When the pandemic closed indoor dining, a new option fell in Chef Pasquale Presa's lap. Hy-Vee grocery stores wanted frozen pizzas for one of its Rochester stores. That soon grew to four stores and then seven. Presa ended up selling 75,000 crusts in 12 months from the grocery's shelves. Now he has a whole retail division working on branded sauces, spices and even olive oil.

Prior to the pandemic, Chef Pasquale Presa was looking for ways to grow Pasquale's Neighborhood Pizzeria in Rochester. “My dream was always to expand, but I really didn’t know how to. I’m just a chef…,” he said. Ironically, the biggest threat to his business opened the door to a way to take his New York-style pizzeria to the next level and reach customers well beyond Rochester’s city limits.