MANAYUNK

Blog post by Manayunk Development Corporation Fall Intern, Emily Nagle.

When Mike Cassano and Craig Mosmen moved to Manayunk back in 2001, neither of them expected that almost fifteen years later they would be the owners of a successful restaurant and pizza shop.  What the two University of Delaware grads did know was that the corporate world was not for them, so they began looking for a way that they could be their own bosses.  The idea for a pizza shop was inspired by Manayunk; “We settled down here and […] found that there was a lot of interesting restaurants here but there wasn’t a whole lot of quick casual type environment,” says Mike.  The pair saw the opportunity to fill a need in their newfound home and ran with it; in 2003, they opened The Couch Tomato Café.

But Mike’s and Craig’s desire to control their own destiny didn’t stop with the café, nor did Manayunk’s role in inspiring the pair’s business ventures.  After buying their building at 102 Rector St in 2005 to gain more control over their business, they started thinking about how to improve and grow their business: “We really wanted to bring an element to Manayunk that we didn't have that other restaurants did, which was seating. We had groups of six to eight walking in and then walking out because there was nowhere to sit.”  Fueled by the success of The Couch Tomato Café and its catering business, the two entrepreneurs decided to continue literally building their business from the ground up; they renovated the top two floors of their building and opened their full-service restaurant, The Tomato Bistro in 2011.  Then Mike and Craig promoted Christopher Gallagher, who had worked his way up the ladder from a sales associate in the café, to general manager at The Couch Tomato Café/Tomato Bistro.

Constantly improving and satisfying their customers unfulfilled needs continues to be part of The Couch Tomato Café/Tomato Bistro’s mission, especially with their food.  Craig, Mike, and Christopher are always working to think up new, creative dishes; they also take customers’ recommendations for new pizza flavors and menu items through questionnaires, comment cards, and questions of the month.  The team is also focused on making sure their food is not only tasty, but also good for their customers and the environment too! Of their organic, locally-sourced ingredients and gluten-free dishes, Christopher says, “We’re always trying to find new local fresh and organic sources, we added something that people were responding to as they became more aware of gluten-free and GMO’s and other health considerations.” So far this focus has been a huge success, especially with gluten-free diners: in 2003, The Couch Tomato Café was rated the fifth most popular gluten-free restaurant in the country.  So far, Mike has been the driver of choosing the restaurant’s local ingredients but Christopher soon will be taking on more of this responsibility as Mike and Craig prepare to open a new location of The Couch Tomato Café on West Chester University’s campus in late 2014.

Mike, Craig, and Christopher have each played huge roles in promoting the growth and improvements that The Couch Tomato Café and Tomato Bistro have made over the past few years; however, they know that they have someone else to thank too: their staff.  “We like to say the ingredients make the pizza but really the people take the ingredients and make that pizza.  The staff are the face of the business they’re the ones that we’re counting on day in and day out to provide those excellent experiences for people” says Christopher.  As someone who started behind the counter, Christopher has seen first-hand how influential staff can be on a customer’s overall experience so he looks for people that are positive, work well with people, and have good energy: “Just like we want our customers to feel good eating our food, we want our staff to feel good serving it […] it makes the whole thing really enjoyable.”

Finally, we know that Mike and Craig thought Manayunk would be a great place to open a business back in 2001, but what do they really think of our town now that they’ve been here for almost 15 years?  Mike says, “What I like about Manayunk is the diversity; you have college students and families from all of the surrounding areas, young professionals and everything in between. Manayunk is a melting pot in a sense. I’d like to see Manayunk become more of a destination.”  Christopher is more of a newcomer to Manayunk; as he continued to work and move up the ladder at The Couch Tomato Café/Tomato Bistro, he moved closer and closer to Manayunk.  Now that he’s here he says he loves the diversity and active culture of the town; “As someone who enjoys biking, it’s great seeing all of the cyclists going by and how Manayunk becomes such a hub of excitement during the bike race.”  And he’s right, Manayunk loves fitness, but we also love pizza so let’s hope that Mike, Craig, and Christopher keep growing and innovating so we can enjoy The Couch Tomato Café and The Tomato Bistro for many more years to come!