2017 Economic Impact Awards 1-5 Years in Operation Finalist: Gilardi's Ristorante

Gilardi’s Ristorante owner and chef James Martin has been an entrepreneur since he was a teenager.

“I had a lawn care business when I was 14,” Martin says. “I’ve always been in business.”

Fast forward and Martin purchased fine Italian restaurant Gilardi’s in 2013. Shortly after, he adopted a farm-to-table concept to give the restaurant a leg up.

Creating the concept came with many benefits, he says. “First, it just makes good business sense,” he says, noting, in particular, costs for food came down significantly once he started his own garden.  

Today, Martin has two of what he likes to call urban farms. One, he says, is located behind Rogue Barber Co. on Walnut Street, across from Mother’s Brewing Co.

Raising fall and summer crops for the restaurant certainly added more to Martin’s plate, but he says he finds ways to balance it all out. After all, he’s doing what he loves.
 
“Working 12 to 14 hours a day doesn’t feel like work,” he says.

Of course, the restaurant is not able to grow everything it needs, but when Gilardi’s must shop, it makes every attempt to buy locally to further support the economy. Martin says this helps to prove the restaurant’s mission to the rest of Springfield.

“It’s about educating the public to support local food and local business,” Martin says. “It’s Springfield’s largest billboard.”

Gilardi’s puts in more work than simply growing and shopping for foods, however.  Housed in the historic Grey Gables property on Walnut Street, since taking ownership of Gilardi’s, Martin and staff replaced 40 windows on the top two floors of the adjacent 1895 building and repaired most of the building’s trim.

The restaurant also donates to many organizations, including the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, the Child Advocacy Center and the James River Basin Project.

Martin and his team also volunteer at Central High School three times a semester to teach students how to prepare and cook food.

“Central High School is one of the poorer schools in the city,” Martin says. “It allows us to get out and communicate with kids, too.”

Martin once taught the students to make beet and carrot chips. While the kids were hesitant to give the snack a try, he says they finally came around to it.

“It was really fulfilling for me,” he adds.

Gilardi’s staff also makes regular television appearances on KOLR10 every third morning of the month.

“It’s about teaching more people how to prep and cook healthy food,” Martin says.

Martin’s passion to spread the word on healthy, locally grown foods drives Gilardi’s and has led to growth in his four years at the helm.

“It’s grown about 80 percent since then, in just four years,” he says, declining to disclose annual revenues.

In addition to his crops, Martin has grown a lot, too. Starting in the restaurant business at the age of 15, he’s self-taught, never attending culinary school.

“As I’ve grown as a chef, my interests have grown, too,” Martin says. “But I grew up in nice restaurants. My grandpa would take me to any restaurant I wanted to go to if I made good grades.”