Last week, I ran into Chris Jarosz of Team Broderick passing by Capital Dime (one of their restaurants) and got a few updates from him. First on Piccola Citta, the restaurant replacing the recently-shuttered Trick Pony.

• The restaurant will open in approximately 3 weeks.
• One of the things they learned about the space is that a pizza centric concept didn't make sense logistically. The pizza oven, while great, was small and couldn't produce the volume they needed. At Tuli, it was just a part of the restaurant, not the foundation. In the new restaurant, it will return to being a great feature, but not the central cooking instrument.
• The clientele who dined at Trick Pony was very similar to the clientele that dine at Tuli, meaning they could support a higher price point than a neighborhood pizza joint. In response to that consumer demand, Piccola Citta will be a little more upscale than Trick Pony.

Other non-Piccola Citta updates:

• Team Broderick is in discussions with a Bay Area group to license the Broderick name. (A friend in the restaurant industry explained to me over the weekend that licensing and franchising are very different. Licensing generally means that in exchange for using the name, they pay a percentage sales, profit or whatever the agreed upon metric is. Franchising includes training, support and control, in exchange for payments. You can learn more here.)
• Jarosz also talked about The Patriot, his project at  Milagro Centre, a public market in Carmichael. He says that project is one that he's doing on his own separate from Team Broderick and that the cuisine will include more seafood than at his other restaurants. The food will also reflect his journey through life.

I have a ton of respect for Team Broderick and I look forward to trying their new restaurants.

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