronomy. I’m not going to say I wasn’t but I’m no scientist. I wanted to add a tagline to Virtù and that line became Honest Craft. I wanted to bring honesty back to cooking. No smoke and mirrors, just good cooking focused on quality ingredients. I wanted to bring honesty back to the craft of the cocktail. I remember the days of sitting at the Rainbow Room bar at the top of Rockefeller Center with Dale Degroff behind the bar and witnessing greatness come to life. I wanted to bring honesty back to the winemaker and the craft of making wine. We based our list around boutique wineries that held themselves to the highest standard of making exceptional wine. I pushed every day to be the best and still do to this day. I change the menu every week to 2 weeks in keeping with the tradition we opened with. That’s what became the name Virtù Honest Craft.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Virtù Honest Craft is the first restaurant opened in 2013 by Virtù Hospitality which also opened Pizzeria Virtù in 2020. Virtù Honest Craft opened to great acclaim. Receiving Esquire Magazine’s Top 20 Restaurants in America award, nominated by the prestigious James Beard Foundation as a semi finalist in the Best New Restaurants category, Thrillist named Virtù Honest Craft as a Top 25 Restaurant in America as well along with a nomination in Food & Wine for outstanding bar program. These are just a few of the accolades Virtù Honest Craft received in the first year of operation. In 2013 & 2014, Virtù Honest Craft and Chef Gio Osso (Chef, Owner & Operator) were the most awarded restaurant in all of Arizona.
Chef Gio Osso came into the restaurant industry at an early age. While sitting in his highchair watching his mother cook in their home kitchen, his mom would put a pot of cold water, some dried herbs and spices and a wooden spoon (which later was disciplined with) in his hand to follow along with what his mom was doing. It was no surprise that after high school, he wanted to attend culinary school to begin the groundwork needed to become a chef. After years of studying, working for free in all kinds of kitchens and cuisines to learn, it was that discipline that the building blocks were assembled to create what Virtù Honest Craft is today.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

We opened Pizzeria Virtù in February of 2020. Timing is everything. The pandemic struck mid March and we had to close our doors just a few weeks after opening. The stress was at an all time high. We just put quite a bit of money into the new business, we have loans to pay, vendors to pay, employees to take care of and not to mention the personal side of things….mortgage to pay, kids to feed. It was an incredible time. The only comfort was that we weren’t alone. Everyone was dealing with the same thing. I’m fortunate enough to have the greatest business partner anyone could ever ask for. He was the calm, strategic one that played our cards correctly. I was on the ground making to-go pizza trying to bring in any kind of income that we could. Coming out of the pandemic wasn’t any easier. It was as if we started all over as we never got off the ground in the first place. We stuck with it, we never gave up and here we are five and a half years later still doing it and if I may, doing it well!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think we have a very good reputation in our market. Everyone in the industry as well as our guests know that we do not sacrifice quality. We use the best of the best when it comes to products. I believe quality is the biggest reason we have a good reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.virtuscottsdale.com
• Instagram: @virtuhonestcraft @pizzeriavirtu @chefgioosso