Spagio founder Hubert Seifert keeps up with demand

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It’s a well-known fact that restaurants are among the riskiest business ventures.

It only adds to the barriers when the restaurant is small and family-owned. Nevertheless, Chef Hubert Seifert and his wife of 47 years, Helga, seem to have perfected the art of keeping a restaurant not just afloat, but thriving. And the couple has done so for 37 years and counting.

Seifert, 70, got into the culinary industry at 14; a tendency that, he says, is common in Europe, particularly his home country of Germany. Hailing from Aachen, outside of Cologne, Seifert says his two options were to either enter a trade or make good grades and go to college.

“You can only go when you have the brain capacity to do it,” he says. “I guess I didn’t have that, so I couldn’t go to college.”

Fortunately, the alternative seems to have turned out just fine for him.

Seifert traveled all over, getting to know the culture of various cities and countries through their cuisine. When he got a job in 1979 as a private chef, he and Helga packed up and moved all the way from Germany to Columbus. Soon after, in November 1980, the Seiferts made a move that would change Grandview Heights: the opening of Gourmet Market.

With Seifert doing the cooking and Helga the baking, Grandview immediately fell in love. Soon, clients were asking for tables to sit down and eat. The Seiferts bought more space around Gourmet Market, then obtained a carry-out liquor license. In 1989, in an effort to continue growing and adapting, Gourmet Market became Spagio, a sit-down restaurant with healthful, fresh and locally-sourced foods.

“I think … when you’re in business for a while, you have to reinvent yourself a little bit,” says Seifert. “If you get stuck with one thing, that doesn’t cut it anymore.”

Through the restaurant, the Seiferts aim to serve healthful menu items that combine cuisine from a plethora of cultures. Lots of experimentation and adventurousness goes into each menu, Seifert says, and some things work better than others.

“You bring blood sausage from Spain and put it on the menu, that doesn’t work in Columbus,” says Seifert.

Seifert says the restaurant is still constantly changing to adapt to the times and ensure nothing gets stale. The one thing that won’t change, however, is Spagio’s location. Seifert says he and Helga could not have chosen a better place to establish their restaurant.

“We love the neighborhood and we love the people,” he says. “Grandview has been phenomenal for us.”

Alongside Spagio, the Seiferts now have the Aubergine Private Dining Club just a few steps away, as well as the Spagio Wine Lounge, featuring hundreds of wine and beer options. Seifert also hosts cooking classes, which serve many purposes for him, among them giving back to the community and inspiring others to learn to cook.

“You have to make people understand how much work it is to put a nice meal on the table,” says Seifert. “It really is the greatest thing when you can provide food for some of your family and friends and all sit together and have a good time. It doesn’t get better than that.”

His cooking classes are just one of the many ways Seifert gives back to the central Ohio community. The Seiferts are also involved in efforts to support the Ronald McDonald House, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, The Ohio State University James Cancer Hospital, Columbus State Community College and Hocking College, among others. At Columbus State, Seifert helped develop a culinary apprenticeship program, teaching a new generation of culinary artists.

“We don’t know how well (off) we are. You have to give back,” says Seifert. “I wish I could give to everybody. … There’s not enough we can do.”

As for the future of Spagio, Seifert says he will always continue to adapt to change with the restaurant. The Seiferts’ only daughter, Nicole Kemp, helps run the business, but Seifert does not intend to retire soon. In fact, when his friends ask when he plans to retire, he can only laugh.

“I am retired,” Seifert says. “Cooking, that’s my hobby. … I go places and people say, ‘What do you want to do?’ I say, ‘Let’s go shopping, and then we’ll cook.’ They always think I’m a little sick in my head, but that’s the way it is.”

Seifert says for the future, it’s important to maintain the tradition of cooking and eating with family and friends, and to continue the good work happening in and around Grandview. For Seifert and Helga, who came to Grandview nearly 40 years ago as immigrants without even being able to speak English, Grandview is home.

“In my book, it doesn’t get better than Grandview,” says Seifert. “We travel and I have worked as a consultant for people in different cities … but I tell you what, there’s nothing better than when you come back home.”

Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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