Pasta Piatti New World Italian and Sesame Asian Kitchen are sisters. Their parents are Lisa and Tom Beam. The restaurants are a family affair. Daughter Olivia may be seen folding napkins or doing homework. They are active in Ashland. Lisa is an Ashland Chamber of Commerce Past President. She continues to serve on Chamber Committees and the Visitors and Convention Bureau. Tom works hard on the Chamber Green Committee as well as the City of Ashland Conservation Commission. They both take an active role with Olivia in her education while finding time to enjoy Ashland's many year round outdoor activates. Pasta Piatti and Sesame fill the niche for reasonable, diverse cuisine, attracting visitors and locals to their outdoor dining in the summer months and comfortable warmth in winter.
Lisa talks about doing business in Ashland:
Our business began here in Ashland through a partnership opportunity with another existing business. We were already living in Ashland, but leaving town each day for work kept us from really engaging in our hometown.
For our industry, Ashland allowed for a business model that could be built around a diverse demographic as we have the influx of tourism and the fortune of an outgoing local community. Working within a community of people that offers so much has allowed us to easily meet and network as business needs have grown and changed. It is pretty amazing to be able to find most of your key contacts and service providers just walking distance away.
I'm not sure it sets us apart.... We are extremely hands on in our business even after 10 years. We are consistently striving to be better than we were the day before and seek to surround ourselves with like-minded people.
I go back again to the fact that the Ashland community has so much depth in its people. There is an open-minded approach by the majority and that creates the opportunity to try new and different things in your business. In a small town there is so much open communication you quickly know when you have made decisions that are well received or when you have missed the mark.
I have learned that the old adage, "It's all who you know" could not be more true in the microcosm we call Ashland.
Pasta Piatti New World Italian
358 E. Main St., Ashland
www.pastapiatti.com/
Sesame Asian Kitchen
21 Winburn Way, Ashland
sesameasiankitchen.com/
Photo 1. by Graham Lewis. Photo 2. by Christopher Briscoe. Photos 3. & 4. by Sean Bagshaw
