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How Piada Italian Street Food puts a ‘chef’s touch’ across the menu

The fast-casual concept showcases a fine-dining mindset.

Patricia Cobe, Senior Editor

June 3, 2021

Piada Italian Street Food takes its name from the piada, a flatbread dough that’s baked on a stone grill and hand-rolled with a variety of fresh, authentic fillings. But Matthew Harding, senior VP and culinary director for the 38-location fast casual, has taken the menu way beyond its namesake.

There are customized and chef-curated bowls and salads, tossed pastas and a wide selection of snacks and sides, including calamari and lobster bisque. The beverage side of the menu includes housemade agua frescas, cold brews and lemonades. 

Matthew Harding
Matthew Harding

Chef Harding trains his teams to make sure every dish leaves the line with a “chef’s touch.” Listen as he shares how Piada is expanding into new markets with a new footprint and how he continues to innovate the menu as the fast-casual concept grows.  

Find more episodes of this podcast on Spotify.

About the Author

Patricia Cobe

Senior Editor

Pat plans and executes the menu sections of Restaurant Business and FoodService Director, covering food and beverage trends, Menu R&D, profiles of chefs and restaurateurs and Technomic research. She also contributes to the digital content of both RB and FSD and is editor of two weekly e-newsletters, Recipe Report and On the Menu. Pat’s weekly podcast, MenuFeed, covers a wide range of menu topics through interviews with chefs and operators.

Pat came to Winsight from Hearst, where she was an executive editor. She is the co-author of the Mompreneurs series of books as well as two cookbooks. She graduated from Cornell University and earned a Masters in Journalism from Boston University. She is active in several professional organizations, including Les Dames d’Escoffier and the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC), and serves as a judge for the James Beard Media Awards.

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