By day, Kate Huff practices law. By night, Huff helps run Tuscany Ristorante Italiano at the corner of Longhill and Olde Towne roads, which celebrates its one-year anniversary on Thursday.
Huff co-owns the restaurant with Aldo Bertuglia. Bertuglia, who is Italian, has lived in Virginia for more than 20 years and has owned and operated various restaurants throughout Hampton Roads. In addition to Tuscany in Williamsburg, Bertuglia also currently owns a Tuscany Ristorante in Newport News as well as Walker’s Dam Grill in Lanexa.
Huff, a native of Russia, immigrated to America in 2008, settling in Williamsburg. Shortly after, she began working for Bertuglia at Tuscany in Newport News.
“I came to America looking for adventure,” she said. “I was trying to find myself. Aldo took me in and treated me like family. I really enjoyed working for him.”
Huff started out as a waitress at the restaurant, then rose through the ranks to become a manager. In 2013, however, she decided to switch gears. Huff, who attended law school in Russia, left the restaurant business to further her law studies at the College of William & Mary.
After passing the bar exam, she began practicing immigration law, using her own experiences to help her clients. Last year, Huff and her husband, Michael Huff, whom she met at Busch Gardens, opened their law firm, Huff Law, PLC. The firm, which has offices in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, focuses on criminal, traffic, and DUI cases in Virginia as well as U.S. immigration matters worldwide.
“For some of my clients, it’s their life and future at stake,” Huff said. “It’s challenging.”
That’s why she found it refreshing when Bertuglia, with whom she remained good friends, asked her if she wanted to join him on his latest restaurant venture, opening a second Tuscany Ristorante in Williamsburg.
“We’ve always had a good relationship and I had the time in my schedule, so I said ‘Let’s do it,’” Huff said.
As Tuscany Ristorante’s head chef, Bertuglia spends his time creating the restaurant’s signature Italian dishes and daily specials, like Fettuccine Asiago with vodka sauce and the seafood pasta dish Capellini Bucaniera. Meanwhile, Huff takes care of the customers and the other aspects of the business. Bertuglia’s wife, Dora, and other family members also work at the restaurant.
“Aldo is responsible for everything in the kitchen, and I do everything else,” Huff said. “We make a good team. It works because we have each other’s backs.”
Huff typically spends her mornings working with law clients then heads to the restaurant in the afternoons.
“Right now, everything is so new,” she said. “Our law firm opened in 2016, and we opened the restaurant last September. So far, everything has been great at Tuscany. We’ve received a lot of compliments from the locals who come here. We hope to continue to grow and become stronger and better if we can.”
The restaurant also offers catering services, providing meals for patrons as they celebrate baby showers, bridal showers, and other special occasions. Recently, Tuscany catered for a couple’s 60th wedding anniversary party.
“That was exciting,” Huff said. “I love doing events like that.”
Huff and her husband try to take time off as much as they can to spend quality time together and travel the world. Recent trips have included New York City and New Orleans in the United States, as well as Italy, Aruba, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic. Huff has also made return trips to Russia, and her family visits the U.S. often.
Whether it’s behind an office desk or behind the restaurant counter, Huff is enjoying her life at the moment.
“I really like doing both jobs,” she said. “It’s a nice balance.”
