Issue link: http://southshoremagazine.uberflip.com/i/1531399
22 Leo Keka dreamed of creating bold new restaurants even as a newly arrived immigrant washing dishes at Anthony's Pier 4 in 1991. He is now unveiling a bold dream for South Shore fine dining, with a sprawling new project, Leo's Events & Restaurant, opening in Braintree in early 2025. It will be the fourth eatery in his portfolio, following Alba Restaurant in Quincy, Alba on 53 in Hanover and Scutari, also in Hanover, which opened in the summer of 2024. Keka's vision was tested and proven by overcoming long odds and tough times, first fleeing Albania when it was still under Communist rule. He is best known today as the owner of Alba, the venerable fine- dining landmark in Quincy Center. He opened the steakhouse in the weeks after 9/11, when national tragedy left few Americans in the mood for fine dining. Alba survived and thrived, carried by Keka's legendary hospitality and personality, and a staff dutifully devoted to first-rate service. "Almost everybody who walks through the door says, 'I'm a friend of Leo's,'" noted long-time guest Frank Capobianco, while enjoying Duxbury oysters and Italian white wine at the Alba bar one recent night. Keka introduced Alba on 53 in Hanover in the summer of 2020, while COVID restrictions devastated the industry. Diners were inspired by Keka's ambitious faith in the future during otherwise dark days. Alba on 53 has proven to be one of the nation's most successful openings of the COVID era. "I always have ideas and always had visions of other concepts, related to our Mediterranean inspirations, but from a different approach," explains Keka about his ability to plan for the future. He opened Alba Quincy just 10 years after arriving in the U.S., not yet even able to speak English. Its tried-and-true steakhouse menu celebrates carnivorous classics with its ever-popular boneless ribeye or decadent double-thick pork chop, among others. Alba offers fresh tastes of local waters, too, including its resplendent and spicy seafood fra diavolo. Keka personally curates Alba's world-class, and famously affordable, wine list. Written by Camden Blackmur, photography by Faith Ninivaggi