 Unlike many of his peers, seasoned restaurant manager, Ralph Desiano,
chose to leave a larger corporation in order to make waves with small
southwest Florida chain, Mel’s Diner.
Bonita Springs, FL -- At first glance, Ralph Desiano and Mel’s Diner seem like exact opposites.
Mel’s Diner, a popular 10-unit chain based in southwest Florida, prides
itself on its mom-and-pop origins, its comfort-food-filled menu and its
family friendly service. Desiano’s resume, on the other hand, reads
like the biography of a career-minded executive: he’s owned his own
companies, for example, and has even been a vice president with large
corporations like Pizzeria Uno and the BRIAD Group.
Despite these differences, however, the two fit together well, though not always in the most obvious ways.
“I want this to be a model company, a standard by which others are
judged,” says Desiano. “Evolving a company from a mom-and-pop operation
into an organization ready-to-grow has been quite a challenge. The
failure rate of a new executive taking this type of position is 80
percent. It takes an enormous amount of energy, patience and
flexibility. You really have to approach it as an evolution and not a
revolution. But I have found that you can marry the best of the
corporate world with the best of a family type of operation. We still
have a ways to go, but I really believe we have something special.”
Since becoming the chief operating officer for Mel’s Diner in 2004,
Desiano has revamped the company’s structure and transitioned it from
being an unstable mom-and-pop operation to a sound corporate entity --
all while keeping the organization privately-owned. In addition,
he’s helped unify the company’s focus, both at store and corporate
levels, and has helped map out its future, including planning a major
expansion over the next ten years.
In turn, Mel’s Diner has allowed Desiano to utilize all the skills he’s
learned throughout his career and involve himself more personally in
the growth and shape of the company -- qualities Desiano doubts he
could have utilized if he’d stayed with a larger organization.
“I went smaller because I wasn’t able to utilize my entrepreneurial
streak. As an executive with one of the larger companies, it’s more
about ‘nuts and bolts’ operations with little creativity, says
Desiano. “Working at Mel’s allows me to utilize all of my skills
and challenges me in ways the larger companies never could.”
“The main advantage with Mel’s is that you get to put your stamp on the
company and help to shape it. You get to take the best of what you’ve
seen and learned in the industry and implement it. I have had the
good fortune of working with some of the most successful restaurant
executives out there and am now able to take the best of those
organizations and bring it all to Mel’s to help create a great
organization. The opportunity to take a great concept like Mel’s, tweak
it, and create a well cultured organization was too much to pass up.”
Born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Queens-Rosedale, Desiano
earned a B.B.A. in Management from Hofstra University and soon after
went to work for Fortunoff, a Long Island retailer. From there, he
owned and operated two beverage distribution companies in New York: New
Famous Beer Inc and Countywide Beverage.
Following those experiences, Desiano jumped into the restaurant
industry, first as a franchise operator for Pro*Portion, a popular
healthy eating quick casual in Merrick, Long Island. He helped bring
that store to prominence and soon after went to work as a Vice
President in Pro*Portion’s corporate office.
In 1994, he joined forces with Pizzeria Uno and quickly rose through
the ranks, becoming the district manager for 10 locations in the New
York and New Jersey areas and then the division VP of operations for
Pizzeria Uno’s corporate level operations. Desiano left Pizzeria
Uno to become the VP of operations at the BRIAD Group, the second
largest operator of TGI Friday’s in the country.
In 2004, Desiano decided to make a change, partly to meet family needs
and partly to seek a position that would allow him to make a greater
impact professionally. That opportunity arrived in June 2004, when he
became chief operating officer for Mel’s Diner.
“The current size of the company allows me to get to know all of our
employees and even many of our guests. I’ve really enjoyed the
personal connections and want to make sure that remains an important
part of our culture,” says Desiano. “I would be very happy to retire as
a successful executive here at Mel’s.”
For more information, please visit http://www.melsdiners.com.
###
Media Contact:
Quantified Marketing Group
407.936.1010
|
|
|
