Article
Kansas City fine-dining experts open fast casual concept
Chef Michael Corvino and his wife and business partner, Christina, are experts when it comes to fine dining. The owners of Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room in Kansas City, Missouri, however, wanted to make their food more accessible. Ravenous, a fast casual brand operating out of Corvino's kitchen, was the answer.
December 27, 2019 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
Chef Michael Corvino and his wife and business partner, Christina, are experts when it comes to fine dining. The owners of Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room in Kansas City, Missouri, however, wanted to make their food more accessible. Ravenous, a fast casual brand operating out of Corvino's kitchen, was the answer.
"Michael loves this style of food that is fun, approachable and affordable — he wants to feed more people than we can through Corvino," Christina said during an interview with FastCasual. "Also, for financial health, the margins on fast casual are much better than finer dining."
Although it opened in November for lunch via carry-out or delivery only, the fast casual will make its offical debut in the spring on the patio adjacent to Corvino.
"As it is an outdoor space, it didn't make sense to do a grand opening until probably March," said Christina, who manages the restaurant. "However, we were ready to go on our end, so we've decided to run it for weekday lunch out of our existing kitchen."
Orders can be made in-person or at RavenousKC.com, and the guest will select delivery or pick-up inside Corvino.
"We can say the first month has exceeded our expectations, particularly given that we opened out of the existing restaurant for pickup and delivery only," Christina said.
The cost of delivery
Although delivery partnerships are often too costly for small businesses, the Corvinos have found a way to make it work for them. They started offering the service through Doordash but have since changed to Postmates, "mainly because of a quality of service difference, namely timely, accurate deliveries," Christina said.
They also have partnership with Menufy.
"Due to their reach, (they) are able to negotiate about a 12% cost to us, whereas just us trying to partner with a delivery service, they charge closer to 28%," Christina said.
The Corvinos hope to eventually open more Ravenous locations but aren't in a hurry. Several companies and food halls, for example, have offered them space, but that's not the route they're going.
"Those options are better for new or unknown concepts, and we've worked really hard to build a great reputation here," Christina said. "We feel like we can be choosy."
What's on the menu
Although the menu offers versions of Corvino staples including the cheeseburger and half or whole fried chickens, it also has items only available at Ravenous. Those options include a crispy grilled cheese sandwich, a mushroom sandwich, cheesy chili butter tots and the fried chicken sandwich.
About Cherryh Cansler
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