Pastucci’s explores pasta as next frontier of grab-and-go
Outlet founded by brothers launched in November 2017, offers build-your-own meals
Word on the street has it that pasta is the next thing in fast casual dining.
Indeed, grab-and-go pasta joints are showing up all over the city. Consider Pastucci’s on the Queensway at Royal York Rd. as part of this emerging trend.
The difference: this is launching as a franchise prototype, with considerable planning and strategy behind it.
“I have enough business experience to know if you set it up right, you avoid problems later,” says Leon Tucciarone, 53, who founded this place with his brother Pat, 45.
The idea for the concept actually dates back many years — to a time when Leon saw pasta as one of the few non-franchised quick-service restaurant concepts out there.
Numerous business plan drafts and many hours with lawyers, accountants and designers later, the outlet launched last November.
Since then, the goal has been setting up a reliable, customer-friendly system. “We want our customer base to give us feedback,” Leon says.
They’ve been telling the brothers which of the 25-or-so fresh pastas on hand at any given time — including some gluten-free and vegan choices — they prefer. The idea here is you build your own to-go meal, starting with the pasta shape. A small, one-person serving size starts at $6.49 for a short cut pasta such as penne and up to $11.49 for the likes of beef brisket ravioli (servings also come in medium and large, the latter of which starts at $12.49).
Already, customers are doing mashups — combining two or more shapes of the same price point. “We have people getting really creative,” Leon says.
Then, you get the sauce of your choice. (Again, mashing up to make a red sauce creamy or with pesto is commonplace among regulars.) Finish it off with cheese and your choice from a tray of toppings such as bacon bits, fresh basil or hot peppers.
Customer feedback has already led Pastucci’s to expand its retail section, offering more dinner-size pastas and sauces. And since customers prefer frozen lasagnas ($25.99 for a 2.27-kilogram vegetarian version) and the likes of fettuccine and tortellini ($4.99-$9.49 for 350-gram packs), the brothers are ramping up their freezer space.
If you see a bit of Subway-style meal building here, that’s because Leon was one of the early franchisees for that brand. That was in 1989, when people confused the sandwich restaurant with actual public transit. Little brother Pat worked as a manager in his stores.
Leon went on to work in banking and became a mortgage broker. Around 2009, which he recalls as a “tough time to be in that industry,” his thoughts returned to the food industry, and he noticed that no one was doing fast-food pasta.
He did a little research and drafted a business plan, but knew the time wasn’t right, plus there were no models or the right tech for selling pasta this way.
He kept talking about his idea, however, and Pat always listened. He was running his own construction company in 2014 when he “got sick of him talking about this idea” and agreed to join brother Leon on the pasta concept.
By then, pasta QSR models were doing well in Europe. “There are a lot of borrowed ideas here,” admits Leon. They discovered a pasta cooking machine that can do six individual portions at a time and keeps the water temperature regulated and the pasta starch at bay. (Some pasta outlets will parboil and then just get pasta up to temperature before serving. These guys didn’t want to go that way and can get a serving ready in as little as 3.5 minutes with this machine that Pat says “costs more than my car.”)
The duo imported this and other state-of-the-art equipment and put a lot of thought into legalities, seeking top quality suppliers and creating clear brand image.
As for the name, while many they liked were taken, this mash-up of their own name and pasta seemed a good fit.
They opened in Etobicoke because they’ve lived there all their lives and know the area offers a diverse mix of discerning customers.
The brothers plan to run their prototype shop until about the end of the year before opening any franchises. They’ve got interest already, mainly in the 905, but think their great flavours and fresh ingredients could sell downtown, uptown or in any town. “This is a concept that can go anywhere,” Leon says.