Gianfranco Marocco at Mediterraneo, on Atwells Avenue, the crown jewel of his holdings on Federal Hill.
Interview
Gianfranco Marrocco
Title: CEO of GFM Corporate Companies, the owner of Mediterraneo, Geppetto’s Pizzeria, Caffe Dolce Vita and Hotel Dolce Villa.
Background: A native of Cassino, in central Italy, Gianfranco Marrocco immigrated to the United States with his family in 1970, when he was 9. He attended school in Providence and later in Johnston, graduating from high school in 1980, before going back to Italy from 1981 to 1986 and working in his family’s restaurant there. After returning to Providence, he worked as a barber, then as a car salesman and manager at two local dealerships. In 1992, he opened Caffé Dolce Vita with a partner. Since then, he has opened Mediterraneo, Geppetto’s Pizzeria and Hotel Dolce Villa, and he now is substantially expanding Caffé Dolce Vita.
Education: Johnston High School graduate
Residence: Providence (in the hotel)
Age: 44
Fifteen years ago, a young Italian immigrant took a wild risk. Charmed by a Providence plaza that reminded him of Rome’s Fontana di Trevi, he borrowed $45,000 on credit card, with a friend and opened a café there.
The neighborhood was a mess, and his vision struck some as nutty – al fresco dining, light fare, fancy coffee drinks and refined desserts for the late-night crowd. But Gianfranco Marrocco stuck with it, and today, he’s one of Federal Hill’s top entrepreneurs.
Last week, he sat down to talk about his past, his future and the Hill.
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PBN: What made you open this place?
MARROCCO: Desperation. I was a general manager at a car dealership, and the guy I worked for … went bankrupt in Connecticut, California, the whole nine [yards]. After him, I said I would never work for anybody else. So I convinced an ex-employee of mine to go halves with me and open up Dolce Vita. Neither one of us had money, but we had excellent credit.
PBN: Federal Hill wasn’t in good shape back then.
MARROCCO: You know, timing is everything. … ’91 was a horrible year, across the board. But when you went out at night, if you didn’t want to go to a club, there was nowhere to go to have a nice conversation. I wanted to create an atmosphere where you could bring your mom, your sister, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, whatever. … I just took a shot. … We knew there was a niche, that there would be people who could appreciate this type of stuff.
PBN: Mediterraneo is your crown jewel. How have you kept it so competitive for nine years?
MARROCCO: We came out swinging. We definitely created the hype. We were fortunate that the mayor at the time had a lot of out-of-town celebrities that would come to Mediterraneo. … I also learned from the best. The Florentine Grille was very good with their menu, and Al Forno was brilliant in not really catering to the locals, as much as to people from out of state. They also had a phenomenal PR firm, so I said, “That’s what we’re going to do.” … We started going after the hotel business. I have an unbelievable concierge program.
PBN: How do you feel about all the new hotels being built?
MARROCCO: I’ve been told we’ve lost a lot of conventions over the years because we didn’t have enough rooms. … But with the new hotels, I say, “Build it and they will come.” … I think it’ll put us in a competitive market. But I have 15 rooms – we sell out. Last month, we finished at 96-percent occupancy. I didn’t think I would do that in two or three years. January was a little slower, probably about 50 percent, and February, but all the other months have been good.
PBN: What’s been your biggest challenge?
MARROCCO: It’s a matter of maintaining what you have. The longevity of my staff is amazing. My general manager has been with me for almost 10 years, two of my managers have been there for eight years. … When I first came back from Italy, I worked at Angelo’s as a dishwasher and a busboy, so I know what it’s like to work in this business from the ground up. I treat everybody with the same respect I’d want to be treated with … you’ve got to be there for them.
PBN: So your efforts have paid off?
MARROCCO: If I knew then what I know now about the restaurant business, I would never go into it. Ninety-five percent fail, over a five-year period. It’s insane. … I educated myself as I went, but I lost a lot of money, too, learning. That’s the biggest misconception people have about the restaurant business. They drive by a place and it’s busy all the time – that doesn’t mean that place is making money. … If you don’t dot all the I’s, cross all the T’s, at the end of the year, you may not make any money, even if you grossed $2 million or $3 million.
PBN: How do you feel about the casino?
MARROCCO: I’m for it. I think we’re already competing now with Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, and it hasn’t really affected business at all. … If someone doesn’t gamble, they’re not going to go to West Warwick. … And we do a lot with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun now. They’ve got a lot of their high rollers, whom they wine and dine, and they’ll take them up in a limo and treat them to everything at Mediterraneo.
PBN: I had no idea.
MARROCCO: I think the worst thing right now on Federal Hill is us not being able to get along and promote ourselves as a Little Italy. … We really have a diamond in the rough. It’s starting to come; it’s starting to happen, with more people living here. That’s what we were missing. When we first moved here, the buildings around us were all empty. Now, for my old apartment, I get $900 – I used to pay $300. It’s nuts. It’s exciting. You can try to forecast, you can try to dream and have a vision, but when it comes to fruition, it’s an amazing feeling.
