LA TRATTORIA - Stanislaus Foods

Thoughts from Tom Cortopassi

Sharing Success:

Fundamentals for Business Success (and life in general…)!

I have a good friend, John, who owns and operates a great business. Over the years he has shared many interesting business concepts with me, but I especially like how he describes his fundamentals for business success: “Show up, return your calls, and do what you said you would do.”

Let’s unpack this powerful message:

Show up: Delegation is critical to leveraging business success. Unless you are a one-person operation, a successful leader must carve out “personal thinking time” away from day-to-day operations to find ways to improve the business, identify and solve strategic challenges, and hold your team accountable for top performance.

The way to make sure that delegated tasks and responsibilities get done without constantly looking over people’s shoulders is by measuring performance. After all, “What gets measured gets done.”

However, “tracking the numbers” by itself is not enough to ensure success. There are also many subtle clues to how a business is really performing which “the numbers” fail to reveal.

That is why being a successful leader also requires “being present” during day-to-day operations, not as “another player on the field” doing the work, but as the coach observing from the sidelines how everything is running.

For example, there is no substitute for seeing expressions
on your customers’ faces, observing how employees interact
with customers/each other, independently tasting and visually evaluating the flavor, freshness, and appearance of your ingredients/finished foods, judging the cleanliness of your facilities “through customer eyes,” and anything else that might possibly influence customer satisfaction.

In short, delegation will help free your time to be the leader. And as the leader, one of the most valuable uses of that time is being “present” in your day-to-day operations.

Return your calls: By this, my friend John means honor your relationships. If employees, customers, or suppliers believe something is important enough to bring to your attention, regardless of communication method, you owe it to them to hear them out and respond. Throughout my career, I’ve come to realize that nearly every business conversation can lead to opportunity – now or in the future.

For example, when a salesperson visits, you may not be looking for the solution that they are presenting. However, taking a moment to speak with them may reveal some

other type of valuable news, ideas, or information that you hadn’t anticipated.

Obviously, this doesn’t mean that it is
up to the owner to field “What are your
hours?” calls. It also doesn’t mean that
you must respond to communications
the moment you are contacted.
However, if someone who can influence your success has taken the time to contact you, it is just common courtesy to respond within a reasonable amount of time.

By the way, “returning your calls” can also be a valuable management tool in training desired employee behaviors. For example, when employees say, “Here’s the problem, what should
I do?”, the best response a leader can give is often “What do you propose?” If they haven’t already thought through a good solution, ask them to return when they do. In my experience, this encourages employees to learn to think for themselves, making them more valuable to the business and to themselves.

Do what you said you would do: Honoring your commitments will go a long way in establishing your business and personal brand. As my Uncle Dino was always fond of saying, “Always keep your word, even when it is painful. This will also cause you to be careful about what commitments you are willing to make.”

I would like you to think about your personal life for a moment and recall a situation in which something really important had to happen correctly and by a certain date. Who got it done for you? Now imagine if that person came through for you on multiple occasions. That person has established with you that she/he can be trusted, and trust is vitally important to a strong relationship.

In a world where “talk is cheap” and it is unfortunately common for many people to make promises lightly, being known as a person or business that comes through when needed will significantly increase the trust and loyalty of your customers.

My friend, John, has this concept completely figured out. “Show up, return your calls, and do what you said you would do” is a deceptively simple, yet powerful recipe for success!

Until next time,

Tom Cortopassi,
President and Co-Owner

SUCCESS STORY

Jasper’s RISTORANTE, Kansas City, MO

At Jasper’s Ristorante, four generations of the Mirabile (Mee-rah-bee-lay) family have satisfied Kansas City, MO, locals for nearly 70 years! Over that time, the restaurant has grown and expanded from a humble trattoria to a four-diamond ristorante complete with tuxedoed waiters.

As the ristorante grew upscale, the family added a delicatessen with its own entrance called Marco Polo Italian Market. There, regulars buy everything from Italian cheese to crunchy, ready-to-fill cannoli shells and steaming hot sausage, onion, and pepper sandwiches!

