Reno deli targets vegans, carnivores alike

When Anthony De Masi began serving food in his newly purchased Dandelion Deli during the 1995 Thanksgiving weekend, he started an evolution that would soon transform this former Mediterranean deli and natural food marketplace into a successful vegetarian restaurant that also offers several beef, chicken and turkey gourmet sandwiches and hot-lunch specials.

"I probably have the only restaurant in Reno where vegans and carnivores can dine side by side," boasted De Masi, who brought his love of the culinary arts to Reno 20 years ago.

(Vegans eat no meat or animal-produced products, such as honey and dairy products, while vegetarians will eat dairy products.) De Masi was born to Italian parents in Brooklyn, N.Y., finished high school on Long Island, and earned a degree in business from the Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, before coming to Reno with a former MIU classmate.

"The first day I arrived in Reno, my friend took me to his favorite pastry shop," De Masi recalled.

"It was the Cake and Flower Shoppe on Ralston Street, and he knew I had experience decorating cakes.

The owner handed me a spatula and asked me if I could help her.

I think she noticed I was interested in her cake pictures." After approximately one year there baking and decorating cakes on weekends, De Masi headed up to the Tahoe Basin where he gained culinary experience at several restaurants.

He then decided his future was waiting for him in Reno, and returned to work at Harrah's where he cooked in the former Seafarer's Restaurant before transferring to Harrah's bakery.

After eight years there, he took an early withdrawal from his IRA to start Anthony's Catering in October, 1991, a business he still owns.

Four years later, with the help of a well-written business plan, he received an SBA loan to assume ownership of the Dandelion Deli, which for two years had been a natural-food deli and marketplace.

For the first two years, he baked and prepared many items for the deli in the kitchen he used for his catering business, located several miles away.

The back-andforth travel kept his overhead high.

Finally, his good credit influenced a bank to give him a $75,000 line of credit.

De Masi used $20,000 of it to install a new oven with ventilation hood and also transfer other equipment from the catering kitchen.

De Masi credits several things for the success of the Dandelion Deli at 1170 S.

Wells Ave.

Foremost is his luncheon menu.

Beside ongoing staples such as vegetarian chili, and such sandwiches as the "very veggi," artichoke and hummus, curry turkey with mango chutney, and roast beef, the deli offers daily specials that can include homemade manicotti, stuffed acorn squash, giant egg rolls, Mexican casserole and spankopita (a Mediterranean spinach filo bake).

The menu also includes numerous side salads, meat salads, two sizes of Greek salads and a fresh fruit salad.

The deli has several large walk-in coolers where customers can choose from an array of natural carbonated beverages, bottled fruit juices, and other tasty and healthy beverages.

A popular coffee and espresso line-up is also offered.

All the food is made from scratch.

De Masi said on an average day approximately 30 percent of lunches are take-out.

He also makes both traditional and vegan cakes for all occasions.

Some of the many traditional cakes include strawberry Bavarian, black forest and lemon butter cream.

He offers several vegan cakes such as decadent chocolate ganache and strawberry cream.

De Masi said he also credits his loyal and knowledgeable employees for his success.

He delegates much of the ordering, shopping and some cooking to key employees.

Currently, he has five full-time and two part-time employees.

Some of his major challenges include controlling food and labor costs, customers' changing eating preferences and finding time to experiment with new recipes.

De Masi does the bookkeeping, his accountant does his taxes, and he outsources the bi-weekly payroll to Comprehensive Business Services in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Although he has relied almost exclusively on word-of-mouth advertising, last December he decided to include a description of the deli online at www.usdiners.com as an experiment.

He said it's too early to gauge the results.

His customers are about 60 percent women and 40 percent men, with most in the 25-50 age group.

They are typically business people who travel two miles or less to get to the deli.

De Masi's future plans for the deli include offering more organic items, renting the deli for private parties, and hosting reservation-only dinners on one Saturday night a month.