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as a retail bakery concept. Williams-Sonoma opened four locations in
California before selling the business to private investors in 1983. Initially unsuccessful, the chain was re-sold in 1986 to Larry Mindel, who had run local restaurant holding company Spectrum Foods and launched or bought a series
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promotion Two weeks out of every month the restaurants promote dishes from a rotating schedule of Italy's 20 food regions with a special insert. The 10,000 promotion members receive a "passport stamp" from that region if they order one of the items, and those who collect each stamp receive a gift.
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Each restaurant shares a core lunch and dinner menu created collectively by the company's chefs, plus signature dishes and specials at the discretion of each individual chef. Fresh pasta is made in-house daily and all sauces, soups and dressings are made from scratch. Many locations featured
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Overall, the company caters mostly to repeat guests at its 18 locations. Regular customers averaged 12.7 return visits per year (later reported to be 17), considered very high in the industry. The company is known for its long-running "Festa
Regionale"
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As an unintended benefit, the promotion became a vehicle for recruiting cooks and chefs, after tourism offices in Italy noticed the promotion and established relationships with the company.
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wood-fired rotisseries and grills. The restaurants also offer gluten-free menus and an array of vegetarian and vegan offerings. Housemade desserts complete many meals
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Under the direction of
Executive Chef Maurizio Mazzon, a native of Venice, the company launched a second concept, Canaletto Ristorante Veneto, at the
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The new owners opened a total of 11 restaurant-bakeries in
California in late 1980s and 1990s. The first restaurant location and headquarters are in
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stock exchange. By 2000 the company had $ 124 million annual revenues. The company was eventually taken private again in a
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of successful restaurants: Chianti in Los
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The Il
Fornaio brand was established in 1972 as a baking school in
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401:"Industry veteran Mindel adds Italian concept Poggio to resume"
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in Las Vegas in 1999, with a second location in 2008 in
382:"Il Fornaio's Mindel looks to Sausalito for his dream"
415:"Fashion Island to open exclusive Italian restaurant"
87:Larry Mindel (founded restaurant concept in 1986)
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218:(16 locations of its 20) in the United States.
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308:however the Newport location closed in 2022.
16:Italian restaurant chain in the United States
521:Privately held companies based in California
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467:"Il Fornaio Promotes a Passport to Italy"
428:https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/celts
511:Italian restaurants in the United States
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242:in 1975, and was licensed in 1981 to
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526:Private equity portfolio companies
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506:Companies based in San Francisco
465:Margaret Littman (2008-07-01).
238:. It opened a retail bakery in
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380:GraceAnn Walden (2002-12-04).
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439:Janet Fletcher (2003-01-29).
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362:. Il Fornaio. Archived from
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59:; 52 years ago
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417:. Daily Pilot. 2007-11-09.
403:. Nations Restaurant News.
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260:Corte Madera, California
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445:San Francisco Chronicle
386:San Francisco Chronicle
206:of twenty (as of 2019)
516:Bakeries of California
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279:became publicly traded
249:California-style pizza
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244:Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
277:In 1997 the company
441:"Masterful Gnocchi"
115:Number of locations
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177:120 million (2000)
139:Michael Beatrice (
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304:shopping mall in
264:Las Vegas, Nevada
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97:Corte Madera
92:Headquarters
34:Company type
360:"Our Story"
312:Description
212:fine dining
162:Fine dining
125:Area served
48:Restaurants
500:Categories
341:References
228:Barlassina
216:California
200:Il Fornaio
189:.ilfornaio
165:restaurant
135:Key people
101:California
70:Barlassina
20:Il Fornaio
291:Sausalito
232:Lombardia
74:Lombardia
298:Venetian
272:Virginia
268:Colorado
210:-themed
158:Services
148:Products
44:Industry
281:on the
253:Tiburon
222:History
208:Italian
182:Website
171:Revenue
84:Founder
62: (
54:Founded
38:Private
283:NASDAQ
240:Milan
236:Italy
204:chain
202:is a
78:Italy
191:.com
175:US$
64:1972
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187:www
141:CEO
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
