PMQ Pizza Magazine May 2014

MAY 2014 | WWW.PMQ.COM

HOW TINY BIG APPLE PIZZA

DOMINATES ITS MARKET Page WITH DIGITAL-AGE STRATEGIES

42

Fire Up Sales With Wood- and CoalBurning Ovens Page 26

Pairing Pizza and Beers for Profit Page 54

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PMQ Blogs

Recent Videos (pmq.com/video)

ThePizzaInsider.PMQ.com Liz Barrett, PMQ’s editor at large, brings you the inside scoop on the industry’s latest trends, marketing and technology.

Recently at The Pizza Insider: Liz shows how to fix your three big marketing mistakes; what a minimum wage hike could mean for your pizzeria; and six ways to wake up a boring newsletter.

PizzaWithoutBorders.PMQ.com From PMQ’s headquarters in Paris, Missy Green, PMQ’s international correspondent, reports on pizza events, trends and curiosities from around the world.

Recently at Pizza Without Borders: Missy chats about a unique gluten-free item served in South American pizzerias; six ways to market to Hispanic customers; and signs of Italy straying from pizza tradition.

Pizza TV: Joe Bologna’s Joe Bologna’s started in Lexington, Kentucky, as “a hole in the wall that nobody would go into,” says owner Joe Bologna. Nearly 40 years later, it’s a hometown favorite, and Bologna himself is regarded as the local “godfather of pizza.”

SliceofLife.PMQ.com PMQ’s social media director, Melanie Addington, brings you weekly posts on the latest trends and tips in social media.

Recently at Slice of Life: Melanie showcases Aurelio’s use of Facebook to launch a new store; how Great Scott’s Pizza let Facebook fans decide which soda brand it should carry; and the use of social media in New Orleans.

Pizza 360: Combating Rising Food Costs

Think Tank Hot Topics (thinktank.pmq.com) PMQ’s Think Tank is the only online forum for the pizza industry. With a membership of 2,500 and more than 80,000 posts, you’re sure to find the answers you’re seeking. Some examples of recent posts: Security Cameras – A pizzeria operator asks if it’s legal to have her security cameras also record audio. Several Think Tankers advise her to seek the counsel of an attorney, as this may not be legal in some states/situations.

Liquor/Beer Cost – Think Tank members discuss how much the cost of goods sold (COGS) should be on liquor/beer at a pizzeria bar.

Do you have an answer for these operators or questions of your own? Log on to the Think Tank and take a look around at thinktank.pmq.com.

This Week in Pizza (pmq.com/thisweekinpizza) PMQ’s weekly e-newsletter brings breaking industry news to your inbox every Wednesday. Receive it free by visiting pmq.com/subscribe.

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PMQ Pizza Magazine

The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

As the costs of cheese and other ingredients keep rising, Sean Brauser, founder of the Medina, Ohio-based Romeo’s Pizza chain, says operators should not be afraid to raise their prices. Brauser also shares tips for managing food costs through portion controls and inventory reviews.

Follow Us! PMQ Pizza Magazine @PMQpizzamag pmqpizzamag pmqpizzamagazine

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Join the discussion! thinktank.pmq.com

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See It To Believe It!

CONTENTS MAY 2014

| May 2014 | Volume 18,

The Big Apple Boom Big Apple Pizza, a bite-sized pizzeria with booming sales, has combined neighborhood marketing and social media strategies to become a pizza making force in Havelock, North Carolina.

By Rick Hynum

Business Monthly | PMQ.com

26

THE BIG APPLE BOOM

The Pizza Industry’s

FEATURES

MAY 2014 | WWW.PM Q.COM

Issue 4

42

42

PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE

ON THE COVER

Keepers of the Flame

HOW TIN Y BIG APP LE PIZ

D O M INAT ZA ES IT S M AR KE T Page

WIT H DIGI TAL AGE STR ATE GIES

42

Fire Up Sales With Wood- and CoalBurning Oven s

Page 26

Pairing Pizza and Beers for Profit Page 54

As more customers demand pizzas made with an artisan touch, experts offer insider tips for creating perfect pies with wood- and coal-fired ovens.

By Tracy Morin

36

The Grillmaster Brian Kingsford of Bacaro Restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island, shares his secrets for grilling pizzas over a charcoal fire for a uniquely delicious flavor.

By Tracy Morin

54

Pints, Pies and Profits Finding “harmonies of flavor” is the key to determining the best pizza-and-beer combinations and jump-starting your craft brew sales.

By Tracy Morin

60

The Golden Age of Chicken With poultry’s popularity soaring, now’s the time to bring chicken back into the spotlight through fresh applications and signature sauces.

By Liz Barrett

66

Creating Fans of Your Brand Tom Feltenstein posts 10 tips for using social media to promote your brand and engage your customers.

By Tom Feltenstein

72

Walter’s Kids At Smiling With Hope Bakery in Newark, Ohio, the food is good, and the cause—teaching real-world job skills to youths with special needs—is even better.

By Rick Hynum

80

David & Goliath With help from PMQ’s Think Tank, the owner of Pizza Pizzazz in Perth, Western Australia, went head-tohead with a national chain and came out on top.

By Tom Boyles

82

Best of the Midwest More than 125 pizza makers brought their ‘A’ game to the annual Pizza Pizzazz competition at this year’s North America Pizza and Ice Cream Show.

88

Hot Products at NAPICS 2014 PMQ staff members made the rounds at the 2014 North America Pizza and Ice Cream Show and came back with their recommendations for hot, new moneymaking products.

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PMQ Pizza Magazine

The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

ZACH FRAILEY

KARA HOFFMAN

CONTENTS MAY 2014

54

26

NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL

PINTS, PIES, AND PROFITS

KEEPERS OF THE FLAME

MARCO’S COAL FIRED PIZZA

60

THE GOLDEN AGE OF CHICKEN

DEPARTMENTS 18

In Lehmann’s Terms: Tips for a Faster Slice Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehmann explains how pizzaby-the-slice operations can achieve fast turnaround by using temperature-/humiditycontrolled cabinets.

20

New York’s Finest: Ensalata Parlez Vous Francais Brighten your spring menu with this light, zesty, French dressingbased pasta salad from Chef Santo Bruno.

22

Marketing Maven: Catering to the Graduates Help high school and college seniors create unforgettable graduation parties by offering pizza specials, luncheons and catering services tailor-made for them.

24

Accounting for Money: Bridging the Communication Gap It’s time to make sure your chef and your accountant are speaking the same language.

52

Recipe of the Month: Cast Iron Meat Lovers Pizza Baked in an oiled cast-iron pan, this specialty pie features four savory meat toppings, including Italian sausage, ham, pepperoni and bacon.

114 Time Capsule:

Rosati’s Pizza

Coming Next Month Flatbreads: Learn the secrets to flatbread success from pizzeria operators across the country who have found ways to capitalize on this burgeoning trend.

Catering: Pizzeria operators are poised to win big at catering, but first they have to develop the perfect menu with products using ingredients already on hand.

Craft Sodas: Refreshingly different and trendy, craft sodas seem to be tailor-made for the pizzeria environment.

Learn how to make the most of the best options on the market today.

Illinois-based Rosati’s has remained a family-run operation even while expanding to nearly 200 locations in 14 states.

Click here to view Pizza TV video profile of Joe Bologna’s, operated by Lexington, Kentucky’s own “godfather of pizza.”

Click here to view PMQ Extra: Highlights of the U.S. Pizza Team’s trip to Italy for the World Pizza Championship Click here to view Pizza 360: Sean Brauser of Romeo’s Pizza offers tips for combating rising food costs.

10 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

IN EVERY ISSUE 6

Online at PMQ.com

12

Editor’s Note

14

Letters to the Editor

16

Pizza Press

91

Idea Zone

92

Product Spotlight

101 Advertiser Index 102 Pizza Industry Resource Guide

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EDITOR’S NOTE RICK HYNUM

Something to Smile About

PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | May 2014 | Volume 18, Issue 4

MAY 2014 | WWW.PMQ.COM

The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly | PMQ.com

HOW TINY BIG APPLE PIZZA

DOMINATES ITS MARKET Page WITH DIGITAL AGE STRATEGIES

42

Fire Up Sales With Wood- and CoalBurning Ovens Page 26

Pairing Pizza and Beers for Profit Page 54

On the cover: Manager Chantale Ley and owner Anthony Rocco make a formidable team at Big Apple Pizza, a pizzeria in Havelock, North Carolina, with enviable sales and a potent mix of social media and neighborhood marketing strategies.

Photo by Zach Frailey

Now and then, a story comes along that makes me really glad to be a journalist. Of course, every story matters to me, and it’s always satisfying to work at a job in which you can learn something useful—and often enlightening—every day. But only a few stories over the years have truly moved me. This month’s feature article “Walter’s Kids” (page 72) is one of them. Due to a pressing personal issue on the day of the interview, I didn’t get to spend as much time chatting with Newark (Ohio) High School special education teacher Walter Gloshinski as I would have liked. I had to cut the interview a little short and rush off. I regret that, because there was so much more to talk about.

Walter’s calling—and make no mistake, it is a calling—is fraught with challenges. He teaches special needs students with cognitive delays and learning disabilities that will make it difficult for them to earn a living in adulthood. Our fast-paced, technologyobsessed society tends to write these folks off entirely, and many will remain dependent on their parents or other caretakers for their entire lives. But it’s incorrect to assume that people with special needs can’t contribute to society. Many of them can, and that’s what Walter has demonstrated with his unique operation, Smiling With Hope Bakery.

Walter’s students may not be able to run a POS system, but they can wash dishes, mop floors and scrub counters with the best of them. Some can serve customers, and others do everything from stretching and tossing dough to prepping the pie and firing it up in the oven. As Walter explains, they comprise an untapped labor force, capable of entry-level restaurant work and perfectly content to stay on the same job forever.

Walter has placed many of his students in local foodservice jobs, and other area companies and schools support his efforts by contracting with him to provide everything from healthy chocolate chip cookies to doggie biscuits. And as if Walter’s own dedication isn’t heartwarming enough, many others have come forward to support the cause. “I’ve learned that society wants to help, but they just don’t know how,” Walter told me. “I’ve been blessed to have so many people in the right positions in our corner, from superintendents, principals and boards of education to chambers of commerce.

With pizza, we’ve crossed every line of politics, race, religion and socioeconomic status.

Everybody likes pizza. It brings us all together. And my students love to serve pizza and make people happy.”

As Walter points out, there is no shortage of people with developmental disabilities, and many of them will make hardworking restaurant employees for life. So check out the article about Walter, and, if his story moves you like it moved me, contact your local or state agency that assists the disabled community and give these folks a try. Let us know how it goes!

Rick Hynum Editor-in-chief PMQ Pizza Magazine SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE Subscribe to PMQ now!

Get your print, digital or mobile edition!

12 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR RICK HYNUM A P U B L I C AT I O N O F P M Q , I N C .

Winner of 5 ASBPE Awards Winner of 4 GAMMA Awards ISSN 1937-5263

PMQ, INC. Publisher Steve Green sg@pmq.com ext. 123 Co-Publisher Linda Green linda@pmq.com ext. 121 EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Rick Hynum rick@pmq.com ext. 130 Editor at Large Liz Barrett liz@pmq.com Senior Copy Editor Tracy Morin tracy@pmq.com International Correspondent Missy Green missy@pmq.com DESIGN/PRODUCTION Art Director Kara Hoffman kara@pmq.com ext. 135 Designer Eric Summers eric@pmq.com Media Producer Daniel Lee Perea dperea@pmq.com ext.139

Handling Facebook Complaints A customer recently complained to us about a pizza. We told her we were sorry and would make her a new one. She said that she was not one to complain but that she wanted to get her money back. So we refunded her money, she thanked us, and we thought that was the end of it. She then went home and posted on our Facebook page, complaining that she got a bad pizza from us and would probably never order from us again. My question is, should I simply delete it from our Facebook page, or should I call her and ask why she posted this complaint after we gladly refunded her money? tonyspizza via the Think Tank This is a great question because it addresses a common problem for many of our readers.

Facebook and other social media sites offer many advantages for pizzeria operators and one major disadvantage: They allow dissatisfied consumers to air their grievances against you in a very public forum. In the past, your unhappy customer would have probably accepted the refund and dropped the whole thing. Thanks to Facebook, however, she had the opportunity to complain further, and she seized it. Even so, it’s an opportunity for you, too. Remember the old proverb, “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” Instead of deleting the comment or becoming defensive, post your own polite response and try to win this customer’s business once again. Feel free to point out that you honored her request for a refund, but make it clear that you want to keep her as a customer. Assure her that you are committed to providing a satisfying and rewarding experience for every guest. Even if your response doesn’t change her mind, Facebook users will be impressed by your professionalism and eagerness to accommodate your customers.

Account Executive Clifton Moody clifton@pmq.com ext. 138 Account Executive Tom Boyles tom@pmq.com ext. 122 Account Executive Anna Zemek anna@pmq.com ext 140 Sales Assistant Brandy Pinion brandy@pmq.com ext. 127 MARKETING Social Media Director Melanie Addington melanie@pmq.com ext. 133 ADMINISTRATION Chief Financial Officer Shawn Brown shawn@pmq.com Circulation Manager Sherlyn Clark sherlyn@pmq.com ext. 120 Director of Operations/ Event Coordinator Brian Hernandez brian@pmq.com ext. 129 PMQ INTERNATIONAL PMQ China Yvonne Liu yvonne@pmq.com PMQ Australia-NZ Tom Boyles tom@pmqaustralia.com France Pizza Julien Panet jpanet@francepizza.fr Pizza e Pasta Italiana Massimo Puggina redazione@pizzaepastaitaliana.it Spain—pizzanet.es Eduard Jiménez info@pizzanet.es Brazil—Pizzas & Massas Michel Wankenne wankenne@insumos.com.br EDITORIAL ADVISORS Chef Santo Bruno Tom Feltenstein Tom Lehmann Joey Todaro Ed Zimmerman

Share your passion!

Have a complaint, compliment or suggestion about something you’ve read in the pages of PMQ? Send your letter via email to editor@pmq.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line, or mail to PMQ, ATTN: Letters to the Editor, 605 Edison St., Oxford, MS 38655. We look forward to hearing from you!

Friend us on Facebook! Visit facebook.com/pmqpizzamagazine.

Thank You to Our PMQ Think Tank Moderators Daddio: Member since June 2006 Tom Lehmann: Member since June 2006

ADVERTISING Sales Director Linda Green linda@pmq.com ext. 121

Rockstar Pizza: Member since June 2006 ADpizzaguy: Member since January 2007

14 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

CONTRIBUTORS Chef Santo Bruno Linda Duke Tom Feltenstein Tom Lehmann Michael J. Rasmussen

Volume 18, Issue 4 PMQ Pizza Magazine 605 Edison St. • Oxford, MS 38655 662.234.5481 • 662.234.0665 Fax linda@pmq.com PMQ Pizza Magazine (ISSN #1937-5263) is published 10 times per year. Cost of U.S. subscription is $25 per year. International $35.

Periodical postage pricing paid at Oxford, MS. Additional mailing offices at Bolingbrook, IL. Postmaster: Send address changes to: PMQ Pizza Magazine, PO Box 2015, Langhorne, PA 19047.

Opinions expressed by the editors and contributing writers are strictly their own, and are not necessarily those of the advertisers. All rights reserved. No portion of PMQ may be reproduced in whole or part without written consent.

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GROWLING STOMACH

SELLING MADE SIMPLE GET YOUR FREE CARD READER AT SQUARE.COM/PMQ © 2014 Square, Inc. Square and the Square logo are trademarks of Square, Inc. Other brands and marks are the propert y of their respective owners.

PIZZA PRESS NEWS & VIEWS

Making a Bracket Franny’s (frannysbrooklyn.com), a pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York, took the March Madness theme to new heights with an in-house bracket competition—for pizzas, of course. From March 17 to 20, a special menu of pizzas with 16 never-before-seen pies (the “Sweet 16”) vied for supremacy. Besides the one designed by Franny herself, each was a brainchild of a Franny’s chef. At the close of service on the first day, based on sales, the number was reduced by half— narrowing to the “Elite Eight,” then the “Final Four” and finally the Championship Pizza Showdown. The most-ordered pizza of the week remained on the Franny’s menu for the remainder of the month. “As for the customers it’s attracting, Franny’s ran out of pizza dough on the first two nights of the Madness, if that’s any indication,” says Blake MacKay, a representative for the restaurant. “It’s been wildly successful and a lot of fun!”

FRANNY'S

Franny's used a Final Four-type tournament to determine the best new pizza recipe through the sales numbers of 16 competitors.

Inspiring Minds

And the Oscar For Best Delivery Goes To….

