InternationalAndre’s Steakhouse exceeds expectations
Published: Friday March 27, 2009
Andre Cottoloni of Andre's Steakhouse in Naples, Fla. Arsen Serobian
Naples - Scents that would whet even a vegetarian's appetite waft through Andre's Steakhouse, at the northeast corner of Tamiami and 28th Avenue. The front and back parking lots are full, and there are no empty parking spots on the street. It's the last Saturday night of February, and Andre's is packed like it is every night during "the season," when tourists and retirees converge on Florida's Paradise Coast, off the Gulf of Mexico.
Enter the epicurean wonderland of Andre's, and there is not one empty table. The steakhouse is full of loyal patrons of all ages - some in shorts and T-shirts and others in short-sleeved shirts or summer dresses. It's the dead of winter, but one can easily forget the blizzards blanketing the Midwest and Northeast in snow.
There is laughter, people talking, someone making a toast in one corner, and half a dozen clean-cut waiters - dressed in white shirts and bowties - dance a perfectly choreographed number. Watch them sweep past one another, expertly picking up plates and cups, smiling, pouring wine, delivering drinks from the bar, making small talk, and serving huge portions of steaming steaks, fresh off the grill: lamb, pork, or fish with fresh salads, large baked potatoes, or German fries on the side.
Inside these walls is the good life, free of the outside world of economic strife. This is paradise, the American Dream, and the Armenian-American at the center of all the action is Andre Cottoloni.
Google Andre's, and the reviews are many. The steakhouse is considered the best in Florida. Many come, time after time, for the thick cuts of prime beef that are dry-aged for tenderness, but most come for the atmosphere and to see their friend Andre.
He's a rock star among those who frequent his steakhouse, and his name is known to any of the hundreds of local Armenians.
A young man's journey
Andre, a Turkey native, was born to an Italian diplomat who fell in love with an Armenian woman in Istanbul. Together, the couple began Andre's story, which would span several continents and culminate with the realization of the American Dream in the paradise of Southwest Florida.
Andre's long journey from Shishli, Turkey, to Naples, Florida, began in a multilingual society, where he learned eight languages - all of which he still speaks.
"I went to an Italian school in Istanbul," Andre says. He not only learned Armenian and Turkish, but also picked up Hebrew and Spanish. "Because the Jews in Turkey spoke Spanish," he explains. He picked up Greek when he served in the Turkish Army in Ankara for two years. Andre was part of a troop that included other minorities, including Greeks and Jews.
"We were in the minority, and being in the minority in Turkey," he says, "you stick together. That's why I learned so many languages."
Andre also learned French and English, and he learned German after arriving in Germany, at age 24.
"Turkey was an okay place to live at the time, but we always looked toward living in a bigger country, a better country," says Andre. "Europe, America, and that was the reason that I went to Germany all by myself."
He is comfortable in his own skin; perhaps he's always been. Wearing a red T-shirt and preppy Bermuda shorts, Andre has come to the steakhouse earlier than usual to give the Armenian Reporter an interview.
The steakhouse is open only in the evenings. On this night, we run into the visiting parish priest, Fr. Nerses Jebejian, who is here to dine with his wife.
"I was baptized by [Angelo Giuseppe] Cardinal Roncalli, who later became the Pope [John XXIII]," Andre says. "In 1935, he was a cardinal in Istanbul. But we grew up Armenian, because my father passed away and my aunt married another Armenian guy. He is the one who raised me, practically. So we grew up Armenian in Shishli, where there was a thriving Armenian community. It was really, really nice to be there."
Leaving Shishli for Stuttgart, Germany, in 1959 was a life-changing experience for Andre. "Because, all of a sudden, you're out of the nest and you're flying away, not knowing where you're going and what you're doing," he says.
Andre reached Germany with four suitcases, and he was greeted with an important lesson about good customer service. The lesson has stayed with him since and is perhaps a key factor in his success in the restaurant business.
"I grabbed two of my suitcases and put them on the train I had to take," he remembers. "When I came back to get the other two, the train [with the remaining suitcases] had left."
Andre did not speak German at the time, but he found someone who spoke French. The French-speaker told him where to go and what to ask for.
"Finally, I went and found the place, and two hours later my baggage was back there," he says. His first interaction with German society left him in awe of good customer service and hospitality. "It was amazing."
Soon after his arrival in Stuttgart, Andre began working in a factory.
"After a year, I said, ‘This is not my cup of tea,' and I had to move on," he says. His next stop was a job with a company that served American GIs.
"I worked with them for two years in the parts store, in the garage and repair shop," he says. "Then I went to a construction company and became an interpreter."
After eight years with the construction company, Andre became the manager of the payroll department and supervised eight Germans.
"I was about 30 or 35 and stopped doing that and bought a restaurant," he says.
