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estaurant News R April 2014 Vol. 16 No. 2
N A T I O N A L
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F O C U S
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Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152
fired up MARY BROWN’S PLANS TO DOUBLE UP
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SAVOUR HIGHLIGHTS NOVA SCOTIA
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ROARY MACPHERSON LAUDED AT HNL
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P.E.I. RESTAURATEUR NEW CRFA CHAIR
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Kate and Brian Vallis.
By Kristen Smith, Assistant editor, digital content
DIGITAL INNOVATION From mobility to customer interaction, we asked experts what’s new and what’s next in point of sale technology.
ST. JOHN’S—Newfoundland and Labrador-based Piatto Pizzeria is poised to have a presence in all of Atlantic Canada’s provinces. Four years after opening Piatto Pizzeria on Duckworth Street in St. John’s and two years after opening in Halifax, owner Brian Vallis is bringing his Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) certified pies to Moncton, NB, and Charlottetown in June. Further plans are to open a fifth location in Dartmouth, NS, next year. Vallis called the VPN style “the original pizza” created more than two centuries ago in Naples. “The story that we believe is that it was a fishing community not dissimilar to Newfoundland and the men would go out on their small dories fishing and when they’d come in the women would have grilled vegetables and olive oil and they used to take it down on flatbread,” said Vallis. As the women walked down from the city to the beach olive oil would run off, so they stopped touching the rim before baking the flatbread. “If you don’t touch it with hands
and you don’t touch it with tomato sauce, now, or olive oil, in those days, it will rise up so you get a nice raised rim all the way around it,” said Vallis. “There are a couple different stories about how pizza got its start,” added his daughter Kate Vallis, who operates the flagship location. Brian Vallis noted there are strict criteria to meet to become VPN certified. The oven must be a certain shape, be wood burning, without a gas connection, be able to maintain temperatures of over 900 o F and cook the pizza in 90 seconds. Only certain varieties of wood can be used, such as oak, cherry and applewood. “We’re really lucky here because birch is one of them and Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have got tons and tons of birch,” said Vallis. In terms of ingredients, VPN pizza is limited to Tipo 00 flour, which is more refined and has a lower gluten content than standard flour, and must use fresh yeast, sea salt and San Marzano tomatoes. The water has to be a particular temperature and the dough can only be stretched on marble. “It is a science and if you follow the recipe, the dough is perfect every
time,” Vallis said. The three new locations will have to undergo the intensive certification process. The Moncton location will open at Main and Church streets in a century-old, renovated bank building. It is about 3,000 square feet and will have 90 seats. The Charlottetown location, where they have a local partner with more than 20 years of food experience, is also in a century-old building at the corner of King and Queen. Vallis’ son John will run the 95seat restaurant in the 3,000-squarefoot space, which features post and beam construction and large rafters. Piatto is not a franchise. Vallis said operating partners must be with the company for six months and have demonstrated shared values regarding the authenticity and customer experience before they can buy into the business. Greg McAfee is currently training in Halifax—which Vallis’ daughter Jay Vallis runs—to head up the Moncton location. “There is going to be a lot of real consistency to the look and feel of the brand,” Vallis said. Continued on page 6