Forget the golden statues—celebs at this year’s Oscars were thinking pizza. Ellen DeGeneres ordered pies from one of her local favorites, Big Mama’s and Papa’s Pizzeria (bigmamaspizza.com), and franchise owner Edgar Martirosyan made headlines worldwide when he made the delivery right on stage (and nabbed a $1,000 tip on The Ellen DeGeneres Show the next day). “Within minutes of the telecast, we had over 5,000 emails, and now the news is all over the world,” Ararat Agakhanyan told PMQ after the event. “We will be posting all of this on our home page, where people can order the Oscar pizza uniform and have it shipped in a pizza box. There is so much response that it’s over our heads!”

When PMQ editor at large Liz Barrett was researching chicken for this month’s issue (see page 60), one interviewee wasn’t just chatting—he was brainstorming. Giovanni Cerone, owner of Mr G’s Pizzeria (gotomrgs. com) in Bryan, Texas, realized he didn’t offer a calzone that included America’s most popular poultry. So he invented the CaLizone, named after Barrett and filled with buffalo-milk and ricotta cheeses and chicken chunks. Cerone announced the new item on his Facebook page and encouraged customer trial by including a free side of Spicy Chicken Bites with every CaLizone ordered. He even took a picture of the first customers to request it and posted it on Facebook!

What inspiration will you find in the pages of PMQ this month? Drop us a line to let us know about your newest menu items—and how you’ll be marketing them!

AMBER FAZZINO

Giovanni Cerone used inspiration from a PMQ interview to create a new chicken calzone at Mr. G's.

16 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Fired Up

GIORDANO'S

In March, Chicago institution Giordano’s Famous Stuffed Pizza (giordanos.com) kicked off a multiyear partnership with the Chicago Fire Soccer Club as the official and exclusive pizza of the Chicago Fire and Toyota Park. To celebrate, the pizzeria delivered to the Chicago Fire Department and hosted a pizza party at Engine 42 that featured stuffed pizzas and special guests like Giordano’s CEO Yorgo Koutsogiorgas, with Chicago Fire players and team mascot Sparky delivering the pies. For the rest of the season, the pizzeria will serve up piping-hot pizzas via the Giordano’s Food Truck at select games, and anyone who ordered a pizza at participating locations between March 19 and 22 was entered to win a Giordano’s- and Fire-branded soccer ball and two tickets to the season opener.

“Giordano’s and the Chicago Fire are united by a commitment to hospitality,” Koutsogiorgas says. “We both enjoy creating a vibrant energy and environment and serving people of all ages.”

(Top to bottom) Chicago Fire mascot Sparky delivers pies to the Chicago Fire Department; firefighters celebrate with pizza and a jersey from the team.

Editors at Large PMQ senior copy editor Tracy Morin recently traveled down South—all the way to Uruguay—in search of beaches, Carnaval celebrations and, of course, pizza. In Montevideo, she stopped off at El Horno de Juan, a popular wood-fired pizzeria that, remarkably, doesn’t accept call-ahead or delivery orders. Pizza in Uruguay is often sold alongside fainá, a flatbread made from chickpea flour, and the pizza itself was interestingly packaged to go—placed on a Styrofoam container, wrapped in plastic and then wrapped in paper bearing the pizzeria’s logo. No boxes needed!

Meanwhile, at the Hostal El Estrecho Paradiso in La Pedrera, Uruguay, amateur pizza chefs kept the pies flowing. Guest Cesar Rodriguez whipped up homemade pies from scratch, following a common local pizza custom of cooking rectangular-shape dough in pans and topping with plenty of mozzarella. Using a more traditional Italian approach, local chef Adriana Monzeglio utilized her backyard wood-burning oven (crafted by hand from clay and cow manure) to perfectly cook pizzeriaworthy pies and focaccia on a grill placed inside. The resulting pizzas were round, thin-crust and perfectly dappled with char from the fire—different than many pizzas in this small South American country, but just as delicious.

(Clockwise from top left): El Horno de Juan wraps its to-go pizza in plastic and paper instead of boxes; a wood-fired oven in Adriana Monzeglio's backyard churns out homemade pies; Monzeglio wields her peel; a pie cooks on a grill inside the oven; an Italian-style pizza is topped with arugula and mozzarella.

May 2014

pmq.com 17

IN LEHMANN’S TERMS TOM “THE DOUGH DOCTOR” LEHMANN

Tips for a Faster Slice Storing slices in a temperature-controlled cabinet can help speed up turnaround.

By Tom Lehmann

QUESTION: We have an opportunity to open a pizza shop in a mall food court.

The store will be small, and we would like to sell pizza by the slice.

In your opinion, what is the best way to ensure the fastest turnaround on orders when dealing with slices?

ANSWER: By far, you can achieve the fastest turnaround by using prepared pizzas that are cut into slices and stored in a temperature-/humidity-controlled cabinet for immediate sale. (A number of such cabinets are designed specifically for pizza storage.)

However, rather than selling the slices directly from the cabinet, I would recommend that you first run them through a small deck oven for a minute or less to refresh them and add some crispiness to the bottom of the slice. For optimal results, reheat them while you are processing the customer’s payment and preparing his drink order. By taking this approach, you can usually hand over a fresh, hot, tasty slice to the customer in about 60 seconds.

The only downside is that your menu will be limited—only the pizzas that are already in the holding cabinet will be available, and you won’t be able to handle special orders with different or additional toppings. But if you’re looking for a fast turnaround, I don’t think you can beat 60 to 90 seconds!

For the type of operation you’ve got in mind, we normally start during the preopening hours and make par-baked pizza skins with half of the sauce applied. These pies can usually be stored on a covered rack at room temperature until they’re needed to prepare a complete pizza. To prepare the pizza, you need only apply the remainder of the sauce and the desired toppings and then bake it. The par-baking actually seems to help the slices hold up a little better in the temperature/humidity storage cabinet. As soon as the pizzas are baked, you can slice them and place the slices in the holding cabinet for up to about two hours.

18 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

QUESTION: We always open our dough balls into pizza skins by table stretching. What is the best bench-top surface for this method of opening the dough balls?

ANSWER: I think I’ve worked with just about every possible surface over the years. For this method of opening the dough balls, I’ve found that marble/granite or manmade quartz work very well, but both options are also quite expensive. The one surface that works well and doesn’t cost a lot is stainless steel. If a stainless steel bench top works with the ambiance of your pizza store, it will be hard to beat for cost, performance and durability.

Tom Lehmann is the director of bakery assistance for the American Institute of Baking (AIB). Need more dough advice? Visit the Dough Information Center at PMQ.com/dough.

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NEW YORK’S FINEST CHEF BRUNO

Ensalata Parlez Vous Francais Just in time for spring, Chef Bruno serves up a light and zesty pasta salad with homemade French dressing.

By Chef Santo Bruno

H

ello to all of my readers! During a recent trip to Las Vegas, I ran into a French friend of mine that I’d previously met at a pizza show in Italy. Our conversation inspired me to come up with a new recipe. And since we’re heading into springtime and many of us are taking a break from heavier foods, I wanted it to keep it light, healthy and very easy to make.

I call it Ensalata Parlez Vous Francais, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Add this delicious pasta salad as a special to your restaurant menu, and your customers will love it. I know my wife does!

Mangia!

Ingredients for French Dressing: Juice from 2 lemons 4 tbsp. wine vinegar 1½ tsp. salt ½ tsp. pepper 1 tbsp. French mustard 2 tsp. brown sugar (optional) ¾ c. olive oil Directions: Pour lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard and sugar into a jug. Whisk the mixture with a fork until evenly blended. Slowly work the oil into the mixture. Shake ingredients together in a liquidizer or blender and blend for a few seconds. Shake in a screw-top jar and store in refrigerator for 2 hours before using. Makes about 1 pint.

20 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Chef Bruno enjoys a visit with his friends Antonio and Marina Colandrea, owners of Marina's Pizza in Tampa, Florida.

Ingredients for Salad: 4 oz. Italian anelletti pasta or tortellini 1 medium red pepper 2 oz. black olives 3 tbsp. chopped parsley 4 tbsp. French dressing 1 fresh garlic clove Salt and pepper to taste Directions: Cook anelletti pasta rings in boiling water for 15 minutes until tender. Drain and rinse in cold water. Dice red peppers and place in salad bowl with pasta. Add olives and parsley to pasta. Mix in French dressing with garlic and pour over salad. Mix well. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Chef Bruno is PMQ’s culinary advisor, with more than 40 years of international pizza experience. He is the corporate chef for Marsal & Sons and the culinary coach of the U.S. Pizza Team.

Fresh Quality, Made Easy

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MARKETING MAVEN LINDA DUKE

Catering to the Graduates Offer hassle-free pizza parties to high school and college graduates as they embark on their journey into adulthood.

By Linda Duke

G

raduation season is almost upon us, and that means hungry teens and twenty-somethings will have a can’t-miss excuse to throw a party. For high school and college seniors, graduation is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication; it’s also a turning point that marks the transition into full adulthood and a new life.

Such a milestone occasion calls for a celebration, and that generally involves eating with friends and family.

Pizzerias can take advantage of this opportunity by creating graduation specials, hosting graduation luncheons or offering catering services for those planning their own parties. Here’s how to offer a hassle-free pizza party-to-go for your customers as they embark on their journey into adulthood: 1. Start with the menu. Develop catering menus with packages designed and priced for large groups. For example, bundle pizzas with wings and beverages to cover all the bases. Think like a student and offer the sort of fare younger customers 22 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

like at reasonable prices. Post the menu on your pizzeria’s website, Facebook page and other social media sites. As high school and college graduation dates approach, make sure to promote your catering option through social media and feature photographs of your best catering menu items to get clients’ mouths watering.

2. Go where you’re needed. Be prepared to offer both off-site catering and large to-go orders for your clients. Make your staff available for in-home or backyard catering for families or, if you’ve got a private dining room or banquet facility, invite them to hold the event in your restaurant.

3. Distribute promotional packages. Put together small kits with your catering menu, a promotional flier and a letter to parents that outlines your offer. As graduation season nears, contact local PTA groups and ask them to pass out the kits to parents. In exchange for their help, give them coupons for

free pizzas or offer to cater their next meeting. Also contact the local schools’ administrative offices and ask them to help spread the word. For example, they may be willing to include your menu and letter in the informational packages that are usually mailed to students prior to graduation.

Offer to donate food for a school luncheon or fundraiser in exchange for the administration’s assistance.

4. Reach out to local universities. Place a banner in the Student Union and advertise in the school paper and other local publications that target the student crowd. If possible, feature your menu in a display ad. Make a big push to your fans on social media as well. Contact fraternities, sororities and other student groups and schedule a time to make presentations and bring samples of your food at no cost. Get them hooked on your pizza, and they’ll remember you at party planning time. Better yet, they’ll book you for their party on the spot!

last-minute questions they may have. Your client will expect you to pay attention to detail!

6. Be prepared. Make sure you’ve got the staff you need to fulfill the catering orders and that everyone knows the schedule.

Have all orders prepared on time and make sure that hot foods will be delivered in a timely manner.

7. Remember the guest of honor. For a party honoring a particular person, include a thoughtful but appropriate gift for the honoree in the catering order. A congratulations balloon or card is a nice start, but also think about giving the guest of honor a coupon for a free one-topping pizza as well.

Of course, not every pizza restaurant has a catering component. If you don’t offer catering, you can still take advantage of graduation season. Simply use social media to promote a special deal for any graduate who shows up at your pizzeria with their newly minted diploma or cap and gown!

5. Stay in touch. Once you’ve booked a catering job, call the client within 24 hours to confirm the reservation. Make sure that they know what you’ll bring and what you won’t bring, especially in regards to silverware or glassware. Follow up with another call a week before the event and make sure the client is still expecting you. Be prepared to answer any

Linda Duke is the CEO of Duke Marketing and author of Recipes for Restaurateurs (marketing-cookbook.com), a “cookbook” of marketing ideas for restaurant owners, as well as The LSM Diet: Improve Your Bottom Line, Not Your Waistline (lsmdiet.com), a self-help guide to local store marketing. She publishes a quarterly industry resource, Restaurant Marketing Magazine, and an educational program, LSM-U, Local Store Marketing University. Find out more at dukemarketing.com.

May 2014

pmq.com 23

ACCOUNTING FOR YOUR MONEY MICHAEL J. RASMUSSEN, CPA

Bridging the Communication Gap Control costs and increase profits by requiring chefs and accountants to learn each other’s unique languages.

By Michael J. Rasmussen

QUESTION: It seems like my chef and my accountant are never on the same page. How can I solve that problem?

ANSWER: I am convinced that chefs speak a language that’s all their own.

The same can be said about accountants, who have their own way of expressing results of operations in financial statements, QuickBooks reports and balance sheets. A chef, on the other hand, often thinks in terms of plate costing, gross profit, daily ticket average, butts in seats, comps and voids, ingredients stocked, top 10 sellers, top 10 losers, etc.

As an accountant, I have had to learn chef-speak to avoid a communication gap when using accountant tools to portray a restaurant’s operational results. For example, it’s inaccurate to use monthly paid invoices to calculate food cost percentage in relation to daily net sales, especially when the standard reporting in many accounting software packages doesn’t account for chefspeak and the types of analytics typically used by restaurateurs.

As I’ve said in this space many times before, today’s restaurateurs need daily report cards and weekly reporting to operate a profitable restaurant. For most accountants, it’s a struggle to assemble the right data from POS systems, bank statements, check stubs and vendor invoices in order to provide accurate monthly operational results. In today’s digital world, your chef would benefit greatly from receiving that information on at least a weekly basis and preferably every day. And the results need to be presented to the chef in a format and language that makes sense to him. With this data in hand, he can spot problems sooner, make adjustments quickly and run a more efficient, moneymaking kitchen.

For all restaurant operations, I recommend using universally accepted charts of accounts to consistently report income and expenses. Additionally, you’ll want to find a way to maintain daily and weekly records on sales and expenses and provide these analytics to the chef to help him improve 24 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

kitchen efficiency. Finally, start requiring chefs and accountants to learn each other’s languages and points of view so that they can clearly communicate accurate operational results to the boss!

QUESTION: Our owner is fixated on numbers—it drives me crazy sometimes!

ANSWER: That’s because the owner has learned that restaurant operation boils down to a math game! Once you identify all of the moving parts that contribute to bottom-line profits and build a system to measure results, the game begins.

To create a consistently profitable model, operators learn by trial and error—change this recipe, switch out ingredients, increase portions here and cut back there. If keeping up with these numbers isn’t your bag, find someone to help you, but your boss is right in requiring as many accurate numbers as possible to monitor his restaurant’s operations. As mentioned above, it all starts by getting the chef and accountant together in the same room. Make them talk to and learn from each other, and encourage teamwork!

Have a question for Mike? Send it to editor@pmq.com.

Michael J. Rasmussen is the owner of Rasmussen Tax Group in Conway, Arkansas. Visit rasmussentaxgroup.com for additional insight into restaurant-specific tax strategies and technology programs.

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FEATURE STORY ARTISAN OVENS

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza utilizes hickory and oak woods in dual-fuel wood/gas ovens for optimal performance and flavor.

BRIXX WOOD FIRED PIZZA

26 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

KEEPERS of the FLAME

Leading pizza makers share their secrets for working with wood- and coal-fired ovens and cooking methods.

By Tracy Morin

F

rom firing up pizzas over a bed of black-diamond coal to rotating authentic Neapolitan pies in woodburning ovens, many operators today have embraced labor-intensive cooking methods that require the utmost care and specialized know-how. And, with more customers today demanding foods that tout a handmade touch, these operators are attracting legions of fans who appreciate cooking methods that seem both familiar and unexpected.

However, the nature of this approach dictates that operators and their staff members know some tricks of the trade. We tapped experts who have found success with wood- and coalfired pizzas to share their insider tips—and explain how these styles of pizza can provide an appreciable marketing advantage.

The Neapolitan Tradition Neapolitan pizza requires both special equipment—such as a wood-burning oven direct from Naples—and special expertise.

“The wood-fired oven represents a lifestyle that's very original and authentic. There really isn't anything else one can do around the house to provide the same level of satisfaction.”

—Frank Shepherdson, Belforno Wood Fired Pizza Ovens At A Mano (amanopizza.com) in Ridgewood, New Jersey, employees use hard wood (which burns slower and more consistently than soft wood) that is dry and cut into small pieces—no more than 5” in diameter, according to Dana Stott, owner of DLS Public Relations, which represents A Mano. A local landscaping company cuts the wood, which costs about $225 per cord.

“Working with wood-fired ovens from Naples, it's important to use a strong, hard wood, like apple, cherry or birch,” according to Roberto Caporuscio, owner of Kesté Pizza & Vino (kestepizzeria.com) in New York and Don Antonio by

May 2014

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SMALL TRIM

“The 'primitive' ambience of fire, food and warmth, coupled with the 'theater' of a woodfired oven, cannot be duplicated by gas or electric ovens. People will always have a special affection for a true wood-fired oven experience.”

