Dominic "Dick" Potenza was born in West Virginia and grew up in Utica, New York. He became well known in the Rochester - Buffalo area during the 40’s as a head-waiter in the supper-club type restaurants of the era. It was at one of these supper-clubs that he met his future wife, jazz accordionist Ann Collecchia, who performed using the stage name of Ann Russell. Together, they envisioned a fast food restaurant that would serve an original style hamburger with their own special sauce. After much thought, this original style hamburger took the form of a toasted bun containing a thin patty that would cook quickly. After they modified and combined two recipes that they brought with them from Rochester, Dick and Ann developed their famous hot sauce.