SAUSALITO, CALIF. -- Dinnerhouse veteran Larry Mindel, founder and former
leader of II Fornaio America and Spectrum Foods, is building a bay-view
Italian restaurant here called Poggio in his first such undertaking since
stepping away from day-to-day operations at Il Fornaio in 2001.

"Liberally translated, Poggio means 'a special hillside place,'" Mindel said
of the name chosen for the 144-seat restaurant, bar and sidewalk cafe he and
managing partner-chef Christopher Fernandez plan to open this fall. The duo
and their partners already have obtained the six city permits needed to
develop the restaurant and are striving to make Poggio "quintessentially
Italian," Mindel said.

Referring to his chain experience, including a 14-year stint leading Il
Fornaio, Mindel remarked, "Since this is the only restaurant and we don't
have to worry about replicating anything, I envision the chef getting up in
the morning and going to the market and basing the menu for the night on
whatever is available."

Among the investors in the Mindel-Fernandez venture, which will be part of
the expanding Casa Madrona Hotel & Spa complex off Bridgeway, are noted
Chicago-based restaurateurs Richard Melman and Gerard Centioli, who is also
a Krispy Kreme franchisee in Washington state. Il Fornaio chairman and chief
executive Michael Hislop is also an investor, Mindel said. His son, Michael
Mindel, who is Il Fornaio's vice president of marketing, is among Mindel
family investors in Poggio, Larry Mindel said.

Mindel cashed in most of his equity in Il Fornaio and stepped down as
chairman following a move by company executives and outside investors to
take the then publicly traded company private. At that time Il Fornaio
operated 26 dinnerhouses and four wholesale bakeries and reported total
annual sales of more than $120 million.

Explaining that the business of the Poggio partnership is being conducted
out of his home, Mindel quipped, "I had forgotten how difficult it is to do
a one-off restaurant with no [corporate] infrastructure."

In addition to 120 interior dining seats and 24 seats in a sidewalk-cafe
area, Poggio will have the use of two private dining areas accommodating
parties of 12 and 24 and a 100-seat banquet room on the floor above the
restaurant, he said. Casa Madrona plans to use the space above the
restaurant for meetings and other special events.

The Poggio partnership has a 25-year lease for the 5,600-square-foot space,
Mindel said. But he added that there is an unusual "twist" in the terms of
the deal: "We're going to end up owning about 9 percent of the hotel."

Mindel, 65, said he is "trying a new business at my age" because "every
hotel guy I've ever known has told me that I've had the tough end of the
[hospitality] deal by handling foodservice." Of his desire to own a hotel,
he said, "I want to see what the easy part looks like."

Plans call for Poggio to include a full bar and feature a largely Italian
wine list, including imported labels and Italian style wines from
California. Mindel said the restaurant would serve light breakfasts of
coffee drinks and pastries in the morning, stay open for lunch and then
segue into a dinnerhouse and place for late evening drinks and snacks, such
as pizzas, salads and desserts.