Page 95 - 914INC - Q2 - 2013
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MONEY TALK
Q2 2013
94
Making Dough
Port Chester restaurateur Marc Tessitore brings passion and profitability to nessa, his highly successful downtown enoteca. Now, he’s putting the same formula to work as he looks to grow an empire.
OOn Tuesday nights at Port Chester hotspot nessa, customers can feast on a half-order of handmade cavatelli with imported sausage and sage for a mere $5. Pair the pasta with the Nessa Salad (arugula, vine-ripened tomato, fennel, shaved Parmesan, lemon dressing) and a quartino of Barolo, and you’ve got a killer weeknight meal that doesn’t break the bank. This formula of simple yet high-quality food at reasonable prices has been the recipe for nessa’s success—both culinary and financial—since it opened in 2006.
The 86-seat restaurant, which serves some 35,000 guests each year, has been voted Best of Westchester (Wine List and Dessert: Nutella Panini), and is a perennial favorite among visitors to the now-booming Port Chester food scene. Skipping sky-high prices and trendy food may be anathema to some restaura- teurs, but it makes perfect sense to nessa owner Marc Tessitore—especially in today’s economic climate.
“People don’t want to see a $45 steak on the menu right now,” says the lively 41-year-old Bronx native.
Tessitore doesn’t want such pricey dishes on his menu anyway—he prefers to feature less expensive items, execute them perfectly, and mark them up enough to make a profit, but not so much that custom- ers are turned off. “If swordfish is hailing at $14 a pound and you can only make a two-time mark-up on it, why buy it? Instead, buy monkfish at $6 a pound, earn a three-time mark-up, and do a great puttanesca,” he explains. “There is no less integrity in doing that if you are making the best monkfish anyone has ever had.”
It’s an approach that pleases diners’ stomachs— and their wallets. And it’s brought return on invest- ment for Tessitore, who carried nessa to profitability in its first year of operation, just as he did with his previous restaurant, Edo Japanese Steakhouse in Port Chester.
