Sault family’s tradition of golf, fine dining continues (9 photos)

For Richard Barsanti, owning and operating Barsanti’s Restaurant and Root River Golf Club at 85 Old Highway 17 North has been about carrying on a family tradition of offering nine or 18 holes of golf and good food for customers.

But there’s been even more to it than that.

“It’s about youth in Sault Ste. Marie,” said Richard, Barsanti’s Restaurant and Root River Golf Club the subject of this week’s SooToday What’s Up Wednesday.

“Every year we hire students to help out in the restaurant or the golf course, and there have been kids who have worked in the kitchen who’ve gone on to make the restaurant business their chosen profession.”

“When they choose this profession and come back to visit us, it sure makes us feel good. It’s been good to see these kids as they’ve grown up,” said Richard, visibly moved to know he has provided career direction for some.

The Barsanti name is well-known in the Sault, Richard descended from three brothers who emigrated to Canada from Italy.

Over the years the Barsanti family owned and operated several restaurants, including Barsanti’s Steak House, Barsanti’s Small Frye and The Underpass Grill.

Richard’s father Harvey worked as a liquor salesman and a Memorial Gardens employee before purchasing the golf course at Root River.

The course itself was first established under its original owners in the 1930s, but became grown over due to a lack of manpower and equipment to maintain it during the Second World War, Harvey Barsanti buying the land and recultivating it in 1944.

Harvey died in 1960, the nine-hole golf course passed on to wife Jane (who built the clubhouse and restaurant in 1965) and eventually run by Richard, brother Harvey Jr. and his two sisters in the 1990s.

“My father didn’t live to see this part of it. This (restaurant) is basically what my father wanted to do,” Richard said.

“My Mom and her sister did all the cooking, and we kept all the family recipes going with the people who’ve worked in the kitchen and who’ve been really close, like the cook Alfred Caruso (now retired) and his sister-in-law Ida who’s one of the prep cooks.”

“We have a new head cook now, John, who’s as good as Alfred could be at any given time, and new young people in the kitchen who are happy to come to work.”

Richard and his crew are used to serving large groups for special occasions and long weekends.

“We serve Canadian and Italian food. The Italian food we have is all made in-house, our gnocchi, ravioli, fettuccine, our sauce is made here...everything related to the Italian dishes is made in-house.”

Golfers love to dine in the restaurant after nine or 18 holes of golf (the course is approximately 80 acres, or 32 hectares in size) or just for the food during the off season, the restaurant open year-round.

The restaurant and golf course employ 40 to 50 people during summer, approximately 20 in the winter months.

“When my Dad first bought the course it seemed far away for people,” said Richard, who began helping out in the restaurant at age 12.

“Huckson’s Corner was all bush back then. But now it’s easy enough for people to get here. A couple of hotels in town promote for us too, and that’s really appreciated.”