Diana’s Cucina

For more than twenty years, Chef Diana Cline has satisfied Winnipeg, MB, locals with flavorful specialty pizzas made with premium ingredients. But in the past twelve years, Diana has learned how to leverage international cooking competitions to multiply her hometown word of mouth and strengthen her customer connections!

For quality-oriented restaurateurs, finding memorable and credible ways to express your commitment to excellence can be challenging.

Saying “We use only the finest ingredients” may be accurate. But to consumers, it doesn’t ring true because they hear the exact same thing from so many competitors of all quality levels.

On the other hand, winning pizza competitions in Toronto, Las Vegas, and Salsomaggiore Terme helped Chef Diana Cline credibly differentiate her menu and restaurant back home in Manitoba, Canada. Such high profile recognition has given Diana a highly credible way to emphasize her dedication to quality (e.g., 5 Time International Canadian Pizza Award winner), which she tastefully leverages on her menu, website, and Facebook page.

Diana also enjoys writing, which has helped her build a personal connection with more than 2,000 customers through her regular online newsletter. There, she shares her passion for wholesome food and nutrition, involving her family in the business, and even her adopted “rescue” dogs. Because she writes mostly about subjects of mutual interest (not just the special of the week), her customers actually look forward to reading it.

Here is an example of how powerful these connections can be. When Diana set out to create a more palatable “cheese” for vegan pizzas, she announced a two-hour tasting event at her restaurant via Facebook. For 15 dollars, attendees could sample four new upscale vegan pizza versions. (Beverages were extra.) While Diana had hoped to attract a dozen attendees, five times that many purchased advanced tickets online and even more showed up!

Part of Diana’s popularity comes from her outgoing personality, which customers experience firsthand through her cooking classes for both adults and children. Step by step, she teaches them how to prepare various specialty foods, which they then eat with gusto!

In short, competing in international cooking events has helped Diana credibly emphasize her dedication to superior food in a way which truly resonates with her customers!