Sara Frasca is an innovation Keynote Speaker, business consultant, and the COO at Point Northeast. She’s also the owner of Trasca & Co Eatery, an Italian-inspired neighborhood eatery in Ponte Vedra, Florida, with a one-of-a-kind vintage atmosphere and signature panini made by the secret Frasca family recipe.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:
- Sara Frasca shares her interest in the restaurant industry sparked by her family’s legacy
- The importance of creating and tracking a shared vision within a team
- Sara discusses the integration of standardized operations between businesses
- How to foster innovation and creativity in the restaurant industry
In this episode…
In this episode of the SpotOn Series, Chad Franzen is joined by Sara Frasca, keynote speaker and Owner of Trasca & Co Eatery. They discuss the business opportunities within the restaurant industry, establishing trackable team goals, and staying true to brand values. Sara also shares how she is maintaining the right vision to further her family’s legacy while promoting innovation through creativity and business operations.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Episode Transcript
Intro 0:04
Welcome to the Top Business Leaders Show, powered by Rise 25 Media. We featured top founders, executives and business leaders from all over the world.
Chad Franzen 0:20
Chad Franzen here co-host for this show where we feature top restaurant tours, investors and business leaders. This is part of our SpotOn Series. Spot on has the best-in-class payment platform for retail and they have a flagship solution called SpotOn Restaurant, where they combined marketing software and payments all in one. They’ve served everyone from larger chains like Dairy Queen and subway to small mom-and-pop restaurants. To learn more, go to spoton.com This episode is brought to you by Rhys 25. We help b2b businesses to get ROI clients referrals and strategic partnerships through done for you podcast. If you have a b2b business and want to build great relationships with clients, referral partners and thought leaders in your space. There’s no better way to do it than through podcasts and content marketing. To learn more, go to rise25.com or email us at support@rise.25media.com Sara Frasca is an innovation and business growth expert who serves as COO for Point Northeast and innovation keynote speaker and founder and owner of Trasca & Co Eatery a one of a kind, locally-owned vintage inspired neighborhood eatery in Ponte Vedra, Florida, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Sara was named the 2017 female entrepreneur of the year in Jacksonville, Florida. She helps organizations cultivate human imagination, build a culture of accountability, and solve complex problems to drive business growth. Sara, thanks so much for joining me today. How are you?
Sara Frasca 1:38
Thank you for having me. I’m great.
Chad Franzen 1:40
Hey, so tell me a little bit more about Trasca & Co Eatery. And what a customer can expect when going there.
Sara Frasca 1:45
Yeah, thank you. Well, it is a labor of love. Let me start with that. My grandmother invented our sandwich back in 1974. So my family has been serving them for almost 50 years. And that was the basis of what I wanted to create here in Ponte Vedra Beach. When I moved here about 11 years ago from Minneapolis, I noticed that the area was void of what I considered essential for small families for business professionals and that was artists in quality food, you know, really around the corner, but in an unpretentious space, a space where you could come as you were you could bring your toddlers that cetera. And there’s plenty of wonderful restaurants in the area. Don’t get me wrong, but you know, I didn’t feel comfortable bringing my little kid. So we are a vintage East Coast eatery as you described, serving food that is made everything is from scratch or dressings or sauces or soups, et cetera, most notably our dough actually. And that creation, the panino is, has been delighting people for almost 50 years. So we wanted to bring it here to Ponte Vedra Beach. Yeah, I saw that on your menu. What? So tell me what a panino is, if you could describe what Yeah, it’s very unique. I think that’s kind of the fun thing. You know, panino means little bread or little sandwich in Italian, and panino is singular Panini is typically plural. For whatever reason, the United States has deemed that kind of like a grill pressed sandwich, and that’s what we call it, but ours is different. Ours is made with a homemade dough. It’s rolled very thinly, almost the size of a piece of paper. All of the ingredients are baked on top, the meats, cheeses, vegetable sauces, whatever it goes on top of the variety you choose. Then it goes through our oven, the conveyor belt oven, when it comes out, it’s topped with the fresh ingredients, whether it’s fresh tomatoes, ranch dressing, fresh avocado, etc. And then it’s rolled up, cut in half, so that you eat it like a sandwich even though it’s more of a roll up with everything inside. So very unique. Yep,
Chad Franzen 3:56
Sounds good. I’m hungry. It’s 930 where I am. Hey, so So you said you move back there from Minnesota? What what kind of things were you doing in Minnesota and you know, you’re also doing some other things. Now tell me a little bit about those two things.
