Small by Choice, Whether Clients Like It or Not

Kermit Pattison:

Nick Lessins and Lydia Esparza pride themselves on meeting high standards for quality, but not necessarily for catering to the demands of their customers. They are co-owners of Great Lake, a small Chicago pizza shop that has seen the mixed blessing of great reviews.

The couple wanted to start a business that reflected their values: a neighborhood shop that purchases top-quality ingredients directly from farmers, makes every pizza by hand and serves great food at affordable prices. They also wanted to make sure their business did not take over their lives. The 14-seat shop is open only four days a week and does not take reservations. Deliveries? Yeah, right.

Mr. Lessins makes every pizza by hand. "No man is slower," wrote GQ's food critic, Alan Richman. "He makes each as though it is his first, manipulating the dough until it appears flawless, putting on toppings one small bit after another. In the time he takes to create a pie, civilizations could rise and fall, not just crusts." Mr. Richman declared the Great Lake Mortadella pie one of the best pizzas in America -- and that is when the trouble started. The shop was mobbed, with lines stretching down the block and long waits. A condensed version of a conversation with Mr. Lessins and Ms. Esparza follows:

Brokers and agents are subject to more .com schemes today than the "internet euphoria" era in the late 1990's. No organization can be all things to all people. Chicago's Great Lake Pizza informs our thinking and strategy.