—Floyd McCalmont, Pig Iron Pizza Ovens

Starita (donantoniopizza.com), with locations in New York and Atlanta. “Our supplier, from New York State, dries wood in a special machine so it’s clean and dry for cooking.” Caporuscio, whose wood does double duty by also cooking pasta dishes, says he uses about 40 bundles per week.

In addition to proper wood selection, Caporuscio stresses the importance of oven style. “An oven from Naples has a stone inside that holds heat—an oven that is not well-insulated will lose temperature—while the dome is low and the mouth allows for control,” he explains. He also advises balancing the temperature of the floor and interior. To test oven temperature, pizza makers can check how long a pizza takes to cook; if the dough is still white after baking for a minute, more heat is necessary.

At Kesté, heating the oven takes about 45 minutes at the start of the day. Stott notes that properly heating a wood-fired oven is a common obstacle for novice operators. “Often, it’s assumed a cold oven can be heated quickly by simply building a fire inside, but the bricks absorb a tremendous amount of heat and therefore need a steady supply of energy to get warmed up and remain hot,” Stott says. “Once the ovens are heated through, they hold temperature well by simply adding wood as necessary.” Based on the fire and pizza performance, A Mano’s pizza makers know how often to add wood to the ovens, maintaining a consistent 800°-to-900°F temperature.

During the prep and cooking process, Caporuscio stresses communication between the pizzaiolo (pizza maker) and fornaio (pizza baker), who must manage temperature and pay constant attention to the pies. “An important tip: Place the pizza on the stone, let it begin cooking, then lift it, bringing it to the mouth of the oven,” Stott advises. “Turn it outside of the heat and place it back on the same spot it was taken from.

Turning it outside the oven (at the mouth) prevents burning, and placing it back on the same spot means you won’t drop it onto a hotspot, where you risk burning the bottom. This allows for a more even bake.”

Unfortunately, the act of placing a pizza in a hot oven lets heat out, so Caporuscio suggests putting in no more than three or four pizzas at a time; any more will slow down the oven.

Other tips from the master pizzaiolo: Neapolitan pizzas should be golden, not excessively charred; avoid using too much flour on the dough, which can burn the pizza; and don’t leave the pizza in the oven too long (this creates a crunchier crust, which is not desirable for the Neapolitan style).

28 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

ANTHONY BIANCIELLA

At Don Antonio by Starita, traditional Neapolitan cooking methods require a wood-burning oven for proper baking.

Dual-ing Ovens The chefs at Brixx Wood Fired Pizza (brixxpizza.com), based in Charlotte, North Carolina, choose hickory and oak woods for their great burn and natural flavors. But as the pizzeria’s cooking style evolved, the business transitioned to a dual-fuel wood/gas oven. “Starting the wood-only oven first thing in the morning to raise the floor temperature is most important,” notes Richard Shinault, executive chef at Brixx. “The dual-fuel ovens require time to heat up, but the proper temperature is achieved more quickly and is easier to maintain than wood only—and maintaining temperature is crucial to having a consistent product.”

The pizzeria also uses the ovens to cook its focaccia bread and wood-roasted chicken. In all cases, Shinault says, proper oven management is a must to prevent an uneven bake. “The ovens have hotter sides toward the wood coals,” he explains.

“Use a peel to rotate the pizza throughout the baking process to perfect the entire crust and get an even, crisp pizza.”

Mark Dym, the owner of Marco’s Coal Fired Pizza (marcoscoalfiredpizza.com), with locations in Denver and Englewood, Colorado, also incorporates dual fuels in his operation, running both a wood-burning oven (which uses hickory) and a coal-burning oven (which uses anthracite) in his pizzerias. He prevents excessive cooling by placing a door over the mouth of the ovens before closing each night. Then, in the morning, he puts five pieces of wood in the wood-burning SMALL TRIM

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Words of Warning For all of their many advantages in a pizza operation, wood- and coal-fired ovens also pose some challenges. Tom Lehmann, director of bakery assistance for the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kansas, offers some tips: • Do your homework first. A coal- or wood-fired oven may not fit in your restaurant due to size, and local regulations may not allow these ovens at all.

Make sure building and local codes are compatible, and discuss plans with your insurance agent.

Also think about fuel costs and availability.

• Consider the time factor. Due to their size, these ovens may take a while to heat up to baking temperature. They’ll need to be fed on a continual basis, even on days when the shop is closed.

• Hire a good oven tender. The quality of the pizzas will depend on the skills of the oven tenders, so make sure they’re well-trained and knowledgeable. Every oven has unique baking properties, so the oven tender must learn where the hot and cool spots are and know how to rotate the pizzas through the oven to achieve the best bake.

GRIMALDI'S COAL BRICK OVEN PIZZERIA

Grimaldi's Coal Brick Oven Pizzeria is dedicated to using anthracite coal to create its smoky thin-crust pies.

oven and lets them sit for about an hour before lighting. “This gives the wood an hour to really dry out, and I use the same process with my coal oven,” Dym notes. “Oven maintenance throughout the evening comes with practice. You need to get a feel for the oven. I tell my guys the oven has a mind of its own sometimes!”

While some pizza restaurants use more than one fuel source, Scottsdale, Arizona-based Grimaldi’s Coal Brick Oven Pizzeria (grimaldispizzeria.com), with 33 locations, is dedicated exclusively to anthracite coal, often called “black diamond,” for its signature pies. Corporate chef Cory Lattuca notes that this hard, compact variety of mineral coal has a high luster, the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest calorific content of all types of coal.

The Grimaldi’s ovens are designed and built by hand— weighing in at 25 tons and heated by 100 lb. of coal per day to reach temperatures of up to 1,200°F. “The intense heat of the oven evenly bakes the pies to create our famous crispy and smoky thin crust, and we stoke twice daily to ensure our ovens stay hot,” Lattuca says. “Our employees train for months in order to be able to perfectly cook over the coal-fired flame.”

A Marketing Advantage Incorporating coal- and wood-fired cooking may require time, training and passion, but pizzeria owners who use these methods find that they offer a natural marketing angle for customers who crave an artisanal touch. “Wood-fired ovens attract plenty 30 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

• Maintain a careful watch. Keep an eye on the oven temperature and the quality of bake to help determine how often you will need to add more fuel to the fire. Coal/anthracite can be put up in specific-weight bags, making it easier to measure the amount of fuel added to the fire—which in turn makes it easier to manage the fire for the best baking results.

• Know your peels. Make sure your oven kit contains peels and a rake/broom for periodically sweeping the hearth. Use a short-handle wood prep peel to place the dressed skins in the oven.

Use long-handle oven peels to remove baked pizzas from the oven.

of customer interest,” Stott observes. “The tables in front of A Mano’s ovens are the most popular. Although wood-burning ovens are becoming more commonly seen, they retain a measure of authenticity and natural simplicity—crucial for a Neapolitan concept.”

Caporuscio, noting the importance of giving customers a compelling visual, went a step further for his latest concept, Don Antonio by Starita: He installed cameras by the prep/ cooking areas so that customers can watch his pizza makers hard at work on TV sets around the restaurant. Meanwhile, smartly positioned bar seats allow select patrons to see the process up close.

At Grimaldi’s, coal-fired ovens also add to the overall decor and ambience. “Centered in the middle of our restaurant and visible to the public, we ensure our hand-built brick ovens are the centerpiece,” Lattuca says. “The coal brick oven is in our

“Live fire cooking has a way of engaging the soul like no other process. Food cooked in a radiant environment is superior in finish, quality and flavor.”

—Scott Barden, Maine Wood Heat Company

MARCO'S COAL FIRED PIZZA

Marco's Coal Fired Pizza uses both coal-burning and wood-burning ovens in his pizzerias.

name, and it’s the first thing we build out in any restaurant.”

Similarly, at Brixx, the oven is at the heart of the concept— and at the heart of the entire restaurant design. Locations are set up so that the oven is aligned with the front door, placing it in view of everyone who enters. And Tim Miner, director of marketing for Brixx, believes there are many advantages to having open kitchens in all locations. “These days, our guests want to know where their food comes from, and we’ve got a great story to tell—and demonstrate—about our pizzas,” says Miner. “Our guests can watch us create pizzas step by step and see the quality of the ingredients we’re using. That excites them—and us!”

In fact, Miner adds, most Brixx locations offer an element of interaction with guests, thanks to a special window that shows the side of the oven. “Guests, especially kids, are encouraged to watch us build each pizza from scratch, and our pizza chefs love to interact with guests,” he says. “They take pride in their work and enjoy that our guests can see how much care they take to make each pizza.”

May 2014

pmq.com 31

“Wood-fired ovens, when presented properly, add magic to the ambience of any new or older restaurant. They also add perceived value and provide a wonderful aroma.”

—Renato Riccio, Renato Ovens

Dym also loves the interaction that such cooking methods can provide and gives frequent tours to customers, who are invariably impressed to see pizzas cook in only 90 seconds. “They love coming in the kitchen when we’re busy and watching the action,” Dym says, with a laugh. “I love the kids’ faces when they’re watching us make pizza!”

In today’s fast-paced, prepackaged world, customers are increasingly looking for food that’s made with a little love—and if there’s one food that’s ideal to display the passion of its makers, it’s pizza. Coal- and wood-burning ovens placed front and center won’t be possible for every pizzeria, but those who have embraced these less-common cooking methods have often found amazing results—and increased customer interest. As Caporuscio says, “The beauty in pizza is seeing the maker work.”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.

32 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

MARCO'S COAL FIRED PIZZA

Marco's Coal Fired Pizza owner Mark Dym encourages customers to watch their pizzas cook in just 90 seconds.

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FEATURE STORY GRILLING PIZZAS

A grilled vegetarian pizza, such as this one depicted in Craig Priebe's book, Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas, features a crispy, smoky crust with a gourmet twist.

CHARLES SCHILLER

36 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

CHARLES SCHILLER

THE GRILLMASTER

Grilling pizza over a charcoal fire lends a uniquely delicious flavor to the crust, but the process can be a tricky one.

By Tracy Morin

T

he concept of grilled pizza hasn’t exactly caught fire (so to speak) in the foodservice industry. But the few restaurants that offer grilled pies treat them as signature items—and usually charge a premium price for them. Johanne Killeen and George Germon, owners of the legendary Al Forno Restaurant (alforno.com) in Providence, Rhode Island, reportedly first came up with the idea of cooking a pizza over a charcoal-fired grill in the 1980s. Direct contact with the flame lent the crust a uniquely delicious flavor, but the culinary innovation never gained traction as a major trend—except with backyard chefs looking for something different.

May 2014

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The Gamberian Recipe courtesy of Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas,

by Craig W. Priebe with Dianne Jacob

Ingredients: 1 pizza crust, grilled 2 tbsp. herbed grill oil or extra-virgin olive oil 1 tbsp. Parmesan, grated ½ lb. jumbo shrimp, shelled and deveined Salt and pepper 1 c. mozzarella, shredded ½ c. chunky tomato basil sauce ½ c. pesto ¼ c. sundried tomatoes, thinly sliced ½ c. red onions, thinly sliced 2 tsp. capers 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 2 tbsp. fresh basil leaves, torn ¼ tsp. cracked black pepper

Instructions: Brush the grilled side of the pizza crust with 1 tbsp. of oil. Dust with Parmesan. Heat remaining 1 tbsp. of oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.

Sauté shrimp until opaque and pink, about 1½ minutes. (Don’t worry if they seem undercooked; they'll cook more on the grill.) Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Top crust with mozzarella. Spoon tomato sauce and pesto on top, creating an alternating pattern of red and green. Add sundried tomatoes, shrimp, red onions, capers and garlic. Grill according to instructions on pg. 40. Garnish with basil and cracked black pepper before serving.

CHARLES SCHILLER

Another Providence pizzaiolo, Brian Kingsford, chef/owner at Bacaro Restaurant (bacarorestaurant.net), grills his pizza from start to finish—no oven needed. He prefers hardwood charcoal (Canadian maple), which has less than 2% moisture, making it an extremely hot cooking source (about 700° to

1200°F). “There are some South American hardwood charcoals available, which also burn nicely but tend to be very dense, so it takes longer to light and relight,” he says. “The plus side of this is that you burn less charcoal; the downside is that you lose temperature for about 20 minutes every time you feed more coal.” The bags of coal he uses cost about $11 for 18 lb.

Kingsford shared his tips for grilling pizzas over charcoal: • Light the charcoal or charwood well in advance.

• Stay ahead of the burn, watch the coals and embers, and add before you need to—while there’s still enough fuel available to ignite the new coal.

• Position a make-up air vent toward the fire to fan it, helping speed up ignition.

• Due to sparks and potential chimney/hood fires, install a water-wash hood or brick chimney when working with this product.

• Hiring becomes a bit more of a challenge, as most line cooks are not seasoned wood-fuel operators, so training is long and necessary. Plus, the heat emanating off a grill is no joke; most cooks can’t take it.

CHARLES SCHILLER

This gourmet grilled pie from Chef Craig W. Priebe's book, Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas, features chicken, plantains and coconut sauce.

38 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

“Grilling pizza is an interactive sport—you are constantly rotating and looking for the hot spots while moving the more cooked portions toward the colder spots of the grill,” Kingsford says. “These sweet spots are created by piling coals and thinning coals (creating a tier) as well as recognizing the natural airflow of the particular grill. When using a mechanical hood, the fan will pull the air across the grill one way or another toward the fan, which helps build the sweet spots.”

Grilling pizzas is definitely a commitment, but Kingsford prefers cooking with coal because it is tasteless; coal doesn’t

Visit us at NRA booth 3801

How to Grill a Pizza Chef Craig W. Priebe is one of the industry’s foremost experts on grilling pizzas and the co-author of Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas, a 2008 book on the subject. Priebe offers the following tips for the beginning pizza grillmaster.

1. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough with smooth, even strokes until it’s about 12” in diameter and about ⅛” thick. Place the dough on a flat surface, such as an inverted cookie sheet.

2. Heat the grill to medium-high.

The Millennium, featured in Craig W. Priebe's Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas, is made with ground lamb, feta cheese and Kalamata olives.

impart any flavor or smoke into food, due to its low moisture content. “The moisture content of wood imparts smoky flavor into food, but hardwood charcoal allows us to cook our food cleanly without overpowering the natural flavors with smoke,” he says. “If we wish to get a little smoke into something—such as cherrywood into a piece of duck or applewood into a piece of pork—we simply introduce a branch into the coal right under the product for only as long as we wish to flavor.”

3. Hold the cookie sheet over the grill and slide the dough onto the grill’s surface. Make sure the crust falls flat onto the grill.

4. The dough should take about 3 minutes to brown and will bubble as it cooks.

5. When the crust has browned, remove it from the grill. Turn the crust over to the browned side. Top it with your favorite pizza toppings.

6. Slide the pizza onto the grill and brown the bottom for 3 to 5 minutes, until browned and crispy.

7. Remove the pizza by carefully sliding it back onto the cookie sheet. Cut and serve.

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.

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40 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

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FEATURE STORY BIG APPLE PIZZA

Owner Anthony Rocco (left) and manager Chantale Ley recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of Big Apple Pizza, a small but thriving single-unit shop in Havelock, North Carolina.

42 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

THE BIG APPLE

BOOM

Big Apple Pizza, a bite-sized pizzeria with booming sales, combines digital-age strategies with old-school marketing techniques to dominate its market.

By Rick Hynum

A

Photography by Zach Frailey

lot of single-unit restaurants have a Facebook or Twitter account. But Big Apple Pizza (havelockpizza.com), a pocket-sized pizzeria in Havelock, North Carolina, stands out as a shining example of a mom-and-pop shop that has fully embraced the digital age, combining the best of traditional neighborhood marketing strategies with high-powered social media to become a pizza making force in its market. From Little League sponsorships to six-second Vine videos, from movie theater ads to check-in specials and a thriving online ordering system, Big Apple Pizza keeps expanding its presence—and that’s no easy task for a 20-year-old restaurant that spans a mere 1,575 square feet.

“When we started, the rule of thumb was location, location, location,” says owner Anthony Rocco. “Now, as the pizza industry has developed and social media has become more popular, it’s more like marketing, location, marketing. This is even truer in the pizza delivery market.”

Faced with stiff competition from major chains, Rocco knew that the old-school ways, although successful, were no

longer enough. Fortunately, he discovered a new secret weapon standing right at his shop’s counter: 21-year-old Chantale Ley, who soon went from running Big Apple’s old-fashioned cash register and taking phone orders to managing the entire store.

And what Ley lacked in operations experience, she made up for with sheer smarts, a strong work ethic and a natural instinct for marketing.