Sara Frasca 4:10
Yeah, thank you. I really do think that they all came together. For me. I worked at General Mills right out of undergrad. So General Mills is a fantastic spot to really build business acumen I was on several different brand teams there several different teams and really have the good fortune of being part of a wonderful company thriving with, you know, great businesses, great people. The folks are so smart, and I learned a ton. And when I moved down here to Ponte Vedra Beach actually from my ex husband’s job, I was still with General Mills and that’s when I felt like you know this area needed a little something and it needed the panino so I left General Mills open to the restaurant, and the rest is history there.
Chad Franzen 4:57
So tell me about your your kind of roots in the in the restaurant and industry, you know, a lot of people wouldn’t just want to open a restaurant, you know, out of the blue.
Sara Frasca 5:04
Yeah, no, it’s a good question. Chad, I would say, you know, I’ve always had, you know, an interest to carry on my family’s legacy. And honestly, you know, I called it a labor of love. It’s a very difficult industry, which all the listeners, all those that have delved into it, whether you’re a server, a bartender, or an owner, you know how difficult this industry is. And, unfortunately, I think there’s so many folks who go into it, you know, loving food, being passionate about, you know, serving people, and all of those are really wonderful. But to go into it without the business acumen, I feel like sometimes, you know, that can leave folks or lead them astray. Not that I, you know, pretend to have all of the answers. But, again, that background at General Mills was able to allow me to know, you know, more of the business components than anything. And then, you know, I just had good luck to be born into the Frasca family where we had this wonderful sandwich. And so the combination of that, I think, you know, I run my restaurant, like a business, I don’t run it like a restaurant, I have a leadership team, we actually operate on a business system that I coach folks with on my consulting firm. So, you know, I’m very, again, very driven to make sure that we do things differently, and that we succeed, I think I owe it to my staff, I owe it to my family to make sure that the, you know, is something sustainable.
Chad Franzen 6:32
Can you kind of expand on that when you say you don’t run it, like a restaurant, you’re running like a business? What are some ways in which that that manifests itself?
[continue to page 2]
Sara Frasca 6:41
Of course, yeah, you know, at the very core of it, I would say, is the ability to align our team, everyone moving in the same direction. And if everybody’s paddles are in the Orient, their oars are in the water going in the same direction, we can do anything. And the fact that my team has bought into the system, I have a general manager who is just amazing. So committed to the cause of serving people, etc. And it’s a waterfall, right? I mean, it goes from me, to him to our entire team, and we are all moving in the same direction. So there’s alignment on our vision, there’s alignment on our goals, we’ve set a long term, we’ve set a mid-term vision, we’ve set a one year vision, and then we actually have quarterly meetings to actually break out what we need to accomplish in order to ladder up to that one year, three year five year goal. So that’s the first part alignment is the first. The second is accountability. So we all have, you know, tasks that we are in charge of, and we hold ourselves accountable through a software system, every meeting that we have, whether it’s a weekly meeting or a quarterly meeting, we are actually holding each other, you know, responsible for the things that we said that we would accomplish. And each of us takes a different task. I do a lot of the financial components. You know, my general manager does a lot of the HR components. We’ve broken up the sales and marketing components. And so each of us has kind of our lane that we’re responsible for. We’re driven to accomplish the different goals and we again, have metrics on the board. We’re holding ourselves accountable based on data.
Chad Franzen 8:20
What year did you start Tresca unco?
Sara Frasca 8:22
Yeah, so I officially opened my doors in 2015. Although it took me about 12 years to think through everything to save up enough money. I don’t come from a wealthy background, I you know, don’t have a lot of coins in the coffers. So I am in a lot of senses, just like all of the startup folks around the country where I saved for 12 years in order to make it happen.
Chad Franzen 8:47
So was the in 2015 was the pineal alive and well or did you revive it?
