MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Harry’s Holdings, LLC has secured a $2.5MM investment from the Florida Opportunity Fund to support the expansion of the Genuine Pizza concept, James Beard Award winner Michael Schwartz’s casual pizzeria (formerly known as Harry’s Pizzeria). The company will unveil the evolved concept’s first location at the Aventura Mall in November, featuring new restaurant design, branding and signage, while maintaining the popular and familiar current menu. Existing Harry's Pizzeria locations will stay as Harry's, but will eventually transition to the new brand name and design.
“The new Genuine Pizza brand is not just a nod to Chef Schwartz’s flagship Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink, but also a much more appropriate articulation of our pizzeria’s mission and approach. Our use of the word Genuine is meant to portray a sincere and honest approach. Whether it is our ingredients, recipes and execution, flavor combinations or our hospitality, we strive to be Genuine in everything we do,” says Harry’s Holdings CEO Sunil Bhatt. “We are thrilled at the reception our new pizzerias in Miami’s Design District, Coconut Grove and Downtown Dadeland have received, and with the support of the Florida Opportunity Fund, we have a great opportunity to open many new Genuine Pizza locations over the next several years. For many of us, pizza is our favorite food and it is an honor and a privilege to share our interpretation more widely.”
The Florida Opportunity Fund investment will back Genuine Pizza’s rollout to 18 locations over the next few years, including Aventura (November), Atlanta (December), Cleveland and Miami Beach (2018), and Sunrise (2019). “We are excited to work with a world-class management team to bring the Genuine Pizza experience to more people in Florida and around the country,” said Jennifer Dunham, a Partner with Florida First Partners, investment advisor to the Florida Opportunity Fund.
Genuine Pizza is the natural evolution of the approach Chef Schwartz first established at Harry’s Pizzeria and is guided by a few important pillars: honest ingredients from trusted sources that care and make the best products; chef-curated, simple topping combinations that work great together, from someone who knows and cares; a deliberate process for doing things thoughtfully; an enthusiastic and passionate team who loves the food and approach to hospitality; a tireless effort to never settle, not only innovating with new menu items, but looking at how we can do everything better; and a sincerity and lack of pretension.
The new restaurant interior by Miami-based craft and construction firm McKenzie features light woods and simple accents like custom yellow and grey Cuban tile, orange chairs, and the yellow-tiled Marra Forni oven. The environment invites guests to experience the attention to detail first hand, at a pizza bar fronting the open kitchen and a glass-faced dough room at the entrance where the recipe is mixed, kneaded and proofed daily. The new logo design incorporates the word Genuine in script typeface with an ear of wheat at the end, to emphasize a main ingredient in the daily handmade dough.
For more information, please visit genuinepizza.com and follow on social media @genuinepizza.
About Harry's Holdings
Harry's Holdings, LLC is the parent company of Harry’s Pizzeria and Genuine Pizza. Genuine Pizza is thoughtfully-made, a place to enjoy a great meal with great people and without pretense. Genuine Pizza is about consideration of every detail of the dining experience, from the careful selection of ingredients, to the choices made in crafting dishes and the space in which you enjoy them. Being “genuine” is about making the experience better, not embellished – making food and crafting an environment that people feel good about and want to return to. The seed of Genuine Pizza is Harry’s Pizzeria®, first opened by Chef Michael Schwartz in 2011 and now with three South Florida locations. With inspiration from his flagship Michael's Genuine® Food & Drink, Harry’s became a fixture of the Miami dining scene and nationally-recognized pizza hotspot, named one of Food & Wine magazine’s 25 Best Pizzerias in the U.S. An evolution of the best of the original, Genuine Pizza celebrates its beloved, flagship menu anchored by 11 hand-formed pizzas featuring a tender, quick-fired crust with integrity, as well as a gluten-free option. At the table, the experience is complete with warm service and wholesome dishes to make a meal, including snacks, colorful salads, daily specials and dessert. From the sidewalk to the dining room, the restaurant buzzes with friends and family hanging out over craft beer, a creative wine list and great music. For more information, please visit genuinepizza.com and follow on social media @genuinepizza.
About Florida Opportunity Fund
The Florida Opportunity Fund (FOF) was established in 2007 to increase the availability of venture capital in Florida. The FOF actively invests in Florida-focused venture capital funds, infrastructure projects, and emerging Florida-focused companies within industries of strategic importance to the State, including: Energy, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Technology. The FOF is sponsored by Enterprise Florida and managed by Florida First Partners. For additional information regarding the FOF visit www.floridaopportunityfund.com.
