Fast Fired by Carbone owners bringing streamlined pizza concept with Italian flair to Brandon

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This article was published 27/01/2018 (2923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Given how many pizza restaurants already operate in the Wheat City, those entering the marketplace need to offer something new to secure their share of patrons.

Adopting the Subway restaurant model, Fast Fired by Carbone owners Benjamin Nasberg and Joe Paletta believe they have found just the thing to stick out.

The upcoming restaurant in the Corral Centre will offer a customer experience very much like at Subway. Customers will list which toppings they would like on their pizza, and it will be made right in front of them.

The pizza will go into an oven for 180 seconds, then can be enjoyed in the restaurant or taken home.

Fast Fired by Carbone will offer unlimited toppings for one price.

This straightforward, streamlined concept is bolstered by the restaurant’s uniquely Italian flair.

Paletta studied culinary arts in Italy for two years, and brought this experience back to Canada.

Although Nasberg said they source as many ingredients locally as they can, there are certain things that just don’t cut it in retaining their Italian links.

“To have a pizza made the right way, it starts with the sauce, and those tomatoes have to come from Italy,” Nasberg said, adding that they want to stay true to certain traditions.

Accompanying the restaurant’s pizza offerings will be a salad bar and unique drink options, which will include craft beers.

Although this restaurant will be the first of its kind, Nasberg and Paletta already own and operate four traditional pizza restaurants in Winnipeg, called Carbone’s Coal Fired Pizza.

It’s a business enterprise that picked up quickly after their first restaurant opened in 2011, which Nasberg said set the stage for their expansion outside the provincial capital.

Brandon seemed like an obvious next step, Nasberg said, adding that he sees great potential in their Corral Centre location, which is expected to open sometime during the second week of February.

Adding a uniquely Brandon flair to the restaurant, they’re accepting submissions throughout their first month of operations for patrons to design a pizza they’ll call The Wheat King.

Brandon’s restaurant scene has gone through a number of changes in recent months.

On the pizza front, Brandon has seen Papa John’s Pizza open at 99 18th St. and Fired Pizza reopen at 2430 Victoria Ave. These are in addition to several other pizza restaurants that are operating in the city.

Pretty well all markets are saturated with pizza joints, Nasberg said, adding that the number of restaurants sprinkled throughout Brandon doesn’t concern him too greatly.

“I always feel there’s room, the reason being that the pizza industry is very saturated wherever you look,” he said, adding that he believes they have something unique to offer local pizza fans, which will help them etch out their share of the market.

“We feel that stepping into an area that has multiple offerings, we feel that there’s room to share that market and also be able to show people a different way to experience it.”

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB