Salvatore Gaglio—Salvo to his friends and family—grew up working in his uncle’s restaurant in Sicily, but he never imagined that he would make a career out of it. In fact, he wanted to pursue a very different calling: music.

As a young adult, Salvo enrolled and gradated from a music conservatory in Palermo, where he studied classical trumpet performance. He then spent the next several years performing with operas and symphonies around Italy. But eventually, Salvo realized that he had enough creativity to pour into another passion, and he returned once more to the kitchen. Today, the executive chef at Volare Revere channels this creativity into his rustic Sicilian and Mediterranean dishes crafted from farm-fresh meats and vegetables.

He adorns pizzas with figs and pancetta and makes his pastas in house before coating them in plum tomato sauces and topping them with creamy Vermont cheddar and lobster. He’s also been known to venture out into the dining room with his trumpet after dinner to play classical songs and “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.”