Separately, Rocco, who’s only 42, and Ley have excelled throughout their young lives. Together, they make an especially formidable team, guiding Big Apple Pizza through a new phase of growth and innovation while preserving the traditions that have made the pizzeria so successful for the past two decades.

Little Shop, Big Menu Like Ley, Rocco was a youngster when he started in the pizza business. A native of Staten Island, New York, he moved to North Carolina when he was 15. Despite his Italian roots, Rocco didn’t come from a family of pizzaioli; he had to learn the business on his own. “I got my first job in a pizzeria when I

May 2014

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"When we started, the rule of thumb was location, location, location. Now, as social media has become more popular, it's more like marketing, location, marketing." —Anthony Rocco, Big Apple Pizza (provolone cheese, marinara sauce, chopped meatballs, Italian rope sausage, chunks of baked ziti and more). Pasta dishes abound, along with nearly 20 sub sandwiches and wraps, plus burgers, gyros and wings.

“We try to add menu items every so often to keep the menu new and exciting,” Rocco says. “It started out very basic. Over time, it evolved, with new ideas coming from the customers and the employees. However, we don't order one single ingredient for one specific item. Most of the new menu items are using ingredients we already have.”

Rocco says the specialty pies “set us apart from other pizzerias and give a better variety. But everything sells extremely well. Our sandwiches are very popular. All in all, I’m proud of everything on our menu.”

Mastering Social Media

With a huge and varied menu that includes specialty pizzas, sub sandwiches, appetizers, burgers, gyros, pasta dishes, calzones, stromboli and wings, owner Anthony Rocco makes sure Big Apple customers never go away hungry.

was 17, fell in love with it and continued to do it for years,” he recalls. “After getting about five years’ experience, I received an opportunity to open my own place with my cousin in 1993.”

Rocco and his partner opened six more Big Apple locations before splitting in 2005. Rocco held on to the Havelock store, which is not affiliated with any other Big Apples in the United States. Opened in 1994, it’s a tiny space that seats 26 people, tops, and offers citywide delivery. Dine-in and carryout customers place their orders at the counter and chat with the pizza makers while they wait. “Our open kitchen is comprised of one double-stack oven, and three steps over is the cash register, and three more steps over are the sub units,” Ley says. “It’s an extremely tight squeeze. It’s so small that we have to keep our walk-in cooler and freezer outside on the back deck.”

But this little shop does big business. Although Rocco declined to allow his annual sales totals to be published, the figures are impressive and grow every year. The store’s extensive menu plays a major role in its success. Big Apple offers 14 specialty pies, including the Antipasto Pizza (loaded with ham, salami, pepperoni, black and green olives, roasted red peppers, red onions and banana peppers) and the Italian Sunday Pizza 44 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Ley, a California transplant, was studying for a career in law before a newfound love for pizza making changed her life’s course. “I don’t even know how it happened, to be honest,” she says. “I started out as the counter girl, running the register. I worked hard to get to this point, but that’s probably because I love the place so much that I really couldn’t do any less.”

As Ley was still learning the business, Rocco made her the manager last October, and they soon added a POS system to modernize operations. Although Ley never took a single marketing course in college, she proved to be a natural, and social media became her marketing tool of choice. She grew the store’s Facebook base from about 300 likes to 1,200-plus in a few months’ time and developed a schedule for posting updates. “We try to post something at 9:30 a.m. because most of our lunch customers are sitting in their offices at work, and

In addition to 14 specialty pizzas, the Big Apple menu boasts a selection of nearly 20 sub sandwiches and wraps.

5 Keys to Social Media Success A self-starter with a natural marketing instinct, Chantale Ley (center), flanked by assistant manager Nicole Bartell (left) and co-owner Tammy Rocco, became Big Apple's manager at the tender age of 21.

a lot of them are on Facebook,” Ley says. “We’ll post again at 3:30 p.m. for the dinnertime crowd, and if we’re also running contests, we’ll post something about that between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. I try to make sure we’re consistent about that.”

A photograph of a tasty-looking pizza or sandwich accompanies nearly every post, and many of the pictures bear the Big Apple logo to reinforce brand recognition. Although most updates have a promotional angle, Ley and her team sweeten the sales messages with humor, including silly rhymes and jokes that reference pop culture, from Geico commercials to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.” When Ley starts running low on ideas, Rocco pitches in. “Sometimes I don’t think I’m funny, but I just go with it,” she says. “If you’re laughing at something, Anthony probably came up with it. But every once in a while, I come up with something clever. I just don’t want it to look like an advertisement. I want to make people laugh. I want it to be fun and trendy and interesting. And I want people to interact with us.”

Ley promotes check-in specials to keep the Big Apple name circulating on Facebook. Any customer who checks in from the pizzeria on his Facebook account gets a freebie of some sort.

“Check-in specials get the younger people involved,” she says.

“Just show us the check-in on your phone, and we’ll give you free garlic knots or a drink. They’re small items, but people get excited about getting something for free. And if that person has 400 friends on Facebook, that check-in special goes out to those 400 people.”

Ley also shoots short, looping videos on her smartphone using the popular Vine app and posts them on Facebook. “Vine is 46 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

At 21, Chantale Ley knows the social media generation better than most operators. Here are a few of her tips for success: 1. Focus on people. Ley posts mini-profiles of Big Apple employees every couple of months.

“Our customers love learning about the staff.

Even if we just post a picture of a crew member, people will comment on it, saying, ‘Oh, that’s my favorite delivery person’ or ‘That person makes the best sandwiches.’ This helps build a sense of community.”

2. Use hashtags and check-in specials.

Create a hashtag for your own pizzeria, such as #JoesPizza, and offer guests a freebie for checking in on Facebook with that hashtag.

Also use hashtags to show support for local sports teams and organizations.

3. Create regular contests. Big Apple observed its 20th anniversary in March by giving away a free pizza on Facebook every day throughout the month. At a customer’s suggestion, the store gave away a free dessert every day during April.

Followers only have to “like” contest status updates to enter the contests.

4. Keep the tone light. Be creative and have fun with it. “You want it to feel like a friend’s Facebook page where you’re telling them what’s going on and joking and laughing,” Ley says. “You never want to come off as mundane or boring.”

5. Be consistent. Make sure to post several times a day, every day, and stay in touch with your fans.

“We run into problems when we stop posting and interacting with people and commenting on their posts,” Ley notes. “You’ve got to keep up with it.”

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Dano’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, Felts Mills, NY

Boosting Orders

Cannoli is one of five desserts on Big Apple's extensive menu.

Other options include the Colossal New York-Style Cheesecake, the Chocolate Surrender Triple Layer Cake, the Tiramisu Cup and the Chocolate Mousse Cup.

a newer type of social media that’s very trendy with the younger kids,” she notes. “The videos are only six seconds long, and you can upload them right from your phone to Facebook. It’s easy, and it takes me about a minute to finish one video.”

The videos offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse as Big Apple staffers stretch and spin dough or whip up a Steak & Cheese Sub. Another Vine clip takes viewers through the steps of prepping and baking the Spinach and Tomato White Pie. “I think it’s entertaining to see how everything is made,” Ley says. “The videos are short, so if someone clicks on one and watches it, they have to rewatch it to get the full effect. And it really gets people interested in placing an order.”

Most posts also contain a shortened link—or bit link—that directs users to Big Apple’s website menu or online ordering page. “A bit link is a way to shorten a URL, but it also lets you track how many people clicked on the link,” Ley explains. “I will put a specific link on a specific picture of food or some other post, then go back and see which ones people are clicking on. Then I know what makes for a successful post and what doesn’t work. Even if people didn’t like your status, they may still have clicked on the link. And most of my bit links go straight to our online ordering page to encourage more sales.”

Big Apple Pizza only recently launched its online ordering component, but it had an immediate impact. “The size of our ticket orders are definitely bigger, about 15% to 20% higher than regular phone orders,” Rocco says.

“I cannot express this enough—it is awesome,” Ley says.

“We are always slam-packed busy, with very limited space and staff. You can call us three or four times on a Friday, and the phone line will probably be busy. When you get through, you’ll likely get put on hold. This is not intentional by any means— we even have a timer on the phones to make sure no one stays on hold longer than a minute. But a person can only take your order and answer all of your questions about our huge menu so quickly.”

With online ordering, customers can mull over the options and customize orders at their leisure. The result: They tend to place larger orders and spend more money. “When you call us or any national chain, you’re put on hold for a minute or two, and you hear the phones ringing in the background and workers talking,” Ley notes. “You feel rushed, you feel pressured.

Instead of asking questions about the menu, you just order a pepperoni pizza. With online ordering, you think, ‘Oh, look at all these specialty pizzas. I’ll order one of those for only $10 more. I’ll get a dessert, too.’”

Ley strives to ensure that roughly 25% of all delivery orders are placed online. “I try to advertise it as much as possible,” she adds. “It’s mentioned on our printed receipts, and we have signs around the shop that say, ‘Online Ordering Now Available.’”

Back to the Old School Even with all of its digital savvy, old-school marketing methods still drive traffic to Big Apple. “We try to give back to the community as much as possible,” Rocco says. “In a small town, people really appreciate the support.” For starters, Big Apple has long cheered for the local high school football team, which won its third straight state championship last winter. “Every year, when they win state, we paint a Christmas-themed window at our store in their honor,” Rocco says.

After 20 years in business, owner Anthony Rocco still finds time to make pizzas nearly every day at Big Apple.

48 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

"Check-in specials get the younger people involved.

And if that person has 400 friends on Facebook, that check-in special goes out to those 400 people."

—Chantele Ley, Big Apple Pizza

Big Apple's crew includes (clockwise from center) Chantale Ley, Tammy Rocco, Dirk Brameyer, Andrew Tenace, Jason Casalaspro and Nicole Bartell.

The team and coaches return the favor with their business.

Big Apple often provides pregame pizzas for the players, and game nights are always busy at the shop. “We usually get slammed right before the game starts and again right after the game,” Ley says. “We also do a lot of contests on Facebook with the team. For example, we’ll give away a free pizza for every touchdown they score.”

Big Apple also sponsors a Little League baseball team that bears the company logo on its uniforms, and fans can’t miss its billboards at Havelock’s baseball and soccer fields. The pizzeria shines on the silver screen, too, thanks to ads that run during previews at the local movie theater located directly across the

50 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

street from the pizzeria. “We get a lot of people coming over after the movies or even before the movies if they want to sneak food in—they’ll slip a cheese slice into their purses and go to the movies,” Ley says. “So we make sure our ad is always showing in the movie theater—we create a new one every season.”

Perhaps Big Apple’s most effective old-school marketing tool is also its simplest—bottles of water. The pizzeria donates logoed bottles to any group or charity that asks, creating exposure opportunities at nearly every community event. “We gave away 15,000 bottles of water last year to various fundraisers and events,” Rocco says.

Ley recalls spotting Big Apple bottles at a recent 5K charity run. “I was driving to work as the race was finishing,” she says.

“Everyone standing at the finish line had Big Apple water— every single one of them. I was honking my horn all the way, it made me so happy.”

One in a Million Ley isn’t Big Apple’s only happy employee. Once folks join Rocco’s staff, they tend to stick around, and when new employees come on board, the old hands happily teach them the ropes. “I still make pizzas almost on a daily basis, but there are always a couple of experienced pizza makers on staff,” Rocco says. “With some employees having 10-plus years experience with Big Apple and most having five-plus years, there’s always someone on staff who can help out and train new people. Even our drivers rack up years of experience with us, which is rare among pizzerias.”

As for expanding the Big Apple concept, Rocco is open to possibilities. “Over the last few years, we’ve developed our system to the point where it would be easy to expand,” he says.

“We’re unofficially talking to people about bringing Big Apple— our product line and system—into their areas as well as helping other pizzerias develop further into a Big Apple location.”

Meanwhile, Ley is just happy to work for a company that she loves. “We have the best employees on the planet,” she says. “They’re one in a million, like family to me, especially my assistant manager, Nicole Bartell, who is absolutely amazing. I could not be successful as a manager without them.”

“Our customers are absolutely awesome, too,” Ley adds. “This is a small town—everybody knows each other.

Customers bring you birthday presents. They know what’s

Thanks to savvy neighborhood marketing and social media strategies, the Big Apple T-shirt is recognized all around Havelock and surrounding communities.

going on in your life and care about you. I can walk into Walmart or any grocery store in my Big Apple shirt, and people will shout at me from across the aisle, ‘Hey, Big Apple!’ It’s a great feeling.”

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

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RECIPE OF THE MONTH CAST IRON MEAT LOVERS PIZZA

Recipe Month:

of the

Cast Iron Meat Lovers Pizza Recipe and photo provided by Carando

Ingredients (Yields 6 pizzas; 8 slices per pizza) 6 lb. pizza dough 4½ c. pizza sauce 1½ qt. mozzarella cheese (low-moisture), shredded 2 tbsp. dried Italian seasoning 1 ⅛ c. sweet onion, peeled and diced 1 ⅛ c. green bell pepper, cored and diced 1 ⅛ c. black olives, drained and sliced 1½ c. hot Italian sausage 1½ c. quartered ham 1½ c. pepperoni 1½ c. bacon pieces, fully cooked Instructions: Stretch or roll 1 lb. of dough to 14” and place in an oiled 12” cast-iron pan. Turn the edge of the dough down and press to form a crust. Spread ¾ c. pizza sauce evenly over the dough; top with 1 c. cheese, 1 tsp. Italian seasoning, 3 tbsp. onion, 3 tbsp. green pepper, and 3 tbsp. olives. Top with ¼ c. each of hot Italian sausage, quartered ham, pepperoni and bacon pieces. Cover pizza with foil and bake at 325°F for 30 minutes.

Remove foil and bake an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

52 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

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Many purists believe that all you need to make a great pizza is dough, tomato sauce and cheese. But meat lovers will tell you otherwise. From pepperoni, ham and sausage to chicken, meatballs and venison, meat toppings pump up the protein content and appease our most basic caveman instincts. Some innovators have even waded deep into the swamps for toppings such as alligator and python meat. Here’s a look at some megameat selections on menus around the United States: Located in Ithaca, New York, College Town Pizza & Subs (collegetownpizzaithaca.com) goes the classic route with its Meat Lover Pizza, featuring steak, meatballs, sausage, pepperoni, bacon and ground beef.

PMQ editor-in-chief Rick Hynum highly recommends This Little Piggy from Slice Pizza & Brew (slicebirmingham.com) in Birmingham, Alabama. This pork lover’s delight satisfies with Molinari pepperoni, capicola ham, Italian sausage, prosciutto and bacon, plus roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh basil.

At Erbelli’s Pizzeria, Italian Bistro & Pub (erbellis.com), with locations in Portage and Kalamazoo, Michigan, guests can feast on the Grizzly Bear, which comes loaded with spicy-hot grilled chicken, hard Genoa salami, spicy capicola, housemade meatballs, pepperoni and housemade Italian sausage.

In the mood for something truly wild? Give the Big Game Hunter a shot at Austin, Texas-based Hill Country Ranch Pizzeria (hillcountryranchpizzeria.com). It’s piled high with venison, wild boar summer sausage and breaded alligator meat, with garlic, bell peppers and onions thrown in for good measure.

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FEATURE STORY PIZZA AND BEER

KARA HOFFMAN

Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza, with three locations in New Orleans, offers beer on tap and by the bottle, with brands ranging from Blue Moon and Abita to Fat Tire and Magic Hat.

54 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Pi&nts, Pies Profits Ramp up your beverage sales by helping your guests pair the right pizza with the right on-trend craft beer.

By Tracy Morin

F

or many customers visiting their favorite pizzeria, nothing complements the meal better than an ice-cold beer. The good news is, with an ever-expanding array of brews available from across the country (and world), you have a bevy of options—and these beers can pair perfectly with any style of pizza you may offer, from basic white and Margherita to meat, veggie and more exotic choices.

“With many similarities between the two food categories, craft beer and pizza are natural companions,” notes Julia Herz, publisher of CraftBeer.com and craft beer program director at the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colorado. “They both have a wide range of producers, from large corporate companies to small, independent and artisanal ones. With our association documenting 142 beer styles, there is a very broad rainbow of pairing options for a variety of pizzas.”

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KARA HOFFMAN

Beer flights help customers at Slice Pizza & Brew in Birmingham, Alabama, settle on the perfect brew for their favorite pie.

“Pizza and beer are a match made in heaven, and there’s a reason for that. The right beer will stand up to the acidic tang of the tomato and cut through the fatty cheese, creating harmony between flavors and textures.”