Sara Frasca 8:52
No way It was alive. And well, actually, the original restaurant that is the one that my grandparents started to still open in Colorado Springs in downtown Colorado Springs. And it has been open since 1974. There are a couple others in Colorado Springs, and one in Fort Collins, Colorado. And then for a bit my parents ran a restaurant in Minnesota. So it’s kind of traversed in different areas. But it was alive and well. To answer your question panino has been going strong.
Chad Franzen 9:23
So dinos in Fort I live in Fort Collins up in the potatoes.
Sara Frasca 9:28
Yeah, isn’t that funny? In Fort Collins is owned by my cousin Marie Frasca and her husband, John back. So the back family that yeah, and they are carrying on our family’s legacy as well
Chad Franzen 9:42
Wow. Very nice. Good to know. So, so when you opened Trasca and what were kind of the early days like for you?
Sara Frasca 9:49
Well, yeah, good question. I had, you know, bloodshot eyes and, you know, chapped hands from washing dishes just like every restaurant tour. Um, in our, in our infancy, I opened the restaurant every day, I ran both the lunch and dinner shift, I closed the restaurant. And at the end of the day, I went home weary but happy, you know, fulfilled in my enterprise. And I did that for three years. So, you know, I think it’s a very typical, you know, situation where I was doing the payroll, I was doing the marketing, I was doing the dishes, I was doing the hiring, firing, greeting our guests, et cetera, and eventually was able to kind of back out of some of those roles, hire a general manager, and then restart my career career, while continuing to, you know, have, I would say, weekly oversight of the restaurant as well as the capacity to finally think forward to finally see, how can we grow this? How can I partner with my cousins? How can we actually make this something special?
Chad Franzen 10:55
What are you most proud of? Are there some milestones you’re particularly proud of? With Trasca & Co?
Sara Frasca 11:00
Yeah, well, I’ll start with one that’s personal, I would say, you know, this is this is pretty sad in its story, but I lost my mom to brain cancer, actually. So my mom was 52, she was just a lovely, lovely lady. And, you know, this is her family’s legacy. So when I was divorced, I took her maiden name, which is the Frasca name, and really try to carry on her legacy, her spirit of serving, and you know, I have a servant leadership mentality, the way that I serve my team. And I also really wanted to serve kind of this Frasca legacy. So anyway, that is the thing that I am probably the most proud of. The second thing is that I’m really proud that my kids have been able to grow up with the hard work, the dedication, the persistence, the grit, all of those things. I mean, they have seen me toil, they have seen me, I and they have stood beside me sometimes literally, with brooms in hand. And, you know, I think that, in this is just my opinion, I think that too many times, we don’t recognize how important it is for our kids to see what those what those days of hard work and you know, strength can, how they can build character, how they can, you know, create that type of environment where people know how to work. So I’m proud of that I think my kids grew up, or are growing up all five of them with a work ethic, knowing what it’s like to be in small kind of startup world.
Chad Franzen 12:46
Sure, sure. So you’re also a COO at Point Northeast, do you develop kind of standardized operations for Trasca & Co?
Sara Frasca 12:55
Yeah, we do. So Trasca has been operating with our Point Northeast, we call it our, our business system, it’s our operating system, and we coach many clients on the same principles. Again, you know, if I can dumb it down, again, it’s driving alignment for the team. And it’s creating that accountability. Ultimately, you want the person doing the work, to be empowered to make decisions. And so you know, if they have that empowerment, if they have that accountability to whatever it is, right, drive Google reviews, or drive sales in a certain area, or retain great talent, whatever it is, you’ve got to make sure that they have that empowerment to do it, which means it’s not just me running this business anymore. And it’s not even my general manager that’s running this business anymore. It’s our entire team. So
Chad Franzen 13:48
that operations background kind of gives you the chance to work at your other job.
Sara Frasca 13:53
That’s true. Yes. I, you know, you don’t have the luxury now of actually owning the restaurant. I’m a sole proprietor, it means that, you know, I, I really, I have enjoyed the opportunity to pass on the thinking, the decision making to other folks have the day to day and then I get to do what I do best, which is how do I think forward? How do I come up with ideas for the future? How do we build this and grow? That might include franchising in the near future that might include, you know, a more formal partnership with my cousins? I don’t know. But I know that there is something great out there for the Panini sandwich. And I’m very hopeful that our generation will figure it out.
