Ciao Chester County! Longtime Philadelphia restaurateur Sandro Frusone has opened Ciao Ristorante at the Commons at Thornbury on East Street Road. Frusone, an Italian native, has owned numerous Italian restaurants in the region including San Carlo’s, Gnocchi and LaNonna in the city before turning his sights to his newest adventure.

Frusone said he learned to cook from his mother Cia Froccia Clelia as he was growing up in Fiuggi, south of Rome in the province of Lazio. “My mother was my teacher, and the best cook,” said the gregarious Italian. “She taught me to cook.” Frusone said he first began preparing meals at a resort with his mother at age 12. One of his most memorable orders was to prepare a veal dish for the Italian President Sandro Pertini. He messed it up and the head chef yelled at him.