Piola Takes Inner City Produce to its Restaurants on Miami Beach, Brickell and Hallandale Beach

MIAMI, FL, April 15, 2011 (Press-News.org) Piola will unveil a locally inspired Earth Day menu at its restaurants in Brickell, Miami Beach and Hallandale Beach April 19 - 23 to showcase the produce from the Roots In The City Overtown community garden and the work of the inner city nonprofit.

Ten percent of Piola's Earth Day proceeds will benefit Roots In the City, which provides affordable fresh produce to low-income families, public school students, community agencies and homeless shelters.

"Our goal is to give back to the community and give people the chance to savor the produce that's grown just minutes from where they live," said Dante Carniato, who along his brother Stefano, is owner and founder of the Piola restaurant chain with four locations in South Florida including Naples, Fla., and 30 worldwide.

Piola's five-day celebration will also feature a farmer's market and vegetable exhibit at its locations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Everyone who eats at a Piola restaurant from April 19 - 23 in Miami-Dade and Broward counties will walk away with a bag of seeds (planting instructions included) from the Roots In The City garden at the corner of Northwest Third Avenue and Northwest 10th Street.

Members of the Piola staff will even pick some of the arugula, tomatoes, and kale, among the many Roots In The City vegetables featured on the special Earth Day pies, in hopes of encouraging patrons to keep it local in their kitchens too.

"We want to inspire people to buy local and embrace local produce," Carniato said.

The Roots In The City partnership with Piola showcases the nonprofit's growing influence on the restaurant community in South Florida. Roots already teams up with the renowned Miami Design District eatery Michael's Genuine to provide affordable fresh produce to low-income families and students at inner city public schools.

The Piola Earth Day events give Roots In The City a platform to showcase the fruits of its hard work to residents outside the inner city. The nonprofit's two-acre Overtown garden features collard greens; tomatoes; beans; bell peppers; eggplants; lettuce; squash; sweet potatoes; and various herbs.

"With Piola's help, we're taking the Overtown garden and fresh produce to people used to frozen pre-packed supermarket food," said Marvin Dunn, founder and executive director of Roots In The City. "Once they see and taste what we grow, we hope they'll start buying local produce and support local farms."

Piola - Roots In The City Earth Day Menu
• Pizza Miami Gardens - Mozzarella, tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes, scallions and fresh oregano
• Pizza Coral Gables - Mozzarella, tomato sauce, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and fresh oregano
• Pizza Homestead - Mozzarella, ricotta, sage, radishes, and rosemary
• Pizza Hallandale - Mozzarella, kale, organic eggs and cherry tomatoes
• Insalata Coconut Grove - Kale, organic eggs, radishes, and smoked salmon
• Insalata Key Biscayne - Mixed greens, scallions, heirloom tomatoes, fresh tuna and fresh oregano
• Penne Virginia Key - Whole wheat penne pasta with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, cherry tomatoes and basil
• Gnocchi Overtown - Organic La Chipper potatoes, kale, butter, sage and arugula
• Gelato Cutler Bay - Vanilla ice cream, papaya and mulberries

Piola South Florida Locations
Brickell, 1250 S. Miami Ave. (33131)
Miami Beach, 1625 Alton Road (33139)
Hallandale Beach, 1703 East Hallandale Beach Blvd. (33009)
Naples*, 9118 Strada Place, Suite 8170, (34108)
*Not involved in Earth Day Celebrations

About Piola
Founded in 1986 in Treviso, Italy, Piola combines fun, food, and culture in a unique setting. Our cuisine is rigorously Italian: simple and healthy. Piola's pizza is thin-crust and well cooked. The company has 30 restaurants worldwide.
Visit http://www.piola.it

About Roots in the City
Roots In The City is a non-profit organization dedicated to community development, jobs training, inner-city beautification, healthy eating initiatives, and community research. Visit http://www.rootsinthecity.com