—Eric Lorberfeld, Growlers Beer Bistro Harmonies of Flavor Turns out there’s a bit of science behind the logic of pairing these two American classics. “Pizza and beer are a match made in heaven, and there’s a reason for that,” says Eric Lorberfeld, owner of Growlers Beer Bistro in Tuckahoe, New York. “The right beer will stand up to the acidic tang of the tomato and cut through the fatty cheese, creating harmony between flavors and textures. For basic pizzas, lagers and pilsners match best, mainly because the spicy hop character contrasts nicely with the cheese, and the malty finish and crisp carbonation cleanse the palate after each bite/sip.”

For meat lovers pies, Lorberfeld recommends an American pale ale or IPA with a high hop profile, such as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, while veggie pizzas pair with brown ale, like Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale. For a classic Margherita, he suggests a well-balanced, clean and lightly hopped beer, like a Reissdorf Kölsch from Germany.

“When pairing pizza and beer, one basic tip can help guide you to home runs: Work to find harmonies of flavor,” Herz advises. “Pizza’s soul is the crust. The same flavors of pizza’s toasted, bready crust carry over to similar flavors from the malt of multiple beer styles. Pilsner and wheat malt harmonize well with pizza flour. The same maillard reactions that harden and advance the flavors of dough into mellanoidin-laden crust exist in beer’s kilned malts, including pale malt, Vienna malt, Munich malt and others. This is a good thing!”

Additionally, Herz continues, beer’s hops (and the bitterness they provide) help balance the richness of cheese, while the 56 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Five Takeaways When helping your guests choose the right beer for their pizza, keep these points in mind:

1. Pairing preferences will vary from customer to

customer, so you need to offer a wide variety of beers. Offer sample flights to allow guests to experiment and choose their own favorites.

2. Try to find a well-balanced beer that will work with many different flavor combinations. Otherwise, look for harmonies of flavor. Lagers and pilsners are popular choices with standard pies, while spicy pies pair nicely with pale ales.

3. Train your wait staff to recommend pizza-and-beer pairings and have them try your beer menu for themselves. Offer pairing suggestions on your menu, particularly for your specialty pies.

4. Partner with area craft brewers to find the right

beers for your menu. Host “tap takeovers” spotlighting these brewers and promote them on your website and social media.

5. Taste and experiment with a wide range of pair-

ings and become an expert in your own right. Trust your own palate!

acidity in beer helps neutralize the cheese’s saltiness so customers can better taste the pizza’s other ingredients. “Add to that the herbal notes of many hops (pine, spruce, woodsy, forest and more) and how they bridge to the many herbs used in pizza, and you’re now dancing in the divine!” says Herz.

As Jennifer Glanville, a brewer with Boston-based Samuel Adams, notes, with so many varying flavors in pizza, including sauce, cheese and dough, pizzeria operators benefit from offering a well-balanced beer to work with all possible flavor combinations. “A significant malt base pairs well with any crust, and a great hop finish matches the acidity in the tomato sauce and heaviness of the cheese and toppings,” she says. “The rich, malty flavors develop and deepen the flavors of heavier

PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE

Located in Stowe, Vermont, Piecasso Pizzeria & Lounge provides a beer list that includes helpful descriptions of each brew, including its price, flavor profile and alcohol content.

toppings like meat and cheese, while the hop character cuts through some of the richness. And flavors in the beer (like earthy, nutty and smoky) are reflected and enhanced in cheese.

The yeast character of the beer also works with the similar tastes in the cheese that come from its natural maturation process.”

In addition, says Glanville, beer’s carbonation and bitterness lifts the creaminess of the cheese from the palate, and a wellbalanced brew creates added depth of flavor without overpowering the taste of other ingredients.

Going Local At Piecasso Pizzeria & Lounge (piecasso.com) in Stowe, Vermont, part of the company culture involves showcasing the local beer community—and, luckily, there are numerous award-winning breweries within 30 miles that craft styles from Belgians to browns to traditional Austrian lagers. With so many high-end craft brews “right in our backyard,” says owner Eduardo Rovetto, the pizzeria often hosts “tap takeovers,” when one brewery will monopolize five to seven taps as chefs whip up marinades, batters and sauces that incorporate its beers.

“My beer program always represents variety, but many of our beers come from Vermont. Finding the right balance is key, because pairing preferences are going to vary from customer to customer,” explains George Spraker, Piecasso general manager.

58 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

A sausage-and-pepper pie might call for an IPA, while a whitebased pie pairs well with a nonbitter brew, such as a lager, Helles or hefeweizen. “But, in reality, it often comes down to what the customer prefers in his beer and pizza flavors,” says Spraker.

“Hops are an acquired taste, while some people like porters and stouts. We try to cover all bases to suit all palates.”

To let both employees and customers know about Piecasso’s different beers (which often change), the beer list is reprinted a couple of times per day with explanations of each beer, including its price, alcohol content and flavor profile. Meanwhile, notes are entered into the POS system regularly to ensure that employees know about any changes when they log in. An active, communicative staff is key to properly recommend suitable pairings, Spraker notes. For curious customers, Piecasso updates its website’s beer list daily, and social media posts promote new arrivals.

For pies with strong flavors like barbecue, pesto or Buffalo chicken, Spraker might recommend Otter Creek Copper Ale for its aromatic qualities, notes of grapefruit and citrus, and hop finish. A meat pie with red sauce pairs well with Belgian styles, with their slightly salty finish, or geuze, with its touch of hops and smoke. The pizzeria’s chefs have also honed their palates by hosting beer dinners with food-and-brew courses; the brewer himself or a liaison from the company brings in bottles so staff members can taste them beforehand and create appropriate pairings. Between pairing possibilities and incorporating beers directly into food items, “there are a lot of things we can do with beers,” Spraker says.

Roots Handmade Pizza (rootspizza.com) in Chicago also takes a local approach with its beer menu, choosing only Midwestern brews to complement its “Quad Cities-style” crust, which incorporates brewer’s malts and thus naturally pairs well with beers. “We leave it to our servers to recommend beers based on the customer’s personal preference—for example, do they like sweeter or drier styles?” says manager Malinda Reicher. “Generally, spicy pizzas pair well with pale ales, which add tang, and meat pies are great with a rye or amber. When you pair opposite flavors, you can really pull out the flavors in each.” Hence, salty meats like bacon and prosciutto are contradicted (in a good way) by sweeter styles.

Roots’ staff members remain well-educated thanks to frequent brewery tours in the Chicagoland area, plus visits to breweries in nearby states every month or two. Meanwhile, reps from breweries often drop in to host classes with the staff, teaching about the brewery’s culture and beers (including ingredients and how they’re made), and in-house classes fill in the blanks. “There are so many styles of beer now, it’s hard to include them all, but IPAs are very popular, and we keep a wellrounded menu year-round to please everyone,” says Reicher.

Menu Mentions Slice Pizza & Brew (slicebirmingham.com) also maintains a well-educated staff to inform customers about its many beers

on offer, but the menu itself lists pairing suggestions for every pizza. Executive chef Terrill Brazelton did Internet research to learn about common pairings (such as IPAs with strong/spicy/ curry flavors; pale ales with meats/fried foods/hearty flavors; porter with smoked cheeses and meats; and brown ales with sausage, fish or Gouda cheese).

Brazelton recommends similar basic research to find traditional pairings, but he also recommends trusting your taste buds and experimenting—then showing customers the way through your menu. “Offering so many beers can be overwhelming for some customers, so suggested pairings on the menu can point them in the right direction, which opens their palates and allows them to try new beers—and today’s customers love to try new things,” Brazelton observes.

To facilitate pairing, he might also incorporate beers into the pizzas themselves. Slice’s Lakeview pizza features short ribs braised in a local IPA, and the Wing & a Prayer pie is topped with chicken braised in pale ale. “When you cook with a style of beer, it eases you in; you feel and taste that connection,” Brazelton says. “To find what’s right, I recommend simply doing as much tasting as possible.”

In general, Brazelton likes lighter beers with lighter foods— think chicken or lighter sausages with wheat beers or Biere de Garde. Slice’s White Shadow, with portobello mushrooms, pairs with an earthy brew like saison. In winter, he recom-

“Offering so many beers can be overwhelming for some customers, so suggested pairings on the menu can point them in the right direction, which opens their palates and allows them to try new beers.”

—Terrill Brazelton, Slice Pizza & Brew mends pairing red-sauce Margheritas with a pilsner, pale ale or lager, while in summer these pies are made with fresh tomato and fit better with a saison or Biere de Garde. “I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules,” laughs Brazelton. “If you like a beer, any pizza can go well with it!”

However, even with menu recommendations, Slice’s staff stays abreast of how to help customers select a beer that’s right for them. Bartenders or waitstaff will ask customers what they drink at home to get an idea of preferred styles. Brazelton recommends that staff try the beers offered, with owners or managers soliciting feedback on what they taste in the beer. “Throw caution to the wind and research the best pairing possibilities,” he suggests. “Start with the basics and go from there. There’s a lot of knowledge out there, but you’re in this business for a reason—trust your palate!”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.

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FEATURE STORY CHICKEN

60 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

The

GOLDEN AGE of

CHICKEN With chicken’s popularity on the rise, now’s the time to jump-start your menu with unique new specialty sauces, recipes and applications.

By Liz Barrett

Toledo, Ohio-based Marco’s Pizza recently celebrated National Spinach Day with its Grilled Chicken Florentine pizza, featuring grilled chicken, fresh spinach, Parmesan garlic sauce, four cheeses (including feta), red onions and sliced tomatoes.

MARCO’S

T

he humble chicken may not be the smartest critter in the world, but it ranks among the tastiest. With more than half of all pizzerias serving wings, sandwiches and pasta and a hefty 98% offering salads, it’s pretty safe to assume that your pizzeria features chicken somewhere on the menu. In fact, chicken is enjoying something of a golden age—according to a report by Priceonomics, a data services company in San Francisco, Americans now eat more chicken than beef for the first time in 100 years. So boosting sales of chicken-based menu items shouldn’t be too hard if you’re preparing and marketing them right.

The basic chicken choices in a pizzeria setting usually include grilled breast meat for inclusion in salads, sandwiches and pizza; pasta dishes such as chicken Parmesan and chicken Alfredo; and wings of the spicy and mild variety. But chicken

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NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL

Offbeat items like pulled chicken sliders could add sizzle to your menu.

often gets overlooked when sexier meats—such as bacon, sausage and prosciutto—enter the picture. Fortunately, there are several ways to bring chicken back into the spotlight by utilizing fresh applications and sauces, highlighting chicken in new sections of the menu, and actively showing customers that there’s a whole new world to explore outside of pepperoni.

Going Green Salads are one of the easiest ways to wow customers with chicken. The salad section is usually one of the first menu sections that your patrons see, so this is a great opportunity to grab their attention. Instead of listing a simple house salad topped with grilled chicken, create a few chicken-centric salads (at a higher price point), such as a BBQ Chicken Salad with roasted corn, avocado, black beans and tortilla strips topped with avocado ranch dressing, or an Italian Chopped Salad topped with diced chicken, pepperoni, mozzarella, basil, tomatoes and housemade croutons.

Gables Pizza & Salad (gablespizzaandsalad.com), with locations in Miami and Coral Gables, Florida, offers a choice of 22 specialty salads, which can be topped with grilled or breaded chicken. In addition, any of the salads can be made into a wrap, using a variety of tortilla choices. These unique options appeal to everyone and have the potential to encourage additional visits by customers who come in just for your salad selection.

Flying High Wings remain one of the most popular appetizers at pizzerias.

If you’re currently offering them on your menu, how do yours stand out from the competition? Take a look at menus from some of the more popular wing-focused restaurants and choose a few sauces to test on your customers. Some avid wing fans won’t 62 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Greek Salad With Olive-Grilled Chicken Photo and recipe courtesy of National Chicken Council Marinade

¼ c. olive oil 1 (4½ oz.) jar prepared olive tapenade ¼ c. lemon juice ¼ c. chopped fresh oregano 4 lb. chicken Salad

1 c. grape tomatoes, halved 12 Kalamata olives, pitted 6 oz. feta cheese, cubed ½ small red onion, diced ¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil 3 tbsp. lemon juice 1 tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped 8 c. mixed greens (preferably spinach, arugula and romaine) Place first four ingredients into a resealable plastic bag; add chicken, seal bag and shake gently to coat chicken with marinade. Refrigerate 4 to 24 hours.

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Remove chicken from bag and discard marinade. Arrange chicken on grill. Close lid and open vents. Cook chicken for about 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast registers 170°F, turning occasionally to cook all pieces evenly.

To prepare Greek Salad, combine first seven ingredients in a large bowl and toss. Gently stir in greens.

Top with chicken. Serves 4 to 8.

order wings from pizzerias if they don’t offer unique sauces— such as garlic, Thai, BBQ, sriracha and lemon pepper—that can be found at the larger wing eateries. Atlanta-based Chicka-Biddy Wings, for example, has made a name for itself with flavors such as Wood-Grilled Piri Piri, Spicy Green Tabasco, and Thai Chili and Peanuts.

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Photo and recipe courtesy of National Chicken Council 2 c. cooked chicken, shredded ½ tsp. kosher salt ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper ½ c. Asian ginger dressing 1½ tsp. curry powder 1 c. rainbow coleslaw mix 1 Granny Smith apple or other tart apple, sliced thinly 3 scallions, sliced thinly 1/3 c. sweetened, flaked coconut, toasted 12 large leaves soft lettuce, such as Bibb or Boston lettuce In a large bowl, combine salt, pepper, ginger dressing and curry powder and mix well. Add all remaining ingredients, except lettuce leaves, to bowl and toss gently to combine. Place two lettuce leaves on each plate, fill each leaf with a small amount of the chicken mixture and serve. Serves 4.

Unforgettable Sandwiches When it comes to chicken sandwiches, you can choose to make them boring and bland or truly memorable. The most memorable ones often combine flavors that your customers already love, such as chicken Parmesan, ranch chicken and barbecue chicken. Think about some of the great chicken sandwiches you’ve eaten—the bread, sauce, cheese, etc. What made them great?

At Pizza by Certé (certenyc.com) in New York, owner/head chef Edward Sylvia created the mouthwatering chicken saltimbocca, featuring grilled chicken, prosciutto, basil, mozzarella and lemon caper aioli on a pressed baguette. One of the most popular sandwiches at Mr. G’s Italian Pizzeria (gotomrgs.com) in Bryan, Texas, is the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, which mimics his signature hot wings. It’s stuffed with marinated chicken breast that’s been dipped in a spicy red-hot sauce and comes topped with lettuce and ranch dressing.

Adding just a few signature sauces to your wing lineup could help to boost wing sales month over month. Test the sauces out as specials and see which ones fare the best before adding them to your permanent menu. Also think about other appetizers that work well with chicken: shredded chicken nachos; fried chicken tenders; grilled chicken, mozzarella and tomato skewers; ground chicken sliders; and anything else that is small and/or sharable.

Poultry and Pasta Dishes like chicken Alfredo and chicken Parmesan are expected on a pizzeria menu. But the expected isn’t always what guests are in the mood for when they have a hunger for something that will make their mouths water. Consumers nowadays are bombarded by media images and television 64 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

UPPER CRUST PIZZERIA

Boston’s Upper Crust Pizzeria features the Pollogo Chicken and Pesto Pizza, made with grilled chicken, Gorgonzola, Asiago and garlic.

The Upper Crust

NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL

Ginger-Curry Chicken Lettuce Wraps

programs that illustrate new and unique ways to prepare ordinary foods, including chicken. Many consumers expect to find this global food obsession reflected in the restaurants they visit on a regular basis.

Baris Pizza & Pasta (barispizzaandpasta.com) in Pflugerville, Texas, offers 10 types of homemade pastas alongside chicken specialties such as chicken Madeira, chicken Marsala, chicken Cacciatore, chicken Florentine and more. Meanwhile, the California Pizza Kitchen (cpk.com) chain, headquartered in Los Angeles, serves up its famous Chicken Tequila Fettucine, made with a creamy jalapeño lime sauce, red onions, bell peppers and cilantro. As these dishes prove, you can create several different chicken pasta dishes by simply changing the sauce and/or pasta, creating the illusion of a much larger menu.

“The No. 1 chicken-related trend is the fact that chicken is the No. 1 trend. But pizza operators should not lose sight of the fact that they are in the Italian food business. Incorporating menu items that are Italian and made with chicken will give consumers what they want the most. And that’s when you’ll see revenues increase.” —Vincent Todaro, Todarini Foods

Trust the Crust As with any other topping, you can get creative when it comes to chicken and pizza. While there are die-hard pizza traditionalists who oppose using chicken on a pizza, many others can’t get enough of it. Common chicken pizza recipes feature barbecue, Thai, pesto and Alfredo. Make your menu stand out by offering a couple of the favorites and then whipping up some unusual ones that entice customers to try them.

