 PIZZAMAKER OF THE MONTH February 1999 A Good Feeling at Goodfella's Partners parlay a New York-style
The three men opened their original restaurant at 1718 Hylan Boulevard, on Staten Island, in 1993, then opened a second Goodfella's restaurant on Third Avenue in Brooklyn in 1994. In May 1998, they earned approval to market and sell their concept, sold their first franchise last October and now anticipate signing four more agreements within the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. What, besides enthusiasm and hard work, has made Goodfella's so successful when so many privately owned businesses don't last, especially in an industry where there's almost, literally, a pizza restaurant on every corner? Two major facts contribute to their success: gourmet pizza and marketing. When asked where the word "gourmet" came from and what it means, Myers has this to say: "Maybe a better term would be authentic, but people respond better to gourmet. What we offer the consumer is a combination of both."
The Goodfella's menu features fresh homemade mozzarella, thin crusts, fresh plum tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of pecorino Romano grated cheese. All pizzas are baked the Old World way in a wood-burning brick oven. But there's more. Starting with the same basic foundation (thin crust, fresh mozzarella, plum tomatoes), Goodfella's also offers other choices for toppings -- such as sun-dried tomatoes, brick oven-roasted peppers, ricotta, provolone and fontina cheese, prosciutto and fresh vegetables, including mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, garlic and artichoke hearts. The sauces also vary. Instead of the plum tomato sauce, certain pizzas are slathered with a vodka crème sauce or a porcini mushroom sauce. The taste has caught on, even in tradition-bound New York. And that's where Goodfella's marketing has made a difference.
Scot and Marc Cosentino are brothers. Their sister Leslie married Myers. Whenever the couple visited the brothers, they always ended up in a pizza restaurant, where Scot would always suggest that they open their own place. However, none of them had ever worked in the restaurant business. Myers, who lived in Albany, New York, had a bachelor's degree in marketing and was active in the cosmetics and fashion world. Scot, the entrepreneur in the group, had owned several successful businesses, the most recent a thriving carpet cleaning company. Marc, an eight-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, had just been promoted to sergeant.
Borrowing a page from a management course they had taken, they surveyed several hundred people in the community trying to determine local interest in a gourmet pizza shop. They survey said, "Yes." The three partners located a 1,000-square-foot building (formerly an office space) and used a combination of personal and hired labor to turn it into a restaurant. They found a company to build a gigantic 18,000-pound, 8-foot by 8-foot wood-burning brick oven that would accommodate their large pies. (Pre-made brick ovens were too small for the larger pies.) They also built the oven extra high to provide a focal point for the restaurant and help create a warm, comfortable atmosphere. Oak wood floors added to the ambience. An Instant Hit Goodfella's opened for business in January 1993 with a very basic menu: one salad, two appetizers, large and small pizzas with various toppings, a list of specialized gourmet pizzas and one pasta dish (rigatoni in a vodka crème sauce). They had a successful first day and customers continued to come in every day after that. People in the neighborhood quickly came to know and appreciate Goodfella's as a place where anyone could feel comfortable, from businesspersons to singles on a date to families with young children. In May of that year, the partners decided to install air conditioning, something they hadn't done earlier for financial reasons. Leslie Myers, who had spent six months in a culinary school, worked as the restaurant's original chef. Goodfella's hired a "pizza man" to make the pies. Leslie, however, oversaw the entire kitchen area, in addition to the prep work and cooking at night, for the first three months. After that, she trained an assistant to take over her responsibilities. The partners emphasize quality ingredients in all of their dishes, including fresh tomatoes, "homemade" mozzarella cheese (fresh curd and hot water, no chemicals or preservatives, made to their specifications by a company in Brooklyn) and gourmet toppings. They also emphasize the proper preparation of each dish: correctly made dough, no burned sauces and toppings seasoned appropriately. They make their own dough fresh daily and assemble all pizzas in front of the customers. In November 1993, Goodfella's entered a pizza contest sponsored by Pizza and Pasta magazine. The contest attracted more than 5,000 recipes. The Goodfella's pizza was among the five finalists and its recipe for Pizza a la Vodka won first prize in the contest cook-off, held at the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. Coverage on the nightly news brought in more customers who wanted to taste the winner. Scot Cosentino originated this prize-winning recipe one evening while in the throes of a craving for a late-evening snack. He dipped a piece if Italian bread into some leftover vodka sauce, sprinkled it with pecorino Romano grated cheese, took a bite and pronounced, "This would make great pizza." After some experimentation, it did. In fact, it became Goodfella's signature -- made with vodka cream sauce, fresh mushrooms and prosciutto. For enhancement, they flambé the vodka.