Chad Franzen 14:40
Why so your last name is Frasca. Why is it called Trasca?
Sara Frasca 14:43
Good question. Okay. So this one goes back to when I first opened. I didn’t want to choose the name caminos because I wanted the autonomy to try something new. Those restaurants are wonderful, but they’re more of a sit down Italian. Restaurant and ours is a fast casual. Ours is focused on the panino ironically, but we chose a different name. At the beginning of opening, I wanted to name it Francesca and company. But there is a five star, really, you know, renowned restaurant in the Boulder, Colorado area called fast food and wine. And so I know I keep giving you more information than you need. But frasca means a meeting place or a gathering place in Italian. So, you know, these folks who are not related to me, they’re not frescoes, they built a wonderful restaurant in Boulder called Frasca, a gathering place that serves amazing food. And we, you know, when I, when I reached out to them, I had said, you know, I’d really like to build a restaurant called Frasca, can I, can I have the name? And they said, No, and that is just fine. I would have done the same. So I respect their answer. And I chose Trasca instead.
Chad Franzen 15:57
Okay, very nice. That makes sense. Yeah. So how did COVID kind of affect or change even operations at Trasca?
Sara Frasca 16:05
Yeah, you know, gosh, I think, you know, folks will ask me these days, how is the business doing? How is trafficker doing? And my very first answer is, we made it through COVID. I believe we didn’t just survive, but we thrived. And one of the beautiful parts of this, I speak on the topic of innovation. For most of my clients, it’s an integral part of competing, of growing, etc. And so our team went through so many different innovations, I would say, again, you know, we probably came up with a new business model a week for a while. And I’m very proud of the fact that I believe we came out of COVID Better than we went in. So small things from changing the way that we serve small things, from changing the amount of things on the menu, you know, connecting with different parts of the community that we never connected before. So I’m sure you’re hearing a lot about that those that have survived have thrived in the same ways that, you know, businesses have thrived since the beginning, when your back is against the wall, you’ve got to find a different way. You’ve got to have that nimbleness, that humility, to change to pivot to grow?
Chad Franzen 17:21
What are some what are some goals or some some things you’d like to say, then moving forward? You kind of you kind of touched on it moving forward for Tresca. And company?
Sara Frasca 17:29
Yeah, well, you know, I would love to, I think, for my team, be able to offer them a career with us. So most times, again, in the restaurant industry, folks are fleeting, they come and go, right, they might, you know, wash dishes for a while, maybe they serve for a while, they might move into another role, but they eventually leave for something bigger and better. And, you know, I think, you know, in talking with John and AJ my cousins, we have the intention to build careers for our teams. So that if they want to move from being a server to an HR manager, we’re able to give them that opportunity, they can actually stay with us as long as they desire. And, you know, we have had components of healthcare in our in our plans for a bit Tresca actually has a 401k. So again, I hope that the folks on our team can see a future can see a possibility of not only learning the trade of serving folks or creating food, but also doing some of the business components and perhaps leading a team perhaps growing in the capacity that they’d like to.
Chad Franzen 18:44
Sounds good. I have one more question for you. But first, tell me how people can find out more information about triscan company.
Sara Frasca 18:50
Thank you, Chad. That’s really nice. So trascaandco.com is where they’ll find information about our location. You know, our social media is out there as well. So any of the different paths, whether it’s LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, it’s simply @trascaandco. And I do appreciate you sending that out there.
Chad Franzen 19:12
Sure. Sure. So final question. If you were to go there as a customer, what would be kind of your your go to item of choice?
Sara Frasca 19:19
Yeah. Oh, gosh, the item of choice. Well, my favorite is the spaghetti pie. I have had that as my favorite since I was six years old. It’s a panino sandwich, but it’s pretty unique. It has inside spaghetti noodles. It has mozzarella cheese, homemade meatballs, and then it smothered over the top with our homemade marinara and garnish with little Parmesan. You have to eat that one with a fork. But it is really a tremendous Penina
Chad Franzen 19:46
Wow, very nice. Sounds great. Hey, Sara, thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate your time and your thoughts and your insights.
Sara Frasca 19:53
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Chad Franzen 19:55
So long everybody,
Outro 19:56
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