Correntis busy running three
stores, are given Sanpete
Business of the Year Award
By Robert Stevens
Managing editor
Dec. 14, 2017
MANTI—Adapt and grow.
These are the values Dirk and Sandra Correnti of Manti have used to succeed in business, and their success has led to them being chosen as this year’s Sanpete County Business of the Year by the Six County Association of Governments (SCAOG).
The recognition was presented to the Correntis by Sanpete County Commissioner Claudia Jarrett on Wednesday, Dec. 6, in Richfield, when the SCAOG and Six County Economic Development District (SCEDD) held their 28th Annual General Board and Recognition Banquet.
“When they first told me, I thought they were pulling my leg,” said Dirk.
But it was no joke.
The Correntis have become pillars of the Manti economy, creating jobs and overcoming challenge after challenge with their three businesses: Dirk’s Farm House Restaurant, Manti Country Village Motel and Correnti’s Kitchen and Floral.
When the pair’s trio of businesses were nominated for the recognition, the votes cast by Sanpete’s county commissioners were unanimous in agreement that the Correntis were this year’s clear winner said Jarrett.
The Correnti family is no strangers to business or to Sanpete.
Having run a successful San Francisco Italian restaurant, Trattoria Contadina, as well as a successful four-year run owning and operating the Manti House Inn, the Correntis have moved back and forth from California to Manti several times.
But after moving back this final time—because they wanted their kids to be raised in Sanpete—the Correntis set their sights on opening a restaurant, and they picked a location some said was cursed.
Eight restaurants had opened and closed their doors at this location in a span of 15 years.
“There were some tight times,” Dirk said. With a low population density like that of Manti, a restaurant needs to keep a tight ship, he added.
Now going eight years strong, Dirk’s Farmhouse Restaurant has made it through rough patches and grown, said Dirk, and is continuing to improve.
For years now, the restaurant owners have given back to their patrons and the community by offering a free Thanksgiving dinner to anyone.
“They are the longest lasting, most successful restaurant that has ever occupied that space,” said Jarrett.
Correnti’s Kitchen and Floral was the second in the Correntis’ trio of Manti businesses. Last, but not least, said Dirk, came the Manti Country Village Motel.
But the Correntis are making plans to “intertwine” their businesses in ways that support and enhance each other, both financial and in flexibility.
The key to their plan, the couple said, is transforming Correnti’s Kitchen and Floral into Correnti’s Event Center and Floral, losing the bulk of the kitchen equipment to make way for a place to hold weddings, receptions, piano recitals (complete with a beautiful grand piano), ceremonies and other events.
“We can easily make seating for 100 people,” Dirk said. “We’ll have a professional kitchen with catering, and we’ll be able to fill a niche in the market that isn’t filled right now.”
The couple’s plan to turn the kitchen shop into a full-feature reception and event center came to Sandra one day, and after they thought about it some, it started to make sense.
Besides the obvious ability to host weddings and receptions, Sandra said the couple sees the completion of the Manti Sports Complex as creating a need for large traveling groups to have a place to eat in comfort after coming to Sanpete to play in a softball tournament or other sporting event.
And, of course, traveling sports teams are going to need someplace to stay overnight. That’s where the Manti Country Village Motel ties in to the inter-business synergy.
On top of that, the couple said the restaurant regularly gets requests for service in a private room, so converting the kitchen business into an event venue also fills that need.
The Correntis sold their successful San Francisco restaurant, which Dirk took over from his own father, to their oldest son Kevin and his wife, Gina, to fund their three-pronged business plan—making it a third-generation family-owned-and-operated restaurant.
The Correntis say they hope they will create an equally long-lasting business legacy in Sanpete.
“The Sanpete County Commissioners were very pleased to recognize Dirk Correnti and his lovely wife Sandra for their contributions to the economic vitality of Manti City and Sanpete County,” Jarrett said. “Their expert management of three businesses in Manti definitely serves the many residents of the county as well as those visitors who stay, eat or dine in their establishments.”
