{"id":3923,"date":"2018-11-20T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/profile-mario-del-pero\/"},"modified":"2024-09-26T13:42:18","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T20:42:18","slug":"profile-mario-del-pero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/profile-mario-del-pero\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile: Mario Del Pero"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-2907-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-2907-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"Profile: Mario Del Pero\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Mario Del Pero and his wife and business partner, Ellen Chen, work closely with the vendors who supply their restaurants. Here, they visit Drake Family Farms, which produces artisan goat cheese. Photo courtesy of Mario Del Pero.\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=arts-and-culture\">Arts and Culture<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Profile: Mario Del Pero<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Mario Del Pero is co-founder of Mendocino Farms, a Los Angeles born-and-bred chain of gourmet sandwich and salad restaurants.\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Michelle Boston<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">November 20, 2018<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 4.0350274 1.058837 1.0874543 2.51831502 1.6884158 4.03502747 1.6884158 1.44087681 0 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xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m8.14285714 9.42857143c-.17142857 0-.34285714 0-.51428571.08571428l7.28571427 6.34285719c.3428572.2571428.6857143.2571428.9428572 0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>Mario Del Pero grew up in a food family. Nearly a century ago, his great-grandfather immigrated to the United States from Italy, settling in San Francisco and opening a butcher shop in the bustling, seaside Embarcadero neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, the business blossomed into a larger family-run operation \u2014 a meat processing company in Marysville, Calif., north of Sacramento \u2014 that Del Pero\u2019s father eventually took over.<\/p>\n<p>The younger Del Pero, now a titan in the fast-casual California dining scene \u2014 he and his wife, Ellen Chen, co-founded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mendocinofarms.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mendocino Farms<\/a> artisan sandwich restaurants \u2014 said that his childhood experiences in the family business and his time at USC helped shape his career path.<\/p>\n<p>Del Pero\u2019s father made sure that his son understood the importance of a hard day\u2019s work. He assigned him some of the meat processing plant\u2019s toughest, and lowest paying, positions. One summer he was tasked with repairing the processing plant\u2019s roof. Another stint had him working on the processing line, a job that he said is not for the faint of heart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of my great grades were due to the fact that I did not want to be working at that processing table,\u201d he said. \u201cThose were definitely formative jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>An entrepreneurial mind<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As an undergraduate at USC Dornsife, Del Pero started out as a <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/politicalscience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">political science<\/a> major but quickly switched his focus to <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/sir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">international relations<\/a> when he heard about an incredible new professor named <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/steven-lamy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Steven Lamy<\/a> who was joining the faculty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought, \u2018How do I not lose this opportunity to take as many classes as I can with him?\u2019 \u201d Del Pero said.<\/p>\n<p>Lamy, professor of international relations and spatial sciences, was an influential figure for Del Pero. In addition to lessons on policies and theories, Del Pero picked up soft skills modeled by Lamy that have been crucial to his business acumen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne thing that Dr. Lamy drove home for me is the ability to connect with individuals in large settings,\u201d he said. In a classroom of hundreds of students, Lamy knew every student\u2019s name and if they had attended class the previous week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo this day, I walk into a restaurant and I think about how it\u2019s filled with individuals who all have different needs. I serve them best by connecting with them, and letting them know they are heard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His international relations courses also honed his critical thinking abilities. Those skills, he said, come into play for him on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI use [them] in every single thing I do,\u201d Del Pero said. \u201cWhether it is understanding a conflict in 1960s Venezuela or analyzing an issue with our restaurants\u2019 supply chain, I\u2019m identifying all the players, I\u2019m making sure I understand the history, and I\u2019m thinking of what it will teach us for the future to give us the best shot for success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Right place, right time<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 2003, Del Pero and Chen came up with the Mendocino Farms concept \u2014 gourmet sandwiches and salads that occupy a space somewhere between the convenience of Subway or Quiznos and upscale eateries like Joan\u2019s on Third. They opened their first restaurant in downtown Los Angeles\u2019 Bunker Hill neighborhood two years later.<\/p>\n<p>L.A., Del Pero said, was the best place for Mendocino Farms to be born because of Angelenos\u2019 very specific tastes. \u201cIt\u2019s so much so that if you can make it in L.A., you can make it anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The city has also gone through a renaissance in the past decade, he said, with many great chefs either hailing from L.A. or moving here to open restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve been blessed not just to be friends with them but to have a few of them help pushing us and how we think,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Del Pero is involved in research and development of menu items, but a number of highly accomplished local chefs have had a hand in Mendocino Farms\u2019 culinary style. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mendocinofarms.com\/foodie-friends-eko-eats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Judy Han of Eko Eats<\/a> helped develop the restaurant\u2019s first menus; Bryant Ng of Cassia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mendocinofarms.com\/cassia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">created a sandwich with all proceeds from its sale donated to a nonprofit<\/a> assisting the homeless and victims of domestic violence; and chefs Josef Centeno, Kris Morningstar, Erik Black and Joe Marcos have also had a hand in menu items.<\/p>\n<p>Del Pero and Chen have redefined how their restaurants interact with vendors. Instead of working through a third-party distributor, they have built direct relationships with local farmers who can bring the freshest produce and foods straight from farm to table. <a href=\"http:\/\/scarboroughfarms.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scarborough Farms<\/a> in Oxnard, an hour\u2019s drive north of L.A., delivers greens daily, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drakefamilyfarms.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Drake Family Farms<\/a> in Ontario, 45 minutes east, provides artisan goat cheeses.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Coming full circle<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the past several years, Mendocino Farms has expanded from its L.A. base, opening new restaurants in Orange County, San Diego and the Bay Area. A location is slated to open in Houston, in 2019, which will bring the total to 28 restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>But nothing might be as significant for Del Pero as the company\u2019s new flagship restaurant. He recently oversaw its opening in San Francisco\u2019s Merchants Exchange Building near the waterfront, just a few blocks from where his great-grandfather opened his butcher shop when he first arrived in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that 100 years later his great-grandson can be part of a company that employs about 1,200 team members, a good majority of whom are living out their own immigrant story \u2014 that meant a lot to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"\/usc-dornsife-magazine-fall-2018-winter-2019\/\">Read more stories from USC Dornsife Magazine\u2019s Fall 2018\/Winter 2019 issue &gt;&gt;<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mario Del Pero \u201995 is co-founder of Mendocino Farms, a Los Angeles born-and-bred chain of gourmet sandwich and salad restaurants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":3926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[264,85,181,182],"class_list":["post-3923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","tag-alumni","tag-international-relations","tag-los-angeles","tag-steven-lamy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Profile: Mario Del Pero<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/profile-mario-del-pero\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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