When Pasquale Presa decided to open a pizza shop in downtown Rochester in 2016, his goal was to recreate a small slice of his youth. Nearly five years later, he is on the same path — just at a much larger scale.
Presa was born in a small town in southern Italy, the youngest of four brothers. In June 1981, when he was six years old, the family immigrated to the United States. They started out in New York City but quickly left for a quieter lifestyle upstate.
Chasing the American dream is hard work. Presa, like his brothers, started working to help support his family when he was about 11 years old, landing a job at Posa Posa, a restaurant and pizzeria in Rockland County, New York. He worked there through high school, falling in love with the hospitality industry and his high school sweetheart, Valerie, who would later become his wife.
“I owe my entire growth and experience and what I’ve learned to them,” Presa shared in an episode of Urban Evolution, a podcast about harnessing creativity and innovation to transform communities. “I just enjoyed always being behind the counter, talking to people, meeting people and getting to know people.”
Urban Evolution, which made its debut in December 2020, is produced by Destination Medical Center (DMC) Economic Development Agency, the public-private partnership behind a 20-year, $5.6 billion initiative to build on Mayo Clinic as an economic engine for the city of Rochester.
The beginning
While his parents returned to Italy, Presa remained in the United States. After studying at the Culinary Institute of America and a successful career as a corporate chef with Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Kahler Hospitality, the joy of the pizza shop stuck with him. Presa was living in Rochester and commuting to his job as the executive chef for Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells when his wife encouraged him to follow his dream.
His vision was to bring an authentic New York-style Italian pizzeria to Rochester. Three investors joined the project, contributing $525,000 to the $1.25 million start-up cost. Together with Presa, the team chose downtown Rochester just as the Destination Medical Center, the largest economic development initiative in Minnesota’s history, was getting underway.
Pasquale’s Neighborhood Pizzeria opened on Presa’s birthday, Nov. 18, in 2016.
“There’s nothing like it,” he said. “The experience of walking in, your senses of smell and taste, your senses of belonging. You get to feel like you’re either in Italy or in New York. That experience that we provide is what always made me happy in my heart.”
In early 2020, Presa bought out his partners. Business was strong, with Pasquale’s growing alongside the rest of the development surrounding the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.
A few weeks later, Pasquale’s dining room — like those throughout the restaurant industry — closed because of Covid-19.
When one door closes …
Like many restaurant owners, Presa quickly ramped up takeout and delivery orders in the early weeks of the pandemic, but he knew this wouldn’t be enough to sustain the business. So, when a local Hy-Vee approached him about offering frozen pizzas through the supermarket, he decided to give it a try.
“I never in my wildest dreams would have thought, ‘Let's make frozen pizzas," Presa said. "We had to learn different techniques, par-baking the crust and then freezing it, and then putting the sauce, cheese and ingredients on and then freezing it again and wrapping it."
Ultimately, Presa began working with a co-packer, which has allowed him to scale to serve more Hy-Vees. By August 2021, Pasquale’s had sold more than 100,000 frozen pizzas through 19 supermarket locations and signed a consultant agreement to provide Hy-Vee with Pasquale’s New York-style pizza concept, offering an authentic in-store experience.
“Hy-Vee and other companies are starting to realize that if we support local, then a lot more people will support us,” Presa said. “A lot more people will get to really fall in love with the why of what we’re doing.”
What’s next
Working with Hy-Vee has been a catalyst for growth.
“It opened up my whole horizon,” Presa said. “Then, I realized people love our marinara, and they love our pizza sauce. And I thought, ‘Why don’t I bottle this?’”
He reached out to Destination Medical Center and the business incubator Collider for support and advice. Community support is one of the best things about doing business in Rochester, Presa said.
“The community is small, and at times that’s the most important,” he said. “People can reach out and ask for help, and it’s not shameful to do that.”
In August, Pasquale’s pasta sauce hit Hy-Vee store shelves for the first time and sold out in less than two weeks. Next, he plans to introduce a line of dried pasta and cold-pressed olive oil imported from his family’s orchards in Italy. The first container is set to arrive in mid-October or early November.
“There will always be a need for quality food,” Presa said. “The pandemic has allowed a lot of people to stay home, and they still want quality, so they are trying to understand ingredients.”
Presa and the team at Pasquale’s are ready to help.
“We survived the toughest part of anyone’s business life,” he said. “We went through it. We understand, and we know how to handle that.” Now, anything seems possible.
With Mayo Clinic at its heart, DMC is the largest public-private economic initiative in Minnesota and a catalyst for growth in Rochester. DMC is designed to position Minnesota as a global center for the highest quality medical care and to generate high-value jobs, new tax revenue and businesses. Learn more.