Behind a wooden door, under an abandoned warehouse and next door to a construction site is a brand new Italian eatery serving one of a kind pizza, arugula salads and paninis. Located on 27th St. and 10th Avenue Ovest Pizzoteca is a new Italian eatery in the heart of Manhattan's Chelsea. A sister restaurant to Luzzos Pizza in the East Village, its ambience is serene, with imported wines, bar, and eat-in restaurant is not typical for the local pizza shops that surround it. Ovest is the third business venture for Michele Iuliano, who runs two Luzzos restaurant chains in the city. With a nationwide recession occurring and many businesses both local and national foreclosing and cutting jobs; Iuliano seems to be unaffected by the financial turmoil that many other business owners are facing now. Since opening on Valentines Day Weekend, the restaurant has already started to gain a loyal fan base. TV personality and entrepreneur Martha Stewart made an appearance at the restaurant’s grand opening and has even mentioned the eatery on her syndicated talk show Martha. Stewart who is a fan of Luzzos, occupies a floor inside the Starrett-Lehigh Building which is located a few blocks away from Ovest Pizzoteca.
Ovest’s location, lies right in the middle of the industrial 27th St and unlike other restaurants and businesses, there’s no banners and no signs. The only advertisement Ovest has is a chalkboard easel that lies in front of the restaurant during daytime hours. Even the staff is a bit clueless on why Iuliano picked such as secluded area with no visual advertisements. “Our location it self isn’t a bad spot, we get great business here since a lot of working people surround the area.” says Charlie Bisgonio, 32, a bar tender at the restaurant. “A banner would be nice but I think because we’re so secluded people are attracted to us.”
Restaurants in New York City haven't been hit as hard as other businesses in the recession. While many Americans face lay-offs and foreclosure; many restaurants are opening up shop. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the restaurant business has expanded 4% since the start of the recession in December 2007. They also expect the expansion of restaurant businesses to rise about 8% within the next ten years. While, it's not the best expansion, it is an vast improvement compared to other businesses that are continuing to face financial struggle.
Emma Scartino, 26, a cashier at Ovest referred to the surrounding neighborhood scene as the reasoning behind Ovest’s growing business. "We’re located in a very industrial area. There’s office businesses all over our radius, construction workers outside and boutiques a block away.” Ovest, who delivers to residents of Greenwich Village, Chelsea and the Meatpacking District is a few blocks away from Penn Station, Chelsea Studios and the Chelsea-Eliot Apartment Complex.
“Restaurants have proven themselves to be one of top professions to produce an abundant number of profits” says Ross Eisenbury, of the Economic Policy Institute. “In a city where Broadway and Wall Street make the most revenue, small restaurants prevail in finances whereas Broadway and Wall Street are losing millions a year.”
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) describes New York restaurants as “the driving force in the state’s economy.” There statistics show that for every dollar spent in a New York restaurant, an additional .$98 in sales is generated for the state economy. “Restaurant sales bring in enormous tax revenue.” says Eisenbury. “Not just for the city of New York but for any city in America. This industry brings in about half a trillion dollars for the national economy”
Already employing eight percent of New Yorkers, the culinary profession is quickly expanding and has produced about a million jobs in the city. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the expansion of restaurants will rise about twelve percent in the next ten years and bring about twenty-three percent of new jobs. By 2020, about 3 million New Yorkers will be working in restaurants and a 50,000 of those will become local restaurant owners.
With only a month down under its melt, business is seemingly well for Ovest Pizzoteca if you ask Bigosnio. "We get consistent business. We have the usual crowd of working people early evening and the party people in the midnight hours. If things stay the same, then we should have nothing to worry about."
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