Bill Prato, Dianne Light, and John Brunty, the three behind DiPrato’s and DiPrato’s Original Pimento Cheese
Success comes when you see a challenge and meet that challenge.
If you eat lunch at DiPrato’s any day of the week or brunch on Sundays, you see Dianne Light. If you dined at Dianne’s on Devine in the evenings Monday through Saturday, you would have seen Dianne. But as of Tuesday, March 19, 2013, Dianne has put all her entrepreneural talents toward DiPrato’s Deli and DiPrato’s Original Pimento Cheese. Dianne’s on Devine has closed.
Since 2004, Dianne has seen the growing potential of DiPrato’s Delicatessen at 342 Pickens Street, a venture by Dianne and Bill Prato. Prato, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, has been the chef at Dianne’s for 18 years and at DiPratos since it opened. Since there are only so many hours in a day, Dianne and Bill have decided to devote their time to DiPrato’s.
John Brunty, who has been a manager of Dianne’s on Devine on and off for three decades when not marketing products in New York, will take to the road to introduce DiPrato’s Pimento Cheese to commercial retailers. The idea came as customers who were waiting in line to place their orders at DiPrato’s were teased with a taste of the pimento cheese. Even though the pimento cheese is available for takeout and on the menu at DiPrato’s, customers kept asking how they could get the pimento cheese for friends and relatives in other parts of the country. These comments sparked the idea to market DiPrato’s Pimento Cheese, now sold online, at Cromer’s, and at farmers’ markets. With the extra energy being put into this new venture, the pimento cheese will probably be on the shelves of retail grocery and specialty stores very soon.
Dianne has been on an upward career path since she sold hot dogs at her father’s three-par golf course when she was a child. She grew up in Shandon behind St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. At Dreher High School, she sold advertising for the Blue Devil. After high school, she began honing her skills by working for an insurance company, next as a secretary for the Chamber of Commerce, and then for three years as co-owner of Casa D’el, a wig salon.
Later in the mid 60s, Dianne and her former husband, Jack Jackson, opened LaBrasca’s located on Fort Jackson Boulevard. At first, it was a takeout operation, but they expanded it with a dining room and Dianne was the waitress. In 1968, they opened Jesudi’s (“The Cave”) across the street from LaBrasca’s named for daughters Jennifer, Suzanne, and also Dianne. After the couple’s divorce, Jesudi’s was sold, and Jackson continued running LaBrasca’s.
For the next six years Dianne worked for Johnny Yates in interior commercial design. But Dianne was pulled back into the restaurant business when Johnny Stanley who owned The Loft on Devine Street in Five Points asked Dianne to manage it with her brother Andy Ryan. In 1989, after two years at The Loft, another challenge dropped in Dianne’s lap. She had the opportunity to open Dianne’s on Assembly Street where as Dianne said, “Friendships were made and fun was had.” In 1995, these same customers followed Dianne to 2400 Devine Street, the location of the former Griff ’s and Peddler.
Not only have these career experiences helped Dianne develop into the successful woman she is today, but she has a unique way of treating everyone who comes through the doors of her businesses as if they were coming to her home. She is gracious and always there to greet the customers and talk with them. The training she gives her staff shows as servers treat customers with professionalism and smiles on their faces.
Dianne’s has hosted hundreds of charity events, business meetings, and special occasions. The walls are filled with awards the restaurant has received over the years. As many have said, the closing of Dianne’s on Devine is the ending of an era.
Dianne says, “I want to thank everyone for your support and friendship and all the fun we have had through the years at Dianne’s on Devine, and I hope you will join me, Bill, and John by sampling DiPrato’s Pimento Cheese. We welcome you to DiPrato’s Deli on Pickens. Not only do we serve lunch everyday and brunch on Sunday, but we host special occasions such as bridal showers and baby showers. I look forward to seeing all of you at Diprato’s.”
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