‘mina
“It blew my mind. I found it empowering.” Giro Messeri still remembers what struck him most during his earliest days working in hospitality in the United States - the realization that genuine care, warmth, precision, and attention to detail could completely transform someone’s experience. At only twenty-eight years old, Giro has already spent nearly a decade learning every layer of the restaurant and hospitality world, steadily working his way upward while absorbing lessons from luxury hotels, restaurants, private clubs, wine programs, mentors, chefs, artists, and perhaps most importantly, friends along the way. The result is ‘mina, which opened in the spring of 2026.
‘mina immediately established itself as one of the most ambitious and thoughtfully executed additions to Salt Lake City’s growing fine dining scene - a restaurant where Giro’s devotion to people, beauty, and experience can be felt in everything from the service and atmosphere to the food, wine, artistry, and design.
Giro grew up in Taormina, Sicily, a tiny town of roughly ten thousand people perched above the sea on the island’s eastern coast near Mount Etna. Life revolved around family, friendship, sports, nature, and the Mediterranean. “Going to the beach was a huge part of my childhood. I have a deep love for the ocean, for the sea - especially the Mediterranean.”
As an only child, friendships became central to Giro’s world. He played soccer at a semi-professional level and built close relationships that still define his life today. Those friendships, many of them formed in childhood, remain deeply woven into who he is and would eventually help shape ‘mina itself. Even now, Giro makes time each month to reach out to people from different chapters of his life, simply to see how they are doing. “It fulfills me to know that they are doing well and that I can help if there is anything.”
“I’m a connector,” Giro says. “I like to bring people together with different backgrounds.” Though he was an only child, Giro grew up surrounded by the warmth of his mother’s large Neapolitan family - aunts, uncles, cousins, constant gatherings, and the kind of closeness that made life feel full. His mother brought humor, creativity, art, and eventually her expertise with fresh pasta, while his father, an engineer whose family background included diplomacy and public service, taught Giro manners, discipline, and how to move through the world with grace. Together, they gave him both grounding and freedom.
At sixteen, Giro came to the United States for an exchange year in Flagstaff, Arizona. He barely spoke English at the time, but the experience changed him. He was fascinated by the openness, diversity, and energy of the country. When he returned to Sicily to finish high school, he immediately wanted to work. A family friend owned a restaurant on the beach in Letojanni, and Giro washed dishes from four in the afternoon until four in the morning before biking and walking uphill to get home.
Soon after, at only eighteen years old, he and his family purchased the restaurant themselves. The experience became a crash course in operations, staffing, responsibility, and hospitality. It also taught him that restaurants require far more than passion alone. “It is a very nuanced job.”
Somewhere inside those long days and exhausting nights, however, Giro realized he had found something he genuinely loved - the ability to create experiences and connect with people. At nineteen, he packed the same suitcase he had used for Arizona and moved permanently to Utah after being hired by Montage Deer Valley. The experience left a lasting impression on him. Watching the way Montage tailored each guest’s stay and empowered staff to create meaningful moments completely changed his understanding of hospitality.
From there, Giro climbed steadily through the industry. He worked at Prime Steak House & Piano Bar while simultaneously working mornings at Montage, often moving directly from one shift into another. At Waldorf Astoria Park City, he learned the importance of consistency from an Austrian chef and food-and-beverage director who taught him that precision mattered because it reflected care.
Later, at Victory Ranch, Giro began developing the leadership philosophy that still guides him today. During the pandemic golf boom, he helped dramatically grow the club’s dining operations while building a remarkably young and energetic team. There, he discovered that personality, positivity, and work ethic mattered just as much as experience. “You have to serve your team. If you do not serve your team, you are not a manager.”
While working multiple jobs, Giro earned his associate degree in business from Salt Lake Community College, fitting classes and homework around nights, weekends, and long shifts. He later helped open the Ken Garff Stadium Club at Rice-Eccles Stadium where he expanded his knowledge of large-scale hospitality, membership programs, wine service, and operations. Eventually, he became director of food and beverage at Glenwild Golf Club. There, he deepened his expertise in wine, hospitality, and leadership.