Xtreme Pizza Kitchen (xtremepizzakitchen.com), based in Fargo, North Dakota, caters to Alfredo sauce fans with several chicken pizzas, including the top-selling Cordon Bleu, topped with Alfredo sauce, green peppers, red onions, chicken, Canadian bacon, a three-cheese blend and Swiss cheese. Earlier this year, Piece Brewery and Pizzeria (piecechicago.com) in Chicago teamed up with fellow Windy City restaurant Honey Butter Fried Chicken to create a specialty pie, sold during February. It’s made with a combination of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, plus chicken that’s double-battered in

buttermilk and seasoned flour and fried in—you guessed it— honey butter.

As for calzones, everyone offers at least one version with ingredients such as pepperoni, meatball, sausage and vegetables. But don’t forget about the chicken lovers out there. Consider the variety of chicken pastas and pizzas that you currently offer; almost any of these can work as a calzone.

Giovanni Cerone, owner of Mr G’s Italian Pizzeria, has a big fan following for the huge calzones he serves at the pizzeria, but until now, he never had a chicken calzone on the menu.

He recently added one to the lineup after talking with PMQ, filling it with chicken and mozzarella and serving it with a side of barbecue sauce and his famous Alfredo sauce.

Spring is a time of renewal, so why not begin with your chicken offerings? No matter which section of the menu you start with, from salads to sandwiches to pizzas, there’s always room for improvement.

Liz Barrett is PMQ’s editor at large.

May 2014

pmq.com 65

FEATURE STORY MARKETING TO YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIENCE

Creating Fans of your

BRAND Marketing expert Tom Feltenstein offers 10 tips for engaging your social media audience.

By Tom Feltenstein

F

or many potential customers, your pizzeria’s social media presence—particularly your Facebook page— will be their first introduction to your brand. And we all know that first impressions are lasting impressions.

Too many restaurant operators set up a Facebook page and then forget about it, failing to update it regularly and paying no attention to comments from followers and fans. Others post something every day but focus almost exclusively on self-promotional messages that don’t engage their audiences.

First and foremost, social media is about engagement.

Social networking sites allow restaurants to connect and interact with existing and potential customers. These sites provide rich opportunities for you to keep your customers continually

66 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

updated about your pizzeria while engaging in active conversations with them and promoting brand awareness. Even better, social networking makes it possible for you to listen closely to what your customers want and need. The overall result is that your customers and fans associate your brand with a positive, rewarding experience even when they’re not actually eating in your restaurant.

All of these social media platforms—including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest—are free, but it takes strategic planning to get the most value when you use them. Here are 10 tips for using your social media to attract more fans to your brand:

1.

2.

3.

Partner with a trusted expert. If social media is unfamiliar territory for you, find an expert who can guide you through the best practices. Many restaurants employ social media managers, but expert consultants are also available. Before hiring a professional, ask for references and case studies. If you can’t afford to create a salaried position or hire a consultant, consider giving the task to a younger manager or staff member who’s wellversed in social media and has a solid understanding of your brand, social media strategy and goals, and the ability to communicate effectively with the written word.

Clarify your brand. Branding is all about recognition. How will your customers know that you are you and not one of your competitors? Social media is a way for customers to know you, like you and trust you.

And the “you” they’re getting to know, like and trust is your brand. In other words, your brand is the story of you. It’s everything about you that sets you apart from your competitors.

Moreover, in social media, there are a few elements of branding identity that are not necessarily applicable in other kinds of marketing, such as your tone or voice. For example, do you communicate with humor?

Are you straightforward and direct? Do you tend to be chatty? Without a differentiated brand identity, you are a commodity, like milk, gas or Chinese takeout.

You get the sale only if you happen to be the closest or the cheapest when your customer is ready to get a pizza. On the other hand, if your pizzeria is perceived as a distinguished brand, your customers will travel for many miles or pay more just to eat your pizza. That’s how you generate repeat business and cultivate customers who will promote your products for you.

It’s worth it to invest a little money in high-quality food photography.

Social media posts with pictures of your best menu items will draw attention and get customers in the mood for your food.

4.

Create descriptive paragraphs. Gather all of the information about your brand that you want to convey and write it down. This is an essential step if you’re going to hire a social media manager to do this work for you, but it will be just as helpful if you’re taking on the job yourself. How long has your pizzeria been in business?

What’s the story behind it? What makes your pizza different from your competitors? Pizza fans love to know the history of their favorite pizza restaurants, so be ready to share it with them. Create descriptive paragraphs that cover the important facts about your pizzeria. Do you use a wood-fired oven? Do your recipes date back to your Italian great-grandmother? Do you source most of your ingredients from local farmers? Do you have a strong selection of craft beers? Hit the high points in your descriptive copy, and use keywords that customers will use when they’re searching for a pizzeria online.

5.

Take great photographs. Social media is a visual medium as well as a verbal one. Bring in a talented photographer to capture vivid images of your most delicious-looking pizzas. Also take photos of your pizza makers and waitstaff in action. Show some personality and flair! You want your customers to get to know you on a more intimate level, and great photos will help. Post these photos occasionally along with your other regular updates. Make this an ongoing project, and be consistent. The goal is to convey a sense of your pizzeria’s atmosphere and personality as well as its great food!

Act like a friend. Do not shout. Do not broadcast. Do not brag. Speak like yourself—not like a corporate marketing shill or press secretary. Personify your brand. Give people something to relate to.

People like to do business with people they know, not with faceless corporations. If another staff member posts on your behalf, make sure that the person knows how to craft engaging, entertaining posts with correct spelling and grammar.

May 2014

pmq.com 67

If social media is unfamiliar territory to you, consider turning the task over to a younger manager or staff member who understands your brand and goals.

To improve your odds for success, get your entire team involved in your social media strategy.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Involve everyone. Make social media a team effort. Get your team together, discuss the options, devise strategies and make sure everyone’s on board.

Even if you don’t use social media a lot, your employees probably do. Ask them to invite their friends to “like” your pizzeria’s Facebook page or follow it on Twitter. Solicit their ideas for reaching more people and attracting more fans. Make them feel vital to your social media mission, and they’ll want to help.

Share videos. Video-sharing sites, such as Youtube, Vimeo and Vine, let you upload videos and share them with your social media fans. Create how-to videos for people who want to learn to make great pizzas at home and share a few of your best recipes. Shoot brief videos of a pizza maker tossing dough or the waiters clowning around in the kitchen. Some pizzerias use a mobile app called Vine, which lets you capture and share short, looping videos of six seconds or less. These short videos encourage creativity and originality and have become quite popular with younger users.

68 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Show the human side of your business.

Post or tweet about social causes and charity events that matter to you and your pizzeria. Promote good causes whenever possible and show that you care about your community and your customers.

Ask for feedback from fans and followers.

One of the biggest advantages of platforms like Twitter and Facebook is the ability to communicate in real time. This makes it possible for pizzeria owners to find out about complaints or problems sooner and respond quickly with a solution.

Run contests. Numerous apps—including Woobox, Wildfire Promotion Builder, Heyo Free Contest Builder, ShortStack and AgoraPulse—are available to help you set up contests on Facebook, Twitter and other sites. With prizes such as free pizzas or appetizers, you can use the contests to encourage fans to promote your brand to their friends by liking and sharing your posts.

Finally, no article about social media would be complete without examples of what not to do. If you make these mistakes, you could lose money and suffer a great deal of humiliation. Here are some common no-no’s that you’ll want to keep in mind:

Do not: qq Connect with a bunch of random people. Why bombard folks who will never eat at your pizzeria? Build your followers geographically—it’s easy to do, and you can start with your own friends and family members and by asking your staff to invite their friends and relatives as well.

Post a healthy mix of promotional and just-for-fun messages to engage your audience.

qq Confuse your followers about who you are. If you have multiple profiles with contradictory information—such as old addresses or phone numbers, outdated menus, etc.— you’ll just confuse your customers. If you’ve got multiple social media accounts—such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram—make sure they’re all consistent with each other and with your brand. qq Post too many self-promotional messages. If you flood your Facebook followers with too many sales messages, your prospective customers will tune your posts out or, worse, drop you like a hot potato. Use this powerful medium wisely! qq Post too few self-promotional messages. On the other hand, if you are shy about letting your fans know what you have to offer, you will not maximize your return on investment. Throw in a healthy mix of promotional and just-for-fun messages to engage your audience!

Tom Feltenstein is a restaurant marketing consultant and CEO/founder of Tom Feltenstein’s Power Marketing Academy.

Don’t be surprised if you spot customers taking photos of your pizzas in the middle of the meal. This is a good thing; they’ll probably post the photos on their social media pages and give you great free publicity!

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FEATURE STORY SMILING WITH HOPE BAKERY

(Clockwise from top) Paige Mossman (front )has made a name for herself as a pizza making prodigy at Smiling With Hope Bakery, with help from fellow students Brandon Kruger and Jordan Gaiters as well as instruction from special education teacher Walter Gloshinski; a thank-you note from one of Gloshinski’s students makes all the hard work worthwhile; Jordan and Paige collaborate on a cheese pizza.

72 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Walter’s Kids A school-run bakery in Newark, Ohio, uses pizza, bagels and breads to showcase the abilities of an untapped labor force— youths with special needs.

By Rick Hynum

S

Photography by Seth Roy

miling With Hope Bakery, a small yet bustling operation in Newark, Ohio, isn’t exactly famous for its speedy service or customer convenience. The pizza menu is limited—18” cheese or pepperoni pies only. It doesn’t deliver, and good luck calling in a carryout order— the shop doesn’t even have a phone line.

But, despite the lack of amenities, you won’t regret placing an order with this one-of-a-kind bakery/pizzeria. By all accounts, the food is good, and the cause is even better.

Located at Newark High School, Smiling With Hope Bakery teaches real-world job skills—from dishwashing and food prep to bread baking and pizza making—to special needs students, qualifying them for entry-level restaurant and bakery jobs and helping them achieve self-sufficiency.

The bakery is the brainchild of special education teacher Walter Gloshinski, a Newark, New Jersey, native with Italian roots on his mother’s side. It’s the culmination of nearly two decades’ work that started on a smaller scale in Austin, Texas, and later moved to Sonoma County, California. The goal, Gloshinski explains, is to “train students with cognitive

delays, learning disabilities and emotional disturbances to learn entry-level job skills and find some success in their lives.”

Doing It His Way Like many artists, Gloshinki has always followed a solitary— some might say eccentric—path. As a songwriter, he created his own musical genre, called “sponto-beat,” making up and playing his blues-based songs strictly on the spot and in the moment, without set chord progressions or lyrics. “Ever since I was a child, I had these visions,” he says. “I just see it all done.

It’s like I walk into the movie screen and become the movie.

Everything I do is spontaneously created.”

His music took him to Austin and earned him some highprofile fans, he says. “A lot of famous musicians liked what I did. Bob Dylan, Joey Ramone and members of the Rolling Stones were fans of my music and played in my band sometimes. They enjoyed the spontaneity of it all.” But record labels prefer a more structured and polished approach to the craft, and Gloshinski refused to compromise. Instead, he switched gears, went to college and became a special education teacher.

May 2014

pmq.com 73

“Our society thinks people with disabilities can’t go very far. I’ve learned that they can go beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Just have faith in them and train them in a way they can understand, and they’ll be the best workers you’ve ever had and the kindest workers you’ve ever had.”

—Walter Gloshinski,

Smiling With Hope Bakery

Walter Gloshinski and student Paige Mossman place a pizza in one of Smiling With Hope’s vintage Blodgett 1000 ovens.

“Money doesn’t turn me on,” he muses. “Touching people’s souls and having my soul touched turns me on. That’s my wealth.”

As an educator, Gloshinski recognized that most special needs youths hit a dead end when they leave high school.

“There are no jobs for them, no future. But if you can teach them how to do basic work, there are tons of jobs, and they will do great at them.”

Determined to help prepare his students for gainful employment, Gloshinski, who had learned pizza making from family members and friends, eventually started his first student-run bakery at a high school in Santa Rosa, California. After taking a job in Newark, he convinced the school district to build the Smiling With Hope Bakery to commercial code. Otherwise, he was largely on his own and, in addition to training his students in the shop’s day-to-day operations, he had to go out and scrounge up customers. Over time, he has scored wholesale contracts for his products with local public schools, nearby Denison University and several local government agencies, such as the Licking County Aging Program and the Licking County Department of Developmental Disabilities.

The bakery provides New York-style bagels to Denison and one school cafeteria as well as 10,000 cookies per week to another pair of school lunchrooms. Word-of-mouth has also led to catering jobs and brought in individual customers from the region. In addition to pizza, bagels and cookies, the menu boasts a number of breads, such as Rustic Sourdough, Cinnamon Raisin and Potato Rosemary, plus housemade apple pies, brownies, muffins, pretzels, danishes and cinnamon rolls.

“Our bagels are hand-rolled, boiled and baked,” Gloshinski proudly notes. “Our artisan breads are made with real sourdough starters and cooked on the stone. We work with [a local Amish group] and use their 100% organic flour, stoneground by horses, to make our bagels for Denison University.”

74 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Gloshinski developed all of the recipes himself, including the cookies, which meet federal dietary standards for schools.

But he’s especially proud of his pizza. “We make them like they’d be made in New York, using all the same ingredients,” he says. “We hand-toss our dough and cook the pizzas directly on the stone in vintage Blodgett 1000 stacked ovens. We import oregano from Sicily and use Parmigiano Reggiano DOP and Romano Pecorino DOP cheeses. It’s a handmade pizza that you won’t find in most of the country.

“I make my dough with ice water,” he adds. “I like what the cold water does with the fermentation. We don’t use any oil or sugar in our dough—it’s just yeast, water, salt and flour. That’s how I was raised. It’s old-school pizza making.”

The pizzas have their own fan base in the Newark community and surrounding region. “We’re in a locked facility on a high school campus,” Gloshinski explains. “We don’t advertise. We’re only open during school hours on school days. We don’t deliver. You have to place your order at least one day in advance. And we’re doing great! We have people who come all

Gloshinski and his pupils make their dough with ice water. “I like what the cold water does with the fermentation,” he says.

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the way from Columbus just to get our pizza every week or two, and a lot of transplants from the Northeast have found out about us and eat our pizzas, too.”

Real-World Skills Although the Newark school district provides the building space and pays the bakery’s utilities, Smiling With Hope, now in its third year, essentially supports itself, with profits going back into the operation. More importantly, it creates opportunities for youths who might otherwise never get a chance to prove themselves in the workforce. The bakery currently has 18 students on the staff. “We do everything with six special needs kids working 80% of the day and 12 kids who work 20% of the day,” Gloshinski says. “And we’re feeding upwards of 12,000 people a week.”

One pupil, Paige Mossman, blossomed into a highly capable pizza maker, Gloshinski says, and was promoted to Smiling With Hope’s assistant manager before getting a job at Bon Appetit, Denison University’s dining services provider. “They hired her just for her pizza making skills,” he says. “She does everything from food prep to pizza making and serving.” In fact, Paige is one of two Smiling With Hope students now working for Bon Appetit. “They work there after school and on weekends, making $250 a week. They make more than any kid in Newark High School,” Gloshinski says.

Meanwhile, another student landed a job in a local restaurant,

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Jordan Gaiters performs clean-up duties and helps top pizzas at Smiling With Hope Bakery.

handling prep work, washing dishes and busing tables. A fourth student works as a server in a local cafeteria-style dining hall, and another is waiting to reach legal age to become a dishwasher.

Teaching the Teacher Gloshinski is passionate about his work and hopes restaurateurs around the country will take notice. “Most states have some kind of office that provides assistance for developmentally

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disabled people,” he says. “One of my hopes is that pizzeria owners will read this article and go to their state’s office and hire some entry-level workers. These people often come with job coaches, and their jobs may even be funded by state and federal money for a good while, if not indefinitely. They’re an untapped population of entry-level workers, which can be the hardest ones to find. And once you get them trained, they will be the best employees you’ve ever had.”

Mundane and repetitive labor isn’t a problem for many individuals with cognitive delays, Gloshinski points out. “If something has to be done the same way every time, they will do it the same way every time. My students will be your dishwashers for life, and they’ll love doing it. They don’t care if you keep bringing them more dishes to wash. They don’t come in with an attitude or with baggage. They take as much joy in their work as the president does in running the country. They’ll do it for life and be excited about going to work every day. They feel fulfilled.”

And the students have taught their teacher a thing or two, Gloshinski adds. “Our society thinks people with disabilities can’t go very far. I’ve learned that they can go beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Just have faith in them and train them in a way they can understand, and they’ll be the best workers you’ve ever had and the kindest workers you’ve ever had. I’ve learned more

Like many of the special needs students at Smiling With Hope Bakery, Brandon Kruger takes pleasure in washing dishes and keeping the bakery clean.

about love, forgiveness, trust and faith from my students than I ever learned anywhere else. I teach them how to find a job, but they teach me about how to live life from the heart with kindness, honesty and integrity.”

