Downtown Edmonton Italian restaurant Dalla Tavola Zenari closes after 40 years – Edmonton [Video]

On New Year’s Eve, kitchen staff at Dalla Tavola Zenari were prepping for the restaurant’s final service, as Elisa Zenari reflected on her family’s bittersweet end to nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry.

Zenari grew up in the downtown Edmonton restaurant, helping her parents.

She was only three years old when her mom, Glenda, opened the original concept: a kitchenware store called Zenari’s in Manulife Place.

A deli, coffee counter and specialty foods were also attached to the floor plan.

Later, her dad, Adriano, took over and the store slowly transformed into a wine bar.

Like the family photo covered walls and art prints, Elisa said the memories are endless.

“I would sit in the office and roll pennies and then did dishwashing and then finally moved up to serving and managing,” laughed Elisa.

In December 2020, the lease was up for Zenari’s, and the family renamed the business to Dalla Tavola Zenari (from the …