Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Sosa.
Tony has been the General Manager of The Blue Glass Cafe for 2.5 years. He came to Boston in the mid 80’s and studied at Boston University. While there he started working in local restaurants as a waiter where he quickly rose through the ranks to General Manager. He has spent his career running both corporate and independent operations for St. Botolph Restaurant in the South End, The Elephant Walk Restaurants in Boston, Cambridge and Waltham and Flora Restaurant in Arlington. He has managed for Rare Hospitality, Inc. (owners of The Capital Grille, Longhorn Steakhouses and Bugaboo Creak Steakhouses), run Olive Gardens for Darden, Inc. and worked for Restaurant Associates as Director of Restaurants for the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
In 2010 Tony graduated with honors from The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts with a Professional Chef Certification.
When not overseeing food service operations, you can find Tony working on his home in Natick and making his wife and daughter (the best little girl in the world!) anything they want for breakfast.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As anyone in “the business” can tell you, we can face long hours. Juggling the work/life balance is always a challenge when you’re trying to be a family man and having to work when most people are playing (holidays, weekends, etc).
Keeping up with the latest trends, offering your guests the best product and service at an affordable price while balancing the financial end of the operation can be daunting at times, but at the end of the day when everyone has been made happy there is no better feeling!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Blue Glass Cafe – what should we know?
The Blue Glass Cafe located in the first floor of 200 Clarendon building provides Breakfast and Lunch service along with a full Coffee Bar and Catering Service for the past 7 years.
Breakfast offerings include homemade muffins, made to order omelets & breakfast sandwiches, a hot breakfast Buffet, a fresh fruit and yogurt parfait and a “Toast Your Own” station for those on the go.
For lunch we offer a daily Chef Plated Entree, a full Deli with signature sandwiches, our new OPA! station where you can get Greek gyros, salads & rice bowls, home-made soups, our Tossed Salad station where chefs create salads to your specifications, our Sushi Bar now featuring Sushi Burritos and we also have the best Health Bar in the city offering an ever-changing array of fresh and composed salad ingredients.
My team and I take great pride in the fact all of our food is made from scratch with an emphasis on sourcing the freshest and healthiest ingredients from our local vendors. Our chefs are here before sunrise every morning, checking their stocks and receiving fresh produce. They spend their days making REAL food! They are on a first name basis with many of vendors to ensure that we get the pick of crop when it comes to our products. Every offering passes a gauntlet of chef tastings to ensure that it is absolutely to the highest quality standards before being served to our guests. You don’t find this kind of passion often.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I would not be where I am today if it were not for the many mentors that I have worked with throughout my career. Advice, Leadership and education has come from all directions. While the obvious sources have been the independent restaurant owners and the Leaders that I report to, other sources of inspiration and wisdom have also come to me from my dad and father in law who taught me how important patience and generosity can be. Daily conversations with my staff over the years have often guided me to solutions that I might never have come up with myself. As the saying goes, “It takes a village”.
Contact Info:
- Address: 200 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02215
- Website: www.blueglasscafe.com
- Phone: 617-275-0250
- Email: manager@blueglasscafe.com
- Instagram: big_blue_glass
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlueGlassCafe/
- Twitter: @blueglasscafe
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