Who is Brigade?
Brigade is an authentic neapolitan pizzeria where you can custom-build your own Neapolitan pizzas, salads or sandwiches with a quick and efficient assembly line system.
The history of Brigade pizza.
Brigade Pizzéria Napolitaine, was created in 2013 from scratch by husband and wife team of Jean Daniel (JD) Nadeau and Grace Yeh. Brigade opened its first location on Stanley Street in Montreal on August 1st 2014 and has never looked back!
JD and Grace have a history of creating a successful food concepts and Brigade is not their first. In 2008 Grace and Jean-Daniel opened their first Yeh! Frozen Yogurt &. Cafe corporate location and 2 years later sold 50% of their company to investors after expanding the brand to 4 corporate stores and 18 franchisees within a period of 2 years. Grace and Jean-Daniel were involved in every aspect of creating, opening, managing and running a Yeh! franchise from store design, menu and recipes, creating operations manuals and procedures, negotiating advantageous terms with suppliers, as well as the entire marketing and branding portfolio. In December 2012, Grace who was still acting as Vice-President and JD as President, sold the remaining 50% of their shares and decided to look for new concept to develop in Canada.
After traveling across the United States and Canada, JD and Grace realized there was an untapped niche in the casual dining market especially in the Italian categories. Brigade Pizzeria Napolitaine was born out of their shared love for Neapolitan pizzas, prepared under strict guidelines using a 200 year old recipe and traditional preparation and cooking procedures. They set out to create a unique dining experience that was different from all traditional pizza restaurants. Their dream was to create a place with where every one of all ages could get a delicious custom made and healthy meal made with 100% natural ingredients served to them in less than 5 minutes. They wanted to show the world how Real Neapolitan pizzas are made just as they are in Naples Italy and have been for hundreds of years, with authentic ingredients, a real wood fire, in a vibrant setting filled with life, friends, good music, and great food.
They started their journey by making Neapolitan pizzas in their backyard, before becoming Certified by the Vera Pizza Napoletana from Italy as official Pizzaiolos. After over a year of development, painstakingly working on their dough, and perfecting their craft, Brigade Pizzeria Napolitaine opened its doors on Stanley Street in Downtown Montreal in 2014.
Jean-Daniel and Grace’s core belief is that fresh, great tasting, and authentically made food can be and should be accessible every day.
” We wanted to bring the quality of food that you would expect from fine dining to something that is affordable and available to the masses. There is no reason why fast service food can’t use organic basil or cage free eggs. We make our dough with only natural ingredients, roast our vegetables and meats by wood fire, and bake our own bread in the morning. It is very important in creating Brigade, to keep it Real”. JD Nadeau
Jean-Daniel Nadeau graduated from the International Academy of Design in 1999. A born entrepreneur, he started his first company at age of 8 years old selling necklaces he made himself on the streets of Rawdon, Quebec. At the tender age of 14, JD started a cleaning and service company and operated a “skate and street wear” shop at the age of 16.
After completing his schooling, he spent 3 years in China working for Raffles Institute, a design school at the University of Science and Technologies of Guangzhou, and for Dong Hua University of Shanghai. JD also worked for Sherpas Sport in Shanghai as Artistic Director. Upon his return to Montreal he joined the prestigious Corus Entertainment Group and was named Director of Development, as well as Creative Director, managing a group of 10 employees.
As CEO of Yeh! Yogourt Glace et Cafe, JD was in charge of corporate stores and franchising, branding, product development, and marketing. At Brigade JD is President of Brigade and is primarily in charge of branding, marketing, business development and day to day operations.
Grace Yeh received a Graduate degree from UCLA (1998) in English literature. In 2002 she graduated from the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York. She then went on to complete 6 years of design experience in the fashion industry having worked for Tommy Hilfiger and Montreal based company “Matt and Nat”.
As Vice-President of Yeh! Yogourt Glace et Cafe, Grace was in charge of day-to-day operations of the corporate stores and product development, as well as quality control. At Brigade, Grace is the Vice-President and is in charge of product development, day to day operations, supplier sourcing and purchasing.
Authentic neapolitan pizza.
Everything is fresh and made in house from our own mayonnaise to pesto and other sauces, to our famous meatballs and sausages. Vegetables are roasted daily in the wood burning fire. Our animal protein products are grass fed and non-GMO. Most if not all of our ingredients are organic. These are all important and enticing features to consumers.