What's cooking? A new chef-owned Mt. Airy hair salon

by Pamela J. Forsythe
Posted 11/4/20

What could Bledar Istrefi have been thinking? As if owning a restaurant in 2020 wasn’t difficult enough, the Mt. Airy chef recently added a hair salon to his portfolio. In mid-October, Istrefi …

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What's cooking? A new chef-owned Mt. Airy hair salon

Posted

What could Bledar Istrefi have been thinking? As if owning a restaurant in 2020 wasn’t difficult enough, the Mt. Airy chef recently added a hair salon to his portfolio. In mid-October, Istrefi opened Girasole Hair Salon at 7201 Germantown Ave. (rear), up the street from Trattoria Moma, his six-year-old Italian BYOB at 7131 Germantown Ave.

(Before the pandemic, opentable.com, the popular restaurant reservation website, revealed the results of their online questionnaire about their respondents’ favorite Philadelphia area restaurants. The fourth top vote-getter was Trattoria Moma.)

When the Coronavirus began shuttering the region, Istrefi noticed that a familiar salon had disappeared, so the shop, at the back of a building a block from the restaurant, was vacant. “It had been successful and had a good reputation,” Istrefi said. “I saw an opportunity. I saw that this place was vacant. I wanted to try something new ... If you don’t try, you don’t know.”

So he did. While navigating Trattoria Moma’s three-month pandemic-caused closure, Istrefi oversaw a renovation of the salon. “We changed it a little, made it more modern,” he said. The interior is now brighter and punctuated with bunches of the sunflowers for which it is named. (Girasole is sunflower in Italian.)

The salon has a new staff and an updated concept. Istrefi explained, “We follow trends but also educate clientele about their hair, how to treat their hair, the best products to use. It’s not just to go and get their hair done; We want [clients] to know more about their hair, to keep it healthy.” With no prior experience in the industry, in addition to having a restaurant to run, Istrefi said he relies heavily on Girasole’s manager, Toni Burns.

Due to the pandemic, obtaining licensure for the salon meant enforcing additional safety standards. As with any business involving public contact, occupancy limits, sanitation procedures, interpersonal distancing and masking requirements were put in place to protect clients and staff. Istrefi said that the first few weeks at Girasole have gone well.

With two labor-intensive businesses to oversee, Istrefi doesn’t spend much time in Philmont (near Huntingdon Valley), where he lives with his wife and two sons. “I only sleep at home,” he admits.  “I’m here every day.” An early riser, he heads first to the restaurant and then checks in at the salon.

But it is the restaurant that takes the majority of his time and attention. Trattoria Moma, which serves traditional and modern Italian cuisine. Istrefi, who was born in Albania, mastered Italian cooking while living and working in Italy. As a teenager he started washing dishes in an Italian restaurant but quickly moved up through the ranks, all the while hoping to open his own restaurant. He came to the U.S. 15 years ago, settling in Philadelphia.

In 2012 Istrefi became a chef-partner at Il Polpo, a seafood-centric restaurant in Northeast Philadelphia, but it closed after two years, despite lots of four- and five-star reviews on yelp.com. “You can make the best food ever,” said Bledar, “but if you are in the wrong location, you don't have people to come and eat.” In the summer of 2014, Bledar opened Trattoria Moma in the building that had housed Umbria for more than 20 years.

When Trattoria Moma reopened this June after the pandemic-caused rules were somewhat relaxed, local clients were quick to return, both taking meals out and dining in. “The neighborhood has been very supportive,” Istrefi said. The restaurant is supplementing its indoor dining, now at 50 percent capacity, with outdoor seating in a sturdy tent with heaters.

Though Istrefi expressed concern about the immediate effects of cold weather and the pandemic on business, he is ultimately hopeful: “I enjoy the action. Waking up and knowing I have two businesses to take care of, that’s my adrenaline, my motivation … I love this.”

Winston Churchill could have been describing Bledar Istrefi when he said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every problem.”

For more information about Girasole: 215-621-7449 or girasolehairsalon.com. For Trattoria Moma: trattoriamoma.com or 267-437-3838. Local freelance writer Pamela J. Forsythe also writes for corporate, educational and non-profit clients.