Throughout it all, Giro never stopped learning. “I know to not know,” he says, explaining that the industry is constantly evolving. “I’ve got to surround myself with people better than I am to learn from.” That philosophy became the heart of ‘mina. When Adam Rosh, owner of the building that now houses the restaurant, approached Giro about creating something together in Salt Lake City, Giro initially resisted opening a restaurant. But eventually the vision became impossible to ignore. “If I could bring the soul of Taormina to Salt Lake, that would interest me.”
And that is exactly what he has done. The name ‘mina comes from Taormina itself, shortened with an apostrophe to make it feel approachable while still honoring home. Nearly every element of the restaurant reflects the people, places, friendships, and values that have shaped Giro’s life - from his Sicilian roots and lifelong relationships to his belief in warmth, beauty, and genuine human connection.
The stunning mural in the entryway depicting Taormina was painted by Rachel Bowditch, a close friend of Giro’s mother who spent decades living and working in Italy. “Every time I come in, I’m home,” Giro says. The restaurant’s branding and logo were created by Giro’s longtime friend Katia, who incorporated the Minotaur, the symbol of Taormina, into the identity of the restaurant.
Other artwork found throughout the space comes from Alessandro Florio, Giro’s childhood neighbor, who created richly detailed Sicilian leopard paintings. Another lifelong friend, celebrated Sicilian mixologist Daniele La Corte, came to Salt Lake to train the bar team and help shape the cocktail program. Every cocktail is named after places in Taormina - beautiful, playful drinks rooted deeply in Sicily.
The wine program reflects Giro’s years of study and growing passion for Sicily as well, a journey that ultimately led him to achieve his Level Three sommelier certification. His goal is ambitious: to create the largest collection of Sicilian wines in the United States, with special emphasis on the wines of Mount Etna.
Even the smallest design elements carry meaning. The silverware pattern is inspired by the geometric black-and-white stonework found in Taormina’s main square. Sicilian pigna - ceramic pinecones symbolizing warmth, prosperity, and good fortune - appear throughout the restaurant. Peach and teal tones echo the Sicilian coastline, while the seating was designed to create both intimacy and community.
The food carries that same level of care. Giro recruited Chef Leonardo Li Mura, originally from Catania, Sicily and raised in a farming family, helped shape a menu that blends Italian classics with an increasingly strong Sicilian soul. There are dishes such as lasagna and bolognese woven alongside arancini, swordfish pasta, tuna tartare, and pistachio-crusted filet, while the restaurant’s tableside freshly made mozzarella reflects Giro’s desire to create genuine moments of connection around the table.
Giro’s mother also played a pivotal role in shaping the restaurant from the beginning. Spending several months in Utah, she helped oversee and develop the fresh pasta program alongside Chef Leonardo, bringing another deeply personal layer of home into ‘mina. “There is nothing on the menu that we don’t make ourselves,” Giro says proudly.
That same commitment extends to pastry. Chef Francesco Biondo, known affectionately as Ciccio, grew up in Palermo, Sicily and began working in pastry shops at fourteen before eventually becoming pastry chef at the Waldorf Astoria. At ‘mina, he oversees a dessert program Giro describes as “to die for,” creating house-made gelato, granita, and pastries rooted deeply in Sicilian tradition. Guests can even complete their meal watching cannoli shells being filled to order, another small but memorable reflection of the restaurant’s devotion to craft and experience.
Yet for all the artistry, ambition, and technical precision behind ‘mina, what lingers most is something much simpler - warmth. In building the restaurant, nearly every person Giro reached out to said yes. Childhood friends crossed oceans to contribute artwork, cocktails, branding, and ideas. Mentors guided him. His parents continue supporting him wholeheartedly. And the remarkably young team surrounding him reflects the same spirit Giro has carried throughout his life - hardworking, collaborative, joyful, and eager to grow.
“We’ve got the team,” Giro remembers saying once everyone was finally assembled. “Now let’s get to work.” And in the end, perhaps that is what makes ‘mina feel so special. Beneath the beauty, craftsmanship, and ambition is something deeply human - a young man bringing the people, spirit, generosity, and soul of his hometown to Salt Lake City. “I love to have friends,” Giro says. “And there is something that, if people come to ‘mina, they will have one more friend they can always count on.”
