Pizza Today - June 2017 - 54

OWNERS ANNE AND KEVIN PLAUT

"When people are thinking
about pizza in the area, we want
to be the place they go to."
Harry's Bishops Corner
Co-Owner Kevin Plaut
significantly in recent years. "We work with
a third-party delivery company for smaller
deliveries to individuals and residents," Kevin
says.
 
"We also have one oven that we

dedicate to gluten-free pizzas," Kevin

they bottle three award-winning signature salad dressings
that are popular with guests. After all, if you're going to
offer something signature, why not make it available to your
guests? Those bottles then sit in customers' refrigerators as a
constant reminder of something the restaurant does and does
well. Produce is delivered three times a week.
"In the summer, we have a tomato basil pizza that we
use native tomatoes on and fresh basil," Anne says. "It's
become so popular that customers start asking for it in June
even though the tomatoes typically aren't ripe and ready until
the end of July."
They source the tomatoes from a farm right around the
corner, get meats from a local processor in Hartford and "we
make it known that we use local items," Anne says.
"It's a great way to cross promote our businesses," Kevin
adds. "For a little place with less than 2,000 square feet, we
really do a lot of pizza. The wait on the phones can be up to
an hour-and-a-half to pick up a pizza. Even the wait to sit
down can be an hour."
Delivery is available for catering only, which has picked up
5 4 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J U N E 2 0 1 7

adds. In fact, gluten-free has become such a
big business for the Plauts that they opened
their own gluten-free business, Still Riding
Foods, which offers gluten-free menu items
like pasta, nine-inch and 12-inch doughs
and breadcrumbs for consumers and other
restaurants all over the country. "We have a
dedicated gluten-free facility in Bloomfield
(Connecticut), and all we do is make pizza
crusts and ship it out," Anne says.
"At this restaurant, we go through about
150 gluten-free pizza crusts a week," Kevin
adds. "There's just a huge demand for it."
Beyond gluten-free crusts, the Plauts also
menued dairy-free cheese after realizing some customers had
other dietary concerns as well.
 
As the economy has improved so, too, has

competition. Realizing that adding a bottle of wine to the
bill is often a treat for the majority of diners, the Plauts wanted
to make it an affordable option for every diner.
"We have a very progressive wine program here," Kevin says.
Adds Anne: "We offer very competitive pricing for our
wines. We don't go as high as most restaurants do. Most
people don't want to pay more for their wine than they do for
their pizza, so it has worked for us. We sell quite a bit."
Bottles of wine start at $12 "and the top of the line
is around $24," Kevin says. "That same $24 bottle you'll
probably find in the ($40 range) anywhere else. If you come
in, you'll see two-thirds of the tables with wine. People have
been very clear as to how excited they are to come and have a
bottle of wine and not feel like their pockets are empty when
they left. What it does is it really creates frequency for our
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