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

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www.renatoovens.com 78 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

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FEATURE STORY PIZZA PIZZAZZ

&

With help from PMQ’s Think Tank, a small Australian pizzeria stood up to a major national chain and came out on top.

By Tom Boyles

W

hen a major national pizza chain opened a store down the road from David Waterman’s tiny pizza shop in Currambine, a beachside suburb of Perth, Western Australia, things looked pretty bleak. But some advice from PMQ’s Think Tank helped Waterman’s 28-seat Pizza Pizzazz (realpizzas.com) go head-to-head with the chain and come out on top. And, although the battle took place four years ago, it’s as relevant today as the biblical tale of David and Goliath—with a modern-day guy named David to boot.

Waterman never set out to conquer the pizza world; it was a second career for him. He bought his little shop after getting downsized from a sales job in the grocery business. “Not knowing much in the beginning, I paid quite the fool’s tax,” he recalls. “I learned after I purchased the place that the previous owners had doctored the figures up a bit—despite our best due diligence—and there was quite a bit of shoddy equipment

“We ran a leaflet in the local paper and offered a free small pizza to the first 150 people on the day after [national chain] Eagle Boys opened, with an offer to upgrade to a large pizza for just $5 more. On the Tuesday after they opened, we had 50 to 60 people already lined up.”

— David Waterman, Pizza Pizzazz 80 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

that had to be replaced early on. I ended up spending an extra $60,000 right away on revamping the shop, fixing the prep bench, refrigerator motors and such. I ended up adding a second oven as sales increased later on.”

Once he’d made the upgrades, Waterman went to work on the business itself. The store offers strictly nighttime service, opening at 5 p.m. every day and closing at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. His first big challenge was to persuade customers to opt for takeaway and dine-in instead of the more problematic delivery option.

“The delivery side was really losing business and not as profitable,” he says. “With the increase in petrol at the time, we couldn’t get or keep drivers. Delivery times were long, and we needed to change that. I really pushed the fact that customers could pick up an order in about 15 to 20 minutes or wait an hour to an hour and a half for delivery. It worked—about 70% of my business is takeaway now, about 25% is delivery, and the rest is dine-in.”

The Eagle Boys Switching his customer base from delivery to takeaway was a positive move, but more obstacles loomed for Waterman. As Pizza Pizzazz began to take off, he got word that Eagle Boys, one of Australia’s largest pizza chains, would soon open a store about 100 meters down the road. “I saw that they were advertising for employees in the papers and knew it would be a couple of weeks before they would open, so I developed a plan to dampen their grand opening,” Waterman says.

David Waterman (right, with two employees) combated the grand opening of a major chain in his area by giving away small pizzas to a few customers at a time and setting up barricade rails outside his shop, creating long lines of customers and drawing attention away from his new competitor.

As Eagle Boys’ big day approached, Waterman set his plan into motion. “We ran a leaflet in the local paper and offered a free small pizza to the first 150 people on the day after Eagle Boys opened, with an offer to upgrade to a large pizza for just $5 more,” he says. “On the Tuesday after they opened, we had a line of 50 to 60 people already lined up.”

To maximize the promotion’s impact, Waterman set up barricade rails in front of the shop and let in only five or six customers at a time. The delay created an even longer line outside the shop, drawing the attention of passersby. He also had customers fill out a contact information sheet to get the free pizza, building his database for future marketing outreach.

“It went over so well that, two weeks later, I did it again, but I did it a little differently,” he continues. “I made the same offer of a free pizza in a direct mail piece and had the postman drop it in the first 200 boxes he came to in the vicinity of Eagle Boys. It was for a free large pizza this time—any pizza except our gourmet line. It read, ‘If you are a customer, this is a thank-you. If not, give us a try.’ It worked so well at stalling their grand opening and building my customer database that I repeated the same strategy every two weeks—for a total of four more times—in surrounding suburbs. We had confidence in our product, knowing that if new customers tried us, they would come back.”

Thanks to the Tank Waterman got the general idea for this strategy by reading PMQ’s online forum, the Think Tank, then added his own

ideas, such as the barricades and the contact sheet. “Prior to that, I was probably doing just $9,000 per week, but after that, my sales jumped to $11,000 per week,” he says. “Sales have increased progressively since then, to around $14,000 per week. That was about four years ago. From what I heard, Eagle Boys at that location never got up to their projected numbers until about a year ago.”

Waterman continues to try new promotional strategies.

When a local radio station held a contest asking listeners to call in and name their favorite pizza, Waterman created box toppers to encourage his customers to vote for Pizza Pizzazz.

“We had a lot of people hear about us who had never ordered before, and we got voted best pizza,” he says. “I had a sign added to our window that said ‘Voted Best Pizza in Perth.’ It helped take our sales to the next level. No matter what you win, make a big deal out of it. Maybe I should take it down, but it still works,” he laughs.

Waterman says he’s no marketing guru, but he’s always open to new ideas. “Read all you can and learn from others,” he advises. “I am in the Think Tank on PMQ.com every day, learning, and a lot of the info there works. The days of Mom and Pop leaning on the counter are over. You need to have a clean shop and market yourself. Uniform your staff and present a professional appearance. You have to offer more than just pizza, because customers want more than just pizza, and you have to be different with it and your other menu items. And, most of all, you must have a website presence. Customers expect it.”

Tom Boyles is a PMQ account executive and editor of PMQ Australia.

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FEATURE ARTICLE NAPICS 2014

82 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

BEST MIDWEST

Pizza makers from around the Heartland competed for cash prizes and bragging rights at NAPICS 2014 in Columbus, Ohio.

With a pair of $6,000 first-place cash awards at stake, more than 125 pizza makers from across America’s heartland brought their ‘A’ game to the Pizza Pizzazz competitions at the 2014 North America Pizza and Ice Cream Show (NAPICS), held February 9 through 10 in Columbus, Ohio. But the real prize is the glowing media attention and word-of-mouth advertising that comes with the “Best of the Midwest” designation, which goes to only two pizza makers each year in the Traditional and Gourmet categories.

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I

n this year’s event, Shawn Dugan of Shorty’s Pizzeria (shortyspizzeria.com) in Parkersburg, West Virginia, claimed first prize in the Traditional category, while Jordan Henson of Gatti’s Pizza (gattispizza.com) in Portsmouth, Ohio, earned top honors in the Gourmet category.

The U.S. Pizza Team also held its Winter Trials competition at NAPICS, with Jamie Culliton of Grimaldi’s Pizzeria (grimaldispizzeria.com) emerging as the winner of the Freestyle Acrobatics competition and earning a free trip to compete in the World Pizza Championship in Parma, Italy.

Owned and operated by the Ohio Restaurant Association, NAPICS is the nation’s largest combined pizza and ice cream trade show. The show attracts 4,000 pizzeria and ice cream shop owners, operators and managers looking for moneymaking products and ideas to boost their sales and profits. This year’s event boasted 175 exhibitors as well as a full slate of seminars and workshops.

The two-day Pizza Pizzazz contest began with the Gourmet category on Sunday, February 9, followed by the Traditional category on Monday, February 10. In each event, a panel of 40 judges evaluated more than 60 pizzas for taste, presentation, crust quality and marketability. Six finalists were then chosen, and first-, second- and third-place finishers won $6,000, $1,000 and $500 respectively.

The Gourmet Champ After earning a spot as a finalist in the Gourmet competition, winner Jordan Henson, manager of Gatti’s Restaurant, nearly missed her turn at the oven in the final round. “Not knowing it was my turn put me 13 minutes behind everyone else,” she says with a laugh. “The others were getting their pizzas out of the oven, and I was like, ‘Oh, no! Now it’s time to grind!’” Despite a late start, Henson’s pizza, the Italian Sub, emerged the winner.

Assembled with a mayonnaise dressing base, it’s topped with pepperoni, ham, onions, tomatoes, banana peppers and mozzarella. After baking, it’s garnished with chopped lettuce, and the crust edge is glazed with melted garlic butter. It’s the third most requested pie at the Portsmouth Gatti’s, and its victory in Columbus marks the first time a large chain has won at Pizza Pizzazz in the contest’s 20-year history.

In addition to being a full-time employee at Gatti’s, Henson is a full-time business management student at Shawnee State University. She says she plans to use some of her prize money to pay off credit card debt and treat herself to a new pair of shoes.

84 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

U.S. Pizza Team winners and finalists included: (top, from left) Garrett Marlin (second place), Bradley Johnson (first) and Adam Tucker (third), Largest Dough Stretch; Wilhelm Rodriguez (third), Bradley Johnson (second) and David Whisker (first), Fastest Pie Maker; and Jamie Culliton (second), David Whisker (first) and Adam Tucker (third), Fastest Box Folder.

Second place in the Gourmet competition went to Cynthia Hamlin of Capone’s Pizzeria (caponespizzeria.org) in Parma, Ohio. She claimed $1,000 for her Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza.

Jason Samosky, the owner of Samosky’s Homestyle Pizzeria (samoskyspizza.com) in Valley City, Ohio, earned $500 for his third-place Spinachi pizza. Samosky is a past Pizza Pizzazz winner and multiyear finalist.

Tops in Tradition As executive chef of Shorty’s Pizzeria, Shawn Dugan won the Traditional category on only his second attempt. Competing against 63 pizza makers from independent and chain operations, Dugan triumphed with the Manzo Primo, which combines pepperoni, capicola ham, housemade sausage and candied smoked Shawn Dugan (middle) of Shorty’s Pizzeria won first place in the Traditional category at bacon. A graduate of the culinary proPizza Pizzazz. Presenting the $6,000 prize were Geoff Hetrick and Ann Reichle of the Ohio gram at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Restaurant Association.

Ohio, Dugan got hooked on authentic pizza Runners-up in the Traditional category were Jason Hague during an internship in Italy five years ago.

“The pizza in Italy ruined me on what we had back here,” says of Bada Bing Pizzeria (badabingpizzeria.com) in Springfield, Dugan, who operates Shorty’s with his dad, Brien Dugan, a Ohio, who captured second place with his Goombah pizza, hotel and restaurant veteran. “When I got back to America [in and Hamlin, who won third place for her Capone Classic.

The “Best of the Midwest” award can reap a sales bonanza 2010]…I started talking to my father about opening up our back home for pizzerias. “It’s a real source of pride for these own restaurant.”

Dugan finished seventh in last year’s Pizza Pizzazz competi- pizza makers to achieve that distinction,” notes NAPICS tion; he says some pizza topping upgrades made the difference chairwoman Ann Reichle, owner of two Angelina’s Pizza in 2014. “We upgraded the cheese we were using to Grande, (angelinaspizza.com) shops in Ohio. “It also means a lot to and we’re now using bacon that’s smoked over corn cobs,” he their businesses because of the long-term sales impact. We says. “I’d never heard of it, but then we tried it and I thought, have pizza makers tell us about people driving two hours to ‘That’s by far the best I’ve ever had.’ I really think those changes try their winning pie. That says a lot about the excitement Half Pg-PMQ.pdf 1 4/8/14 4:41 PM surrounding this contest.” pushed usSaputo over the top.”

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Gearing Up for Italy

Jordan Henson of Gatti’s Pizza preps her prize-winning pizza, the Italian Sub, during the Pizza Pizzazz competition at NAPICS.

This year’s NAPICS event also spotlighted the U.S. Pizza Team, which held its Acrobatic Trials and came away with three new members. Events held at the trials included Freestyle Acrobatics, Largest Dough Stretch, Fastest Pie Maker and Fastest Box Folder. Everyone who placed in the contest earned a spot on the U.S. Pizza Team, but only one—Jamie Culliton—was awarded the grand prize of an all-expense-paid trip to Italy.

Culliton, a dough spinning veteran, showed off his flashiest moves to win the Freestyle Acrobatics contest. Second place went to Wilhelm Rodriguez of Papa’s Pizza in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, while Dave Sommers of Mad Mushroom (madmushroom.com) in West Lafayette, Indiana, took third place.

First place for the Largest Dough Stretch went to Bradley Johnson of Mellow Mushroom (mellowmushroom.com) in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Second and third places went to USPT newcomers Garrett Marlin of Uncle’s Pizzeria (unclespizzeria.com) in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Adam Tucker of Giuseppe’s Pizza in Mifflinville, Pennsylvania, respectively.

David Whisker of B.C. Pizza (bcpizza.net) in Boyne City, Michigan, took first place in both the Fastest Pie Maker and Fastest Box Folder events. Second and third place for Fastest Pie Maker went to Bradley Johnson and Wilhelm Rodriguez, respectively. Second and third place for Fastest Box Folder went to Jamie Culliton and Adam Tucker, respectively.

Shawn Dugan and Jason Samosky will also compete with the USPT in this year’s World Pizza Championship in Parma.

The U.S. Pizza Team consists of expert pizza makers and dough spinning acrobatic performers from pizza restaurants across the United States. The USPT squad won the Team Acrobatics World Championship in Salsomaggiore, Italy, in 2011.

Jarrod Clabaugh, director of communications for the Ohio Restaurant Association, and Brian Hernandez, PMQ’s director of operations, contributed to this report.

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• MAINE WOOD HEAT Co. • 207.474.7465 // www.mainewoodheat.com 86 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

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SHOW RECAP NAPICS

Hot Products at

napics 2014

Members of the PMQ staff review cutting-edge moneymaking products at the 2014 North America Pizza and Ice Cream Show.

MY PICKS:

Linda Green C0-PUBLISHER

LoTech Sales

PizzaInsurance.com

I was instantly drawn in to the LoTech booth by Bev’s contagious smile and their unique offerings. LoTech is known for their imprinted plastic utensils customized with your business logo to use in-house or as giveaways. Their latest line includes beautiful laser-printed bamboo tongs, spoons, spatulas and more. Even the most detailed logo or photograph can be printed on each utensil. If you want your customers to keep and use your promotional giveaways, these classy yet functional bamboo utensils will complement any kitchen. 800-285-0199, lotechsales.com

PizzaInsurance.com knows pizza. A division of The Upton Group, it’s the only insurance company created by a former pizzeria owner and serving only pizzerias nationwide. Specializing in pizza restaurant insurance, this full-service agency can meet all of your unique insurance needs. The pizza industry has my heart, so the background of founder Jason Upton, with 23 years in the pizza business and 17 of those years as an owner/operator of six locations across Alabama, truly tugs on my strings. He knows the ins and outs and ups and downs in a way that only a former operator can. 800-251-7407, pizzainsurance.com

MY PICKS:

Giuseppe’s Pizza & Subs

Tom Boyles ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Of all the breads and crusts I sampled at NAPICS, the samples offered up by family-owned and -operated Giuseppe’s Pizza was the one that made me come back several times. With more than 42 years in the restaurant business, they have been producing pizza dough/crusts for more than a decade and have mastered the craft. They offer fresh frozen dough balls, presheeted dough and par-baked crusts.

They’re also great for breadsticks or garlic bread.

440-773-3535, giuseppespizza.com

88 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Sicilian Style Dough Balls

MY PICKS:

Tom Boyles ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

MY PICKS:

Anna Zemek ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

New Method Printing

The CycloMop

New Method Printing launched its new digital pizza box program at NAPICS. What I liked is that operators can upload any image they want to use and have it go from their computer straight to the pizza box. This saves operators the cost of print plates and lowers the cost to produce custom boxes. You can also get custom print no matter how many box sizes are used or change your box to advertise monthly specials or promotions.

Their new digital box programs offer unlimited colors and small, detailed designs with high precision. 937-324-3838, newmethodpackaging.com

I first came across the CycloMop at NRA and again at NAPICS. This is a true example of “building a better mousetrap.” It’s not the cheap knock-off you’ve seen on infomercials; rather, it’s an industrial-grade cleaning tool. Having mopped my share of restaurant floors, what I like about CycloMop is that employees never have to touch contaminated handles, buckets or mops.

Simply take your foot and pump one or two times while the mop is in the bucket, and it cleans and dries itself. See their video at PizzaTV.com or their ad in the digital edition of PMQ, and you’ll understand why I made this one of my top picks.

