New owner, same eclectic menu and cool vibe thanks to GM Steve Tosti’s focus on the customer.
MANCHESTER, NH – If you’ve seen the signs in the windows next to XO Bistro, that the space is for rent, perhaps you’ve gotten the wrong idea.
General Manager Steve Tosti says change has always been good for business, and the next chapter for XO Bistro will follow suit.
“This is the third owner since I’ve been here – and I’ve been here 14 years,” says Tosti, who has spent his whole professional career in the restaurant business.
The new boss, Seth Leiberfarb, has entered the New Hampshire market after establishing Toasted Oat Cafe with two locations, in Newington and Canton, Connecticut.
“The good part has been that people are coming in for their last meal at XO and then I get to tell them we’re not going anywhere,” says Tosti, flashing his signature smile.
The biggest change this go-round is that, after some discussion, it was decided that the adjoining function room was taking away from focus on the restaurant side, so the landlord is looking for another tenant for that space.
“Seth is happy with the way things are going here, and I’m excited for the chance to give more attention to our guests,” Tosti said. He notes that they can still accommodate a group of 24 in their front space, and he will now have more time to dream up delicious dishes and cocktail specials.
Tosti stepped into the role of GM five years ago and has since created a menu of all of XO’s greatest hit dishes over the years. “I made the menu all of our favorite things – a ‘best-of’ menu, so there’s always something on it for everybody,” Tosti says.
He started at XO nine months after it opened, coming from a well-established Italian restaurant, Pasquale’s Ristorante in Candia, which was his training ground.
“I came in here looking for work because it was time for me to try something different. They said they really didn’t have anything – all they had was a food-runner job, which they said I was over-qualified for,” says Tosti.
But after eight years under Pasquale’s wing, Tosti was ready to fly. He started there at 19 as host, then serving and bartending – he even studied business along the way. He struck a deal.
“I told them I’d do the food-running job for nine months with no complaints – and then, we’d talk,” says Tosti.
Nine months later, with a baby on the way, Tosti negotiated his way into a server job, then assistant manager before the original owner left.
“When the new owners took over they wanted me to be GM, and the pact we all had, those of us working here at the time, was that none of us would ever leave, no matter what,” says Tosti. “Well, I’m the only one who stuck with the pact,” again, with the smile.
And just like when he started, he’s not complaining.
“I feel one with the building and regulars,” he says, not to mention his staff. One of his new hires, Michelle Whiting, who came on nine months ago is ready to call it a day as the evening shift filters in.
“I’ve known Michelle since middle school,” he says, as he rattles off the rest of his inter-connected staff and how they know each other. Turns out he rarely has to go outside his circle of friends to find good help.
“I love my staff – everyone is friends of friends. Our main bartender, Tori White, our kids went to preschool and kindergarten together,” Tosti said.
He also loves Chef Juan Tema, who ticks all the boxes that matter most to Tosti. The food is always exquisite, but the vibe is strictly casual-fun.
“Chef Juan is fun to work with and we all get along. There’s usually that front-and-back-of-the-house clash, like in ‘The Bear,’ but here we all get along,” Tosti says. “Like the name XO – hugging and kissing – we want our customers to feel the love and that starts with great food and a fun atmosphere.”
On the web: XO Bistro, located at 827 Elm St, Manchester, NH.