About Us
The founding team of Pullen Place is Sarig Agasi, Steve Mangano, and Holly Taylor. We are parents of children ages two to eighteen who love calling Raleigh home and are thrilled to be partnering with the City to provide fresh, affordable food to Pullen Park guests. We share a common belief in great food, local producers, a responsible approach to business, and the importance of healthy, reasonably priced food for everyone.
We all have had a variety of hospitality related experiences, with Sarig leading the way as Executive Chef and co-owner of Zely & Ritz, a leading restaurant in farm-to-table dining.
As founders, our approach is to honor the legacy of Pullen Park and provide park visitors with more than just a convenient option, but a popular one that they are excited to frequent and proud to have in their treasured park. We want Pullen Place to be a destination for individuals and families who want great food in a wonderful setting.
As owners we will continue to look at opportunities to help make a positive impact on the local food movement, especially where it addresses children’s health. We are active members of Advocates for Health in Action and other community-based organizations.
We thank you for your support. For more information about each partner and their vision for Pullen Place please click on a name below.
Sarig Agasi
Creating delicious food for my customers and supporting local suppliers is my passion. I am excited about the opportunity to bring this vision to Pullen Park – it’s more challenging but will be even more rewarding. I have three teen-aged children and one will be swimming at the Pullen Aquatic Center this winter. I know my son, like many others, will be glad to have a quick healthy option in the area for busy nights after practice. I would like Pullen Place to become a gathering spot where kids and adults can enjoy fresh, tasty, local, affordable food together. I hope to raise the bar for what people expect when they think of concessions and take the whole concept to a new level.
Steve Mangano
I am excited about creating a food venue to keep with the long cherished values of our state’s first public park and the sustainability goals of our city.
Children, quality food sourced in a responsible way, and making a positive contribution to the community – these are my personal drivers in creating Pullen Place. I have two young children who have proven to me that kids will eat their vegetables and actually like food that is cooked well and has flavor. I have always been disappointed by the lack of food options and the poor quality of food in settings geared for children, such as amusement parks, zoos, and public parks. As I have ventured out with the kids we learned to bring our own food. The idea of serving great food (that adults and kids would want to eat), that would be affordable to people from all backgrounds, and that was sourced responsibly is something that I hope spreads throughout our society. I strongly believe they are a core factor in providing long term health benefits and a greater quality of life for all.
Personally, I have always had a strong belief in honoring the heritage of an area while looking towards the future. I also enjoy creating spaces that make communities unique and having the projects and businesses I am involved in have a positive impact. Pullen Place embodies all those things and I truly hope our customers fall in love with the café and help us enhance this vision and its broader impact on food sourcing and what is served to our children.
For me Pullen Place is not just about the food, but also the service. We want to be known equally for our service as our food. Please do not hesitate to provide feedback, ideas, and opinions.
Thank you for taking the time to visit our web site and learn more about us.
Holly Taylor
I come from a long line of cooks and food lovers. I believe that sharing food is a powerful way to bring people together and that everyone deserves the opportunity to eat fresh, delicious foods at affordable prices. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. This belief and reality motivated me to start Collective Roots, a nonprofit that provides children and families in East Palo Alto, CA with regular opportunities to grow, prepare, and share healthy foods together. I learned so much in my seven years with the organization, but most of all that kids love to eat veggies when they are served in a fun and thoughtful way. I am thrilled to be a part of Pullen Place and hope it will be a catalyst for expanding access to good food, in all senses of the word, to residents of Raleigh and beyond.