419-525-1010, cyclomop.com

ChiBacon by Heilman Foods What makes everything better? Why, bacon, of course. In a show stuffed with frozen treats and pizza, ChiBacon—bite-size pieces of chicken tenderloins that are marinated, wrapped with bacon, battered and breaded—stood heads and tail feathers above the other offerings. The bacon was cooked with a good texture and flavor, and the chicken was moist and tender. I love this product and would love to see it as an option in my local pizzeria. If I were you, I’d call your food distributor today and request they carry ChiBacon. 610-392-4153, heilmanfoods.com

New Business Now Who doesn’t need new business now? Jim and his crew help you to specifically target the new potential customers moving into your neighborhood. His direct mail targeting strategy gives your pizzeria the edge on creating lifelong loyal customers. With a choice of targeting new homeowners with a weekly or monthly service or new movers with a monthly service, it’s easy to customize a plan to work within your budget. I was impressed with how engaging and attention-catching his direct mail pieces were, especially with the personal letter and the attached coupon. 888-582-0101, new-biz-now.com

Infinite Creative Enterprises I.C.E. specializes in large, full-color LED electronic message outdoor signs. Their booth is eye-catching with flashy displays, but it wasn’t the big signs that grabbed my attention.

It was the simple Glowrite write-on/wipe-off illuminated sign that kept drawing me back in. This simple yet effective 19”-by-25” sign will capture your customers’ attention with specials and promotions. It comes in three sizes and is available single- or double-sided, and it’s affordable for even the smallest pizzeria shop. 603-347-3005, icesigns.com

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IDEA ZONE TODARINI FOODS

A D V E R T O R I A L

Beef Up Your Menu With Seasoned Chicken Pizza Toppings Today’s consumer demands chicken more than ever. Last year, America’s demand for chicken surpassed beef consumption by almost 40% and is projected to continue its rise in popularity.

You might say we’re living in the Golden Age of Poultry.

Possible reasons for the steady climb in chicken consumption include more health-conscious consumers and lower pricing for chicken compared to beef.

When selecting chicken to use on your menu, a lot of questions come to mind. What kind of food safety precautions should be in place? How do I prepare it? What spices do I use?

What other dishes can I use with chicken?

Todarini Foods has taken all of the guesswork out of selling chicken in your store. Todarini offers delicious chicken toppings in two flavor profiles: Italian and Sicilian. The Italian recipe has been in the family for more than 100 years, while the Sicilian flavor was specifically developed for the company’s topping line. The Todaro family has served the pizza industry since the 1950s, and they are the innovators behind the proprietary process (patent pending) that makes their all-natural, affordable Italian and Sicilian chicken pizza toppings unique on the market.

Thanks to years of research and development, this process keeps Todarini’s products exceptionally moist and bursting with flavor, without preservatives, binders, fillers, extenders or

added water. “Our toppings are not processed and formed to look like they were made from scratch,” says owner Vincent Todaro. “They are made from scratch.”

The Italian and Sicilian chicken toppings let pizzeria operators serve a top-quality chicken product for a price that’s about 35% lower than other chicken toppings. Since it comes fully cooked, there is no product loss during cooking and no food safety hazards associated with handling raw chicken. Also, its crumble format provides better coverage than typical strips of chicken breast, and, unlike other chicken products, the toppings won’t dry out.

Finally, novel pizza toppings help improve customer loyalty, Todaro notes. When you give your customers a unique flavor and product they can’t get anywhere else, they’ll remember your brand and keep coming back. And this is not just chicken on top of a pizza—it’s an actual pizza topping. “Never before has a pizzeria had the opportunity to be the first to offer a truly new pizza topping,” Todaro says. “I have no doubt that our chicken toppings will be a mainstay on the make table soon, just like pepperoni and Italian sausage. The toppings are perfect on pizza but also go well in pasta, calzones, lasagna, stromboli, sauces, risotto, soups and salads.”

For a free sample or more information, contact Todarini Foods at 855-279-6977 or email Todaro at vtodaro@todarinifoods.com.

website at www.todarinifoods.com

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

Squared Away Square offers simple, transparent, low pricing: 2.75% per swipe for every credit card. There are no listing fees, peritem fees, monthly minimums or long-term contracts.

Custom-order modifiers, customizable kitchen tickets and other features increase accuracy and decrease wait times. And the rich analytics help operators make efficient decisions by telling them how much they’re selling—and when and where they’re selling it. squareup.com

Signs of Success The iBoard LED Electronic Message Center delivers the highest return on investment of any advertising medium.

Available in 17 sizes from I.C.E. Signs, the iBoard displays pictures, videos and text in 4.3 trillion colors, while its iView software empowers users with minimal computer skills to quickly create dynamic messages for an advertising medium that delivers results! 800-242-0761, icesigns.com

Tender and Crispy Tater Chip Tenders from Brakebush Brothers are chicken tenderloins coated in a crunchy, cravable layer of potato chips. Unique and wickedly satisfying, they have standout power on any menu. Serve them deep-fried with unique or traditional dipping sauces, dusted with savory seasoning blends, or in wraps, sandwiches and salads for a twist on menu classics. 800-933-2121, brakebush.com

Meat Eater’s Delight Tyson Foods’ new Bonici meatballs feature the flavors that pizzeria operators want at the prices they need. They’re perfect for pastas, sandwiches, pizzas and any other menu application you can imagine. With more than 2,500 products, Tyson Foods provides excellent quality, price points and menu options—all from one trusted place.

Connect withbonici.com fellow operators in the Think 800-248-9766, 92 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Chilling Out From cold beer to soda and mixed drinks—or any other beverage you choose to offer your customers—the HOPR “loaded” stainless-steel chill rod will make sure your customers’ beverages stay perfectly chilled until the last slice of pizza is gone. Once the HOPR is placed on their table, customers can serve themselves when they’re ready—the selfserve spigot even rotates 360°! 877-356-6455, hoprs.com

Tank! Visit today at thinktank.pmq.com.

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May 2014

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE BULLETIN BOARD

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ADVERTISER INDEX MAY 2014 Advertiser

Phone Website

Page

123 Printit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888-800-4455 . . . . . . 123printit.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 AM Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708-841-0959 . . . . . . ammfg.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Bacio Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855-222-4685 . . . . . . baciocheese.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 35 Baron Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 856-825-8989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Bay State Milling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-553-5687 . . . . . . baystatemilling.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Beach Sales & Engineering LLC . . . . . . . . . . . 419-525-1010 . . . . . . cyclomop.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Belforno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704-200-9208 . . . . . . belforno.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Bellissimo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-813-2974 . . . . . . . bellissimofoods.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Deiorio Food Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-649-7612 . . . . . . . deiorios.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Delivery Bags USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888-501-2247 . . . . . . deliverybagsusa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Escalon Premier Brands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888-ESCALON . . . . . . escalon.net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 EZ Dine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877-853-1263 . . . . . . ezdinepos.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Fontanini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-331-6370 . . . . . . . fontanini.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Forno Bravo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-407-5119 . . . . . . . fornobravo.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Globe Food Equipment Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-347-5423 . . . . . . . globefoodequip.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Grande Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-8-GRANDE . . . . . grandecheese.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Hoodmart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-715-1014 . . . . . . . hoodmart.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 HTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-321-1850 . . . . . . hthsigns.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 La Nova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716-881-3366 . . . . . . lanova.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 4 Le 5 Stagioni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-780-2280 . . . . . . . le5stagioni.it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Liguria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-765-1452 . . . . . . . liguriafoods.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Lloyd Pans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-748-6251 . . . . . . . lloydpans.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 MF&B Restaurant Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888-480-EDGE . . . . . edgeovens.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Maine Wood Heat Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207-474-7465 . . . . . . . mainwoodheat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Marsal & Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631-226-6688 . . . . . . marsalsons.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Microworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-787-2068 . . . . . . . microworks.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Middleby Marshall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877-34-OVENS . . . . . . wowoven.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Moving Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-926-2451 . . . . . . movingtargets.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 MPP Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-889-8745 . . . . . . . mppmarketinggroup.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 NAPICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . napics.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 New Method Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 937-324-3838 . . . . . . . newmethodpackaging.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Our Town America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-497-8360 . . . . . . ourtownamerica.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Peerless Ovens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-548-4514 . . . . . . peerlessovens.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Pendleton Flour Mills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855-809-9089 . . . . . . pfmills.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 3 Perfect Crust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-783-5343 . . . . . . . perfectcrust.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Picard Ovens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-668-1883 . . . . . . picardovens.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Pig Iron Pizza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575-590-7769 . . . . . . . pigironpizza.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Pizza Ovens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877-367-6836 . . . . . . . pizzaovens.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Pizza Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855-289-6836 . . . . . . pizzasolution.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Pizza Skool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517-395-4765 . . . . . . . traintogreatness.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Pizza Trucks of Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204-853-7770 . . . . . . . pizzatrucksofcanada.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 ProxPrint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888-310-7769 . . . . . . . proxprint.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Quality by Liones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610-269-6396 . . . . . . qualitybyliones.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 2 Renato Ovens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972-272-4800 . . . . . . . renatoovens.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Restaurant Depot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . restaurantdepot.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 RockTenn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816-415-7359 . . . . . . . rocktenn.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Saputo Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-824-3373 . . . . . . . saputousafoodservice.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 85 Smithfield-Farmland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855-444-1580 . . . . . . carandopizzatoppings.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Somerset Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978-667-3355 . . . . . . . smrset.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Square Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . square.com/pmq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Staples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . staples.com/restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Stanislaus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-327-7201 . . . . . . . stanislaus.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5 Sunray Printing Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320-492-3017 . . . . . . sunrayprinting.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Todarini Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855-279-6977 . . . . . . . todarinifoods.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Tyson Foods, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-248-9766 . . . . . . . tysonfoodservice.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Univex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-258-6358 . . . . . . univexcorp.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 XLT Ovens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888-443-2751 . . . . . . xltovens.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 PMQ provides this information as a courtesy to our readers and will not be held responsible for errors or omissions. To report an error, call 662-234-5481 x127.

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE Grab a direct weblink to every advertiser in this guide at PMQ.com

ADVERTISING

CHEESE CONT.

Redshift Backpage Ad (Draft 1).pdf

1

8/2/13

2:59 PM

APPS

Mobile Voice Recognition For Hands Free Ordering www.redshiftcompany.com (720) 884-6853 BAKING SCHOOLS

COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF BAKING..........................................................Manhattan, KS 785-537-4750.................................................................................Fax: 785-537-1493

BAKING STONES CALIFORNIA PIZZA STONES............................................. www.californiapizzastones.com Virtually indestructible and impervious to thermal shock. 100% Guarantee against cracking.

(707) 545-6528.......................................................... support@CaliforniaPizzaStones.com FIBRAMENT-D BAKING STONE.....................................................www.bakingstone.com 708-478-6032.......................................NSF approved baking stone for all ovens by AWMCO

CARD PROCESSING

WE’RE IN TOUCH WITH YOUR POS NEEDS. CHEESE

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Integrated Inventory Management Marketing Systems Result Mapping Online Ordering System and much more!

817.299.4500 sales@BreakawayPOS.com www.BreakawayPOS.com All The Tech Your Pizzeria Needs Tablet and Traditional Point-of-Sale • Integrated online & smartphone ordering •

• •

CALL FOR A DEMO TODAY!

102 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Self Serve Kiosk ordering Automated customer loyalty marketing

800.750.3947 www.granburyrs.com

THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE

CRUSTS CONT.

MOUNTAIN HARVEST PIZZA CRUST CO.......................................................................... Billings, MT Contact: Eric LeCaptain...........................800-342-6205......................................Fax: 406-248-7336 Sheeted Dough, Prebake Crusts, Dough Balls, Freezer to Oven, Self-Rising Crusts in Standard, Wheat and Nine Grain..................................................................... eric@mountainharvestpizza.com

CUTTING BOARDS - EQUAL SLICE

DOUGH

DeIorio Foods

@DeIorios

blog.DeIorios.com

DeIorios.com

CONSULTING

CRUSTS

May 2014

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE DOUGH DIVIDERS/ROUNDERS

DOUGH TRAYS/PROOFING TRAYS • Dough Trays – extremely durable and airtight!

Outlasts All Other Dough Trays • Dough Tray Covers – designed to fit!

• Plastic Dough Knives – two ergonomic designs!

• Dough Tray Dollies – heavy duty!

Excellence in Customer service since 1955!

The preferred dough tray of the largest pizza companies in the world.

Buy direct from the manufacturer with over 25 years manufacturing in dough trays.

Call 800-501-2458 ........... www.doughmate.com ......... fax: 908-276-9483

DOUGH PRESSES, ROLLERS

When Dough Matters!

Eliminate racks, lids and tins with our stackable, airtight and cost effective Dough Trays.

1-502-969-2305 www.DoughTrays.com COST EFFECTIVE

STACKABLE

AIRTIGHT

DURABLE

ORDER DIRECT

4601 COMMERCE CROSSINGS DR., STE 300, LOUISVILLE, KY 40229 | p: 502-969-2305 | f: 502-810-0907

WWW.DOUGHTRAYS.COM

800.835.0606 ext. 205 | www.doughxpress.com

dough presses, dough dividers/divider rounders, dough dockers, carts and accessories

FLOUR, GLUTEN-FREE BAY STATE MILLING GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA MIX............................................ baystatemilling.com Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour, Custom-blends and Co-Packing Dedicated production area for exceptional purity...........................................................800-55-FLOUR

FLOUR

104 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE GELATO

FLOUR CONT.

FOOD DISTRIBUTORS

True Artisan Gelato

(888) 316-1545 www.stefanosgelato.com

GLUTEN-FREE PRODUCTS W H O L E S O

M E

&

D E L I C I O U S ™ WHOLES

OME & DELICIOUS

™

HYGIENE

1500 WEST 4TH STREET, SUITE R, MANSFIELD, OHIO 44906 PHONE: 419-525-1010 . FAX: 419-525-0595 WWW.CYCLOMOP.COM | SALES@CYCLOMOP.COM

A FLY KILLER Kills all flies, cockroaches & spiders Guaranteed elimination

1051 Amboy Avenue, Perth Amboy NJ

800-997-0887 or 732-346-0600

888-282-3079, or 631-237-1414 www.fruitflybarpro.com

Fax:732-346-0882

Serving NY, NJ, PA, DE, CT

www.vesuviofoods.com INDUSTRY STATISTICS

RESTAURANTDATA.COM

FRANCHISING

Easy Access ■ Flexible Searches ■ Smart Results

Should You Franchise Your Restaurant?

1 Bridge St • PO Box 285 • Irvington NY 10533 • 914-591-4297

Call today to receive your free DVD on “How to Franchise Your Business” and learn about one of the most dynamic methods of expanding your business in today’s marketplace.

708-957-2300 • www.ifranchisegroup.com

®

FRANCHISE CONSULTANTS

INSURANCE PIZZAPRO..............................................................Low cost pizza delivery insurance program Contact Julie Evans (717) 214-7616..............................................................www.pizzapro.amwins.com

FROZEN YOGURT

Frozen Yogurt = $ Add frozen yogurt as a profit center.

1-800-788-0808 www.nancis.com/pizza

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE MACHINERY/OVENS/EQUIPMENT

MIDDLEBY MARSHALL

OVENS MIXERS

RANDELL

PREP TABLES

AMERICAN RANGE

WALK-INS

SOMERSET

PARTS SMALLWARES

106 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

1-800-426-0323

www.northernpizza.com

IMPERIAL

THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE MACHINERY/OVENS/EQUIPMENT CONT.

MARKETING IDEAS LOCALGIFTCARDS.COM...........888-494-9760.....Your pizzas are mobile – why not try mobile gift cards? Sell e-gift cards and m-gift cards on your website. No upfront costs. Simple set up.

Visit LocalGiftCards.com to get started.

MAGNETS

MAGNETS 7.9¢ ea.

• Business Card Magnet • Pizza Slice Magnet

Dine In•Carryout•Catering

• Free Design Work

2503B N. Harrison St. 6 Arlington, VA 22207-161

MEAT TOPPINGS

• 2,000 minimum

703-237-0200 www.pie-tanza.com

800-521-4773

www.magneticattracations.com/BCM MAILING SERVICES

BURKE CORPORATION....................................................................................... www.BurkeCorp.com Italian, Mexican-Style and Specialty Fully Cooked Meats Contact: Liz Hertz.............................. sales_info@burkecorp.com.............................800-654-1152 SUGAR CREEK PACKING CO.,............................... Private Label Precooked Meat Topping Specialists www.sugarcreek.com.......................................800-848-8205............................sales@sugarcreek.com

MANAGEMENT

MIXERS USED HOBART 60 QT. MIXER FOR SALE AT US $4980.00 PLUS SHIPPING. Call Lynn at 214-552-3218.............................................................................. or e-mail tbfm@tbfm.com

keep more of your hard earned dough!

3 money saving programs:

sCheduLing • aTTendanCe • daiLy Log

FAST, PAINLESS SCHEDULING • MONITOR LABOR COSTS • REDUCE TURNOVER • NOTIFY EMPLOYEES • ELIMINATE BUDDY PUNCHING • IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS • WEB-BASED

save time and increase profits!

60 Quart, Heavy Duty Pizza Mixer

www.timeforge.com 866.684.7191

Handles 50 lb. bag of flour • Direct gear drive transmission Rigid cast iron construction • Best warranty in its