Everything locale — from an in-house garden to local vendors
Giuseppe Ottaiano Jr. grew up with pizza in his DNA. As his family owns New Jersey staple, Calabria Restaurant and Pizzeria, Giuseppe’s earliest memories include watching his father run and operate a pizzeria. As an Italian immigrant, his father taught him the perfect recipe for a successful business — local sourcing, a passion for the craft, and the value of relationships.
Guiseppe recalls his father’s advice, “It’s not about the dollar, it’s about the relationships.” Those words of wisdom stuck with him, and he makes an effort to talk to every customer that walks in, learn their names, and treat them like family.
The name of Guiseppe’s restaurant, Locale — Italian for “the local” — is no exaggeration. Giuseppe grows many of his vegetables in-house and takes pride in sourcing all of his ingredients from consistent, local vendors. He makes sure only the freshest, high-quality ingredients are used in all of the food he makes.
After coming from a household that considered technology to be “the worst thing since sliced bread”, Guiseppe knew he needed to adapt to stay ahead. In transitioning from an old-school operating model, Locale has been able to scale and simplify through Slice.
In Giuseppe’s words, “Slice is more of a partner than a third party.” Slice supports Locale as Giuseppe supports his customers – knowing their needs and treating them like family. Giuseppe gets to focus on running a business he is proud of, just as his father has done his whole life.
