Team approach keeps pizzeria ahead of curve

BIGGER PIECE OF  THE PIE: Kristy Knoedler and her father own the popular Fellini Pizzeria on Providence's East Side and this second location in the Pawtuxet Village section of Broad Street in Cranston. Knoedler says she's scouting around for a third location. / PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
BIGGER PIECE OF THE PIE: Kristy Knoedler and her father own the popular Fellini Pizzeria on Providence's East Side and this second location in the Pawtuxet Village section of Broad Street in Cranston. Knoedler says she's scouting around for a third location. / PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

Kristy Knoedler knew a lot about cardiac rehabilitation in the early 1990s, having earned a degree in exercise science at the University of Rhode Island and working with cardiac patients at The Miriam Hospital.

But she knew little about pizza, and virtually nothing about running a business, other than working at Fellini Pizzeria on Wickenden Street, on Providence’s East Side, while in school.

Now she knows a lot about both: She and her father, whom she lovingly calls her “silent partner,” own Fellini Pizzeria, which in August 2014 expanded into a second location in Cranston’s Pawtuxet Village, both stores churning out pizza and more, earning accolades, awards and a recent profile on the popular “Phantom Gourmet” TV show.

“It just came naturally to me,” Knoedler said of making pizza and running a business. “I wake up and can’t wait to get to work. I enjoyed working with cardiac patients, but this is where I was at.”

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When she was working at Miriam, and Fellini, the then-owner of the pizza spot asked her to manage it.

“I talked to my dad, and he said, ‘I’ll be damned if you’re gonna do that!’ ” Knoedler laughed. “I quit my job and came full time to Fellini. My father wasn’t too happy about it.”

He is now, she said. Her father, Dick Knoedler, lives in Pennsylvania and worked for Mack Trucks all of his adult life, and then ran a small contracting firm after he retired. He and his daughter bought Fellini, and he gave her valuable business advice. He comes out a few times a year to help out, she said.

“He’s proud of me,” she said. “He couldn’t be happier.”

Business was good after she took over Fellini, to the point she and her father considered opening another location, which they did two years ago. That Cranston site is a full-service restaurant, with a full liquor license and a much larger menu.

“That was a whole new game, there was a front and back of house, where Wickenden is just front, and a full staff of cooks, servers, dishwashers and bartenders,” she said. “I had a great assistant who really helped me.”

She credits her father’s business acumen for playing a large part of her success.

“It was very difficult learning the business, but I thank my father for that. He showed me the ropes,” she said. “I learned having a great accountant is important, and I’m still learning. Everyone thinks if you have a successful restaurant, you must be making a ton of money. That’s just not true. Everything is a challenge.”

Another challenge Knoedler, now 42, faced when first starting out was “being so young and earning the respect from employees, and working with people my age and letting them know I’m the leader.”

But a large part of who she is, she says, is being on the same level as everyone else, which has engendered what she called a “family atmosphere” among Fellini workers.

“What I’ve learned is to be strong you have to be equal,” she said of her business that employs about 50 people. “No one is better than the other person; you treat everyone, from manager to dishwasher, the same. … You have to treat people with respect – and pay them fairly.”

Part of that respect includes choosing the menu, Knoedler says.

“We all do it,” she said. “That’s something I find that’s great about our employees, letting them constantly create new things. We even name some of our dishes after them; that keeps their jobs interesting and me excited.”

Some people say the business climate in Rhode Island isn’t exactly friendly. Knoedler does not disagree.

“It’s tough,” she said. “It’s sometimes hard to get ahead, with so many taxes and other charges. It’s like you’re always paying something new, different licensing and so forth. But you have to stick with it. If someone says no, you go to someone else. It was a huge challenge opening our second store, but I found a lot of people willing to help.”

One hard part of opening in Cranston was wariness of other business owners, she says, but she promised them they’d all work together – and they have, Knoedler says. Nothing makes her happier “than on weekends, seeing all of our places packed,” she added.

As for a possible third location, Knoedler says she’s scouting around for one she hopes to open in the next few years. “I have a place in mind, but it’s a secret,” she said.

Knoedler grew up in Bethlehem, Pa., coming to Rhode Island to go to school on a softball scholarship, and never looking back. She still plays ball, she said, “slow pitch with old ladies” on a team she sponsors.

“My staff wants a bowling team now,” she laughed. “We’ll see how that goes.” •

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