Imagine buying a business without knowing what you’re getting. That’s what Pellegrino “Rino” Caruso did based on trust in his friend Rahim Edwards. The two bonded while working in food service in the Air Force and are now so close that they refer to themselves as “framily,” friends whose families have blended.
During Edwards’ time in Abu Dhabi, he kept seeing military personnel return from off-base outings with PappaRoti bags. Then, someone handed him one and told him to try it.
Inside were roti buns, PappaRoti’s specialty. They’re sizable, yeasty rolls with a crunchy, coffee-caramel top and a doughy center. Various sweet toppings can include fruit, cookies, and sauces. Signatures buns include Nuts for Nutella, Berries Delight, and Cheese and Honey. There is also butter in the middle, so each bun has both sweet and savory tastes. These delightful treats are meant to be eaten hot.
“Salty butter in the middle? Coffee on top? I had to taste another one,” Edwards says. He ate three.
Knowing Caruso’s skills in the kitchen, Edwards implored his friend to duplicate the buns. Caruso, having never tasted them, couldn’t crack the code. Edwards tried sending some to America for Caruso, but they never made it here.
Years later, a retired Caruso got a text from Edwards’ wife, informing him PappaRoti was franchising in the United States. “Want to have some fun?” she asked.
According to its website, PappaRoti started 2002 “in the kitchen of a Malaysian mother, whose strong passion for baking led her to discover a new recipe while playing with the shape and texture of the roti dough.” The first shop opened in Malaysia in 2003. Today, there are more than 450 in 14 countries. In the U.S., they can be found in Michigan, Illinois, Texas … and now Nevada.
When the Caruso-Edwards framily bought a franchise, Caruso had still never tasted a bun. “It’s his (Edwards’) fault,” he says. “He tasted it, and then we bought it. I just relied on his taste and his desire for this bun to be tried. I couldn’t get it, I couldn’t make it, so we bought it.”
Edwards says they chose Las Vegas — specifically the corner of Tropicana and Pecos — because of “the airport, UNLV, the Strip, Henderson, the Air Force base … We picked Las Vegas because of the diversity and the culture.”
“When’s the last time you said you can bring something brand-new to Las Vegas?” Caruso adds.
Just as popular as the buns at PappaRoti are the drinks: karak tea, a milk-based chai with saffron, cardamom, and ginger; horlicks, which Caruso describes as, “a meal replacement malt with a lot of vitamins and minerals”; and the best-selling Turkish coffee, which is prepared in person on hot sand.
Caruso finally got his first taste of PappaRoti on the cross-country ride from New York to Las Vegas, when he and Edwards stopped in Chicago. Upon first bite, he, like Edwards, believed they had a hit on their hands.
One word of caution: The menu at PappaRoti can be overwhelming. Perhaps it’s best to let a pal choose for you. It seems to have worked out for Caruso and Edwards.