12 March 3, 2012 - ObserverXtra

17 | VENTURE
Venture
New busiNess / breslau
Topping things off in Breslau
A family-run business,
Pizzeria Napoli sees opportunity
in growing Breslau community
cOLIN DEwar
The prepared food industry
is booming as consumers
increasingly rely
on quick and easy meals to
accommodate their busy
schedules. Pizzas, one of
the most popular prepared
foods, can be tailored to fit
numerous tastes and has
become a staple for many
across the region.
For Nada Ristanovic,
pizza has been a part of her
family for the last 26 years.
Ristanovic owned and
operated a pizza parlour in
her home town of Gorazde
in Bosnia before she moved
with her family to Canada
in 1995. For the last seven
years she worked at a franchised
pizza joint until she
decided to take the risk and
open her own pizza palour,
Pizzeria Napoli.
Ristanovic based the
name of her restaurant on
the city of Naples, Italy,
“the birthplace of pizza”
she said.
Opening a pizza shop is
not difficult if you have a
good business plan, said
Ristanovic, who is using
her experiences to help her
establish Breslau’s only
family-owned pizzeria.
“We have had a great
response from the public
so far, and a lot of them are
telling me it is great that
Breslau has a place like
this for the residents,” said
Ristanovic standing at the
front counter of her restaurant.
“Breslau is growing
and I wanted to be a part
of that, offering good food
that I know how to make.”
The 800-square-foot
store located at the plaza
at 10 Dolman St. offers a
dining area for customers,
even though take-out pizza
by the slice or the pie is the
main choice for customers.
Ristanovic uses an old
family recipe for both the
dough – available in both
white or whole wheat – and
the sauce, saying she only
uses natural ingredients
with no additives or preservatives.
“It is important to me
that the food not only
tastes great but is
healthier for my customers
as well,” she
said. “For the business
to grow and continue
we are going to have to
offer the best food we can
with the best taste. That
comes from using quality
ingredients, and a good
sauce that people enjoy. It
also helps that we keep our
prices reasonable.”
Every day, Ristanovic
arrives early to start prep,
making the hand tossed
dough and adding the
special secret ingredients
to her sauce. Pizza is not
the only staple at her shop:
they make handmade
panzerottis, subs and ovenroasted
chicken wings.
She says the key to her
success will be the stone
ovens she uses in the restaurant.
“I make everything in the
oven, pizzas, panzerottis
and chicken wings. Everything
is cooked in there
and everything is fresh.
It may take a little longer
than the bigger pizza
joints, but I am making
sure everything is cooked
well. I will not have my pizzas
come out undercooked
and raw in the centre.”
Ristanovic has the timing
down perfectly, knowing
it only takes 10 minutes
to cook a pizza in the oven
and chicken wings take
around 15 minutes. As for
the wings, she prepares
them herself, buying raw
chicken wings and adding
the spices and batter and
does not fry them in oil but
bakes them serving them
mild, hot, BBQ or honey
garlic style.
Pizzeria Napoli is a
three-person operation
with Ristanovic’s husband
and their 16-year-old son,
Jovan, helping on the
weekends.
Currently the pizzeria
is take-out or dine-in, but
Ristanovic has plans to add
a delivery service once she
feels the venture is more
established.
“As with everything it
Nada Ristanovic prepares pizza dough using her family’s recipe at the recently opened Pizzeria Napoli in Breslau. [colin dewar / the observer]
is going to take time. I am
building this one step at a
time, making sure everyone
likes the products I am
making and then I will add
more to the restaurant,”
she said. “It is very exciting
to be a part of the community
and I am looking
forward to being here for a
long time serving pizza.”
The shop opens at 11 a.m.
every day and closes at 9
p.m. Sunday to Thursday
and 10 p.m. Friday and
Saturday. The busiest time
for the pizza parlour is between
4 p.m. until 8 p.m.
when Ristanovic says she
is basically run off her feet
filling orders.
“Pizza is a lot like a business:
while toppings may
get all the attention, it’s
the crust on the bottom
that holds it all together.
The stuff on the top may
add flavor and pizzazz, but
without the bottom stuff
the whole thing just falls
apart and no one wants
that.”
VENTUrE
PrOFILE
BUSINESS: Pizzeria Napoli
LOCATION: 10 Dolman Street,
Breslau
PHONE: 519-648-2333
OWNER: Nada Ristanovic
THE OBSERVER | SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012
Food food For for thought/
owen oweN roberts
Zero
production
limits food
choices
at markets
FIELD
NOTES
A fascinating debate
is percolating over food
choices and farmers’ markets.
In the wake of a dramatic
and well-publicized
remark recently by Canadian
grocery magnate
Galen Weston questioning
the food safety of farmers
markets, a new school of
thought is emerging now
that wonders also how
food is chosen for farmers’
markets.
This school questions
whether farmers’ markets
are inclusionary or exclusionary
– not whether the
food sold there is safe, but
rather, whether markets
broadly represent the
tastes and consumption
traits of a breadth of Canadians.
Some may wonder how
this can be. After all, farmers’
markets have always
been a sort of vox populi,
the voice of the people.
They mirror consumers’
zeal to know more about
their food. They’re a destination,
a place where consumers
go to make a social
and perhaps agricultural
statement. Farmers markets
reflect their patrons’
lifestyles. Consumers are
zealous in their patronage,
visiting these markets to
develop relationships with
vendors, to have some fun,
to connect with producers
and to get unique products.
But are the products
being offered to market
patrons “old school” –
apples, maple syrup, root
vegetables and the like – or
reflective of the new face of
Canada?
That’s a big question
says a University of Guelph
research team looking into
all facets of what’s called
roberts | 18