"Brighton pizza makers plan expansion"

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=125 BGCOLOR="#663399" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04a467d1erkjbi.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Great Northern Pizza Kitchen</B></FONT><B>     </B><B>|     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Great Northern Pizza Kitchen"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Twelve Corners area attract new business"><U>"Twelve Corners area attract new businesses"</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Living Here 2000"><U>Living Here 2000</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Desino twins accomplish dream, open rest"><U>"Desino twins accomplish dream, open restaurant" </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Olympic skier to serve as Hillside spoke"><U>"Olympic skier to serve as Hillside spokesperson"</U></A>   |   <B>"Brighton pizza makers plan expansion"</B>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Its Now Great Northern Pizza Kitchen"><U>"It's Now Great Northern Pizza Kitchen"</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rocky Mountain Pizza to collect gifts fo"><U>"Rocky Mountain Pizza to collect gifts for Hillside Special Santas"</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04b21233.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="05796a60.gif" border=0 width="150" height="166" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=355 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04b21233.jpg"> <div> "Brighton pizza makers plan expansion"</div> <div> Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - <No longer online></div> <div> Gourmet pies to slice into three more towns</div> <div> By David Tyler </div> <div> <I>Democrat and Chronicle</I> </div> <div> (02/12/2001) -- Exotic topping combinations have stretched the definition of pizza, creating a class of "gourmet" pies. Now a Brighton parlor plans to stretch its gourmet formula to multiple locations. </div> <bR> <div> Chris and Rob Desino, 28-year-old twins, are changing the name of their 12 Corners Plaza restaurant from Rocky Mountain Pizza Kitchen to Great Northern Pizza Kitchen. And they plan to open three more stores -- in Greece, Victor and Henrietta -- by year's end. </div> <bR> <div> The Desinos say the time is right to expand, but they plan to proceed with caution. </div> <bR> <div> "I'd rather have one store run extremely well than 10 stores run poorly," Chris says. "We won't open that third store unless the second one is running well." </div> <bR> <div> "We're not going to go into just any plaza or strip mall," Rob says. "We believe the best advertising is a great location." </div> <bR> <div> It's the quirky pizzas, though, that have been hooking customers. Combos such as"The Goat," with goat's cheese, the Potato Skin Pie or the Buffalo Wing Bleu Cheese Pizza stretch both the palate and the imagination. Soups and salads also are on the menu. </div> <bR> <div> The Desinos say they love cooking and experimenting with different recipes. Working for several friends in the restaurant business got the McQuaid High School graduates dreaming of a place of their own. </div> <bR> <div> The twins were Olympic-caliber rowers following their days at Hobart College, and trained in Philadelphia while holding down desk jobs. In 1998, they decided to come home to Rochester and give the restaurant business a shot. </div> <div> But first they took off on a four-month, cross-country research trip, stopping in dozens of restaurants to study menus, management and design. They took notes, brought their accumulated knowledge back to Brighton and started cooking. </div> <bR> <div> Has any combination not worked? A Thai pizza didn't do as well as hoped, and the Lobster Ravioli pizza, while drawing raves, turned out to be too expensive per slice. </div> <bR> <div> That decision reflects the twins' commitment to happy customers, Chris says. </div> <bR> <div> "If given the choice between us making less profit and having a town full of satisfied customers, we'll take the latter," he says. </div> <bR> <div> The new name is a concession to expansion plans. Lawyers told the Desinos that Rocky Mountain, a name that reflects the twins' love of the region, could be a hard name to trademark. "Great Northern" won over four other entries in a contest offered to customers. Look for new signs and menus soon. </div> <bR> <div> "I'm sure I'll still be calling it Rocky Mountain for months," Rob says.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="09ab4900.jpg" border=0 width="180" height="144" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> AIMEE K. WILES </div> <div> <I>Rob Desino is ready to go with this half-and-half gourmet pizza -- "The Goat" and "Sauteed Spinach." The Brighton pizza chefs once tried "Lobster Ravioli," but the price they had to charge per slice was too high.</I></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>