

“I am driven by my fear of failure,” said Brow, on whether he is nervous about buying the restaurant. He said he and Brow have worked out a deal that they’ll get to eat at each other’s restaurants for free. The home of Pizzeria Paradiso on Crafts Avenue was the original location for Spoleto, but Guerra said he will not miss it, because he’ll get to eat there now and only focus on enjoying his food.

Guerra said he will still own the building and he’s not leaving the restaurant business. “What the restaurant really deserves is to have an owner-operator.”

“It’s time for some fresh blood,” said Guerra, of the sale. While the plan was originally for Brow and Guerra to become partners in the ownership of Pizzeria Paradiso, Brow ended up making the decision to buy it outright.

Brow worked for Collins at Center Square Grill in East Longmeadow before coming to work for Guerra in his current position. Of Brow, Guerra said, “He’s a passionate, talented, chef.”Īnother key figure in Brow’s career was Bill Collins, who first hired him at Spoleto Express. He assumed his current position working for Guerra in January of this year. He also credits Northampton’s status as a “funky food town.”Ĭurrently, Brow manages Pizzeria Paradiso, Mama Iguana’s and Spoleto Restaurant for Pizzeria Paradiso’s founder, Claudio Guerra.īrow first started working for Guerra when he was 16 at Spoleto Express, and he went on to work in restaurants in such places as North Carolina and East Longmeadow.
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“It’s almost life becoming full circle,” Brow said.Ī graduate of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, Brow said that the first time his class from JFK Middle School toured Smith Vocational, he knew he wanted to go there, after he got a look at its kitchen.īrow, who lived in Forest Park in Springfield before moving to Northampton when he was 10, said he grew up being exposed to different types of food, including Vietnamese food from families in the Forest Park neighborhood and a Dutch-Indonesian pre-school teacher who had shitake mushroom logs in her yard, and who taught him and his class how to roll sushi. “He made that my pizza and cooked it.”įast forward to today and Brow, 34, is the soon-to-be new owner of Pizzeria Paradiso, which he will retool and rename HighBrow Wood Fired Kitchen + Bar after he assumes ownership of the business in September. “I caught it, and I threw it back up to him,” he said. As he was watching one of the cooks work, their eyes met and something special happened: The cook threw him a pizza dough. This is my take on approachable American dining with a refined twist.NORTHAMPTON - When he was around 10 years old, Andrew Brow went to Pizzeria Paradiso. Both our Brioche burger rolls and our city style desserts will be baked in-house by my pastry chef, who also happens to be my awesome sister-in-law.
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We’ll offer some “traditional” options with a bit of a twist, such as Not Your Mama’s Mac & Cheese, which will feature a touch of my private label beer, a blend of cheeses, and a topping of crushed Cheez-Its. We’ll offer tempeh steaks, a vegan sandwich on Hungry Ghost bread, plenty of roasted local veggie options, and homemade almond ricotta. My entire team is sensitive and well-trained when it comes to allergies and dietary requirements of our customers, both in the kitchen and when serving food. I will also cater to a variety of dietary needs, offering vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. I will offer bargains nightly, such as a $12 woodfired fish dish on Sundays, a half-priced small pizza on Mondays, and a bottle of my private label wine when you buy two entrees on Wednesdays. However, I am also incorporating more upscale woodfired dishes, involving a wide range of ingredients, from chicken to octopus. I will still do woodfired pizzas, as they are always in demand and that’s what keeps a restaurant packed on a Monday night. I can cook exceptional Italian food, but I don’t want to compete in that area. I felt it was time for me to go out on my own and execute my own vision, along with my business partner, Bill Collins. My mentor and former boss, Claudio, and I were planning to go in on the new restaurant together, but ultimately, I offered to buy it outright. I then moved to North Carolina for a while, moved back here, and became the chef Center Square Grill in East Longmeadow. I then went on to be the chef and general manager at Paradise City Tavern at 24. I have worked in the restaurant business since I was 16, when I began at Spoleto Express. Tell us a bit about your background and about why you wanted to purchase the space, which was Pizza Paradiso for 30 years.
