Pomodoro Progress: Darren Potter Is Shaking Up Ciro's

Canadian Darren Potter has just taken over as manager at Ciro’s Pomodoro. We spoke to him about the challenges for Ciro’s and how he narrowly missed breaking a world record.

Which of the following jobs is most like being a restaurant manager: orchestra conductor, firefighter or babysitter?
Orchestra conductor. If you can keep everyone flowing together, you can make sweet delicious music – or in my case, food!

How do you deal with the pressures?
I go and I lose myself on the dance floor five nights a week. Oh yeah, I drink a bit too.

When you walk into a new job managing a restaurant, how do you get started?
Identify what they’ve been doing right and what they’ve been doing wrong. I like to focus on the positive things first. Once you gain the trust of your team, it’s much easier to make improvements.

Some of our web users have been pretty harsh in their reviews of Ciro’s. What would you say to those people?
I was a bit shocked at the harshness, but I see that as a challenge to make the improvements that are needed. I say take a deep breath and give us another chance. Improvements are being made and your next visit will be much better.

What reasons do you see for optimism?
We have a new chef who has put a lock on the quality of the food, our team is starting to work together, the location is great – and I was born an optimist, so I have no choice.

What’s your favorite dish on your menu?
The Caterina pizza. I think our pizzas are great. The crust isn’t too dry, the sauce is perfect and I’m a pizza addict!

If you weren’t working at Ciro’s, which other Beijing restaurant would you like to manage?
The dumpling joint (Yipin Xiaolong) just down the street from Ciro’s. I could eat dumplings all day long.

If you were an athlete, which world record would you most want to break?
Ron Hunt of the Montreal Expos has the record for being hit by the most pitches in a season. I figure I could easily beat that record – I’m a big target.

And what’s the stupidest world record attempt you’ve ever heard of?
I once attempted to beat the world record for eating the most Ferrero Rocher in one minute. The record was eight and I could only do seven. I felt pretty stupid afterwards.

Click here to see the November issue of the Beijinger in full.

Photos: Judy Zhou