Key Idea – Chef-owner Jasper Mirabile says that Covid was a double-edged sword. Closing the dining room for a time was tough. Meanwhile, deli sales went through
the roof and have remained high thanks to the popularity of online ordering. Rather than a “% commission” model, their online orders remain profitable because they are processed through their POS for a flat $1.50 fee.

Key Idea – To help maximize baking consistency, especially across multiple locations, Andy’s team solely offers 18” pizzas sold by the slice or the pie. Sticking to a single size helps standardize bake times across different pie versions and simplifies ingredient portioning as well.

Thankfully, dining room traffic has since surpassed 2019 levels, and the family is again reserving favorite tables for weekly regulars.

Given tight labor and rising
wages, Jasper believes that table-
service restaurants face a tough
choice – either rethink their service model to reduce labor or boost the sales- productivity of servers to offset rising wages. His family has done BOTH.

In their deli, labor demand remains steady despite increasing traffic because a growing share of incoming takeout orders are placed electronically without requiring order-takers or cashiers.

On the ristorante side, Jasper’s servers use highly visible demo carts to boost profitable appetizer and dessert sales.

Key Idea –

Tableside Mozzarella – After watching a Neapolitan ristorante hand-making

fresh mozzarella to order, Jasper designed a “cheese making” cart for his dining room. Now a signature attraction, guests enjoy watching Jasper’s team pull mozzarella from curd while explaining the process

before savoring creamy fresh “insalata Caprese.” Visually intrigued, neighboring tables soon request their own demos. Despite their labor intensity, each $11 insalata requires just 4 ounces of curd, and the restaurant sells 180 weekly.

Key Idea –

Dessert Cart – With the return of indoor dining, Jasper’s dessert cart is more popular (and profitable) than ever. The showcase displays 14 desserts including tiramisu, specialty cakes, fresh strawberries, and so on. Besides visually tempting guests at the end of their meal, Jasper’s employees know that slow-walking the cart by everyone else pre-convinces others to“save room for dessert.” As a result, more than 65% of tables order dessert.

Key Idea –

Since Covid, food education “experiences” have grown increasingly popular. Recently, the restaurant hosted several popular Saturday prix fixe lunches highlighting different staple ingredients. For example, during his “It’s all about Parmigiano” luncheon, Chef Jasper shared the history of Parmigiano Regiano while demonstrating four authentic “alla Parmigiana” dishes!

KEY IDEAS

Thinking Outside of the Box

At age 18, Joe Tuzzio began running his family’s Long Branch, NJ, restaurant, Tuzzio’s Italian Cuisine for 50 straight years. Upon his well-deserved retirement at 68, Joe called La Trattoria to share some of his best business-building ideas with his fellow Independents.

Key Idea – Never wait for business to come to you. When Joe’s dad fell ill and young Joe originally stepped in to run the business, he was impatient to build sales. Joe discovered that offsite catering made profitable use of the kitchen outside of busy dinner hours by allowing most pre-prep to happen early in the day.

BUSINESS BUILDERS: IMPROVING OPERATIONS

Speed Scratch Cooking

Facing tight kitchen labor, Chef David Sammarco still insists on cooking his premium seafoods and meats to order.

Key Idea – But David “front loads” as much advance preparation as possible. He pre-portions individual servings of raw proteins, like his medley of fresh shrimp, scallops, and calamari together, in ziplock bags. He also parcooks and pre-portions pasta servings. Then by keeping these “speed scratch” components within easy reach during dinner, David can rapidly marry each dish’s pre-portioned protein and
sauce in a hot skillet and then toss-in pasta to warm it to perfect “al dente” firmness.

David Sammarco, Chef
The Heights Pub
Arlington, MA

La Vera Cucina:

Kay’s Linguine, Shrimp, and Greens

At Linguine’s Italian Restaurant, Vinny Desiderio has long satisfied Buffalo, NY, locals with highly flavorful Italian specialties. A personal favorite is his mother Kay’s Linguine, Shrimp, and Greens which contrasts fresh scampi with the tang of freshly chopped escarole. Vinny loves preparing this dish because its aroma reminds him of watching his mother Kay prepare his favorite after school snack!