In August 1994, they opened a second restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. This restaurant, which seats 100 and features free valet parking and a full-service bar, proved as successful and popular as the first. Also, in 1994, at a cook-off in Las Vegas, Pizza a la Vodka won the Pizza & Pasta contest for a second consecutive year. Goodfella's recently added a Brick Oven Sicilian Pizza to its menu, which is a relatively rare menu item because of the thickness of the dough and the very hot temperature required to bake the pie. The restaurant's menus now include salads, half a dozen pasta dishes, a large variety of appetizers (including fried calamari, a favorite with customers) and more than a dozen gourmet pizzas -- all made with homemade mozzarella and fresh toppings. Customers sometimes find it hard to choose from among such specialties as the Pizza a la Vodka, Pizza Bianca a la Clam, Mushroom Madness, Vegetarian Delight or the Stuffed Pizza (with ricotta and spinach on the edges and a center of marinated red cabbage topped with porcini mushroom sauce). Homemade desserts include, among others, Tiramisu and Hot Apple Pizza Pie a la Mode (fresh sliced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla cooked in the brick oven, then topped with French vanilla ice cream). At a Goodfella's restaurant, you might just happen to run into some famous people. It's a regular stop for Rudolph Giuliani, pizza Connoisseur and Mayor of the City of New York, who initially visited the restaurant while campaigning during a Columbus Day parade. He even wagered 10 large Goodfella’s pizzas in his traditional mayor-to-mayor bet with Cleveland Mayor Michael White during last year's pro baseball playoffs. New York Governor George Pataki also visited Goodfella's and remarked afterward, "I even had the best pizza in America." Regis Philbin and his producer visited the restaurant one day when they were in the area and loved it. As a result, they featured Goodfella's on the "Live With Regis and Kathy Lee" show twice in one week in June 1996. With this success came inquiries from people who wanted to go into partnership with the three "good fellows" to open more restaurants. At the time, the partners weren't sure they had the management skills to open other restaurants and decided to put further expansion on hold. Instead, they took management courses, studied the market and industry, and sought advice from people with more experience in the business. When they felt ready to expand, they decided to franchise Goodfella's. In May 1998, they received approval to market and sell the Goodfella's Old World Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta concept. They hired RSI (Restaurant Systems International Inc., an established name in franchising) to help them with administrative and management support. (In order to sell franchises in the United States, you need to have a Uniform Franchise Offering Circular approved by the various states where you plan to market or sell franchises). The partners' growth plan for franchising includes marketing in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with possible expansion to Boston, Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia. According to Myers, the reasons for this are:
The partners feel that the Boston to DC corridor can support 25 to 30 stores. They hope to achieve that goal within five years. They're planning expansion at a rate of two stores during the first year, four the second, six the third and nine for the fourth and fifth years. They say they are conscious of not growing too fast. In addition, the owners are also working to convert some existing, underperforming stores in good locations into Goodfella's. These units are expected to be a mixture of company-owned and franchised operations. Marketing Magic
Goodfella's partners' future plans also include offering online ordering and frozen pizza delivery anywhere in the world within 24 hours. Carol Hacker is an Alpharetta, Georgia based writer and Pizza Today contributor. |
Contrary to those who believe you shouldn't mix family and business, the three owners (E. Jay Myers, Scot Cosentino and Marc Cosentino) of Goodfella's Old World Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta have proven that a business-family combination can be satisfying and successful.
The Goodfella's Margherita resembles an authentic New York-style Italian pizza. There's also a strong movement toward the gourmet, or upscale, pizza.
Marketing Savvy
Despite all the reasons against it, in 1992 the trio decided to open a pizza restaurant. All three gave up their jobs to focus on the new business. The two other partners moved into Marc's Staten Island apartment to facilitate planning and as a cost-saving measure since they had no income. According to Myers, they ate linguini and clam sauce (the canned variety) nearly every night. Their personal savings and some help from the Cosentino family provided just barely enough to get started.
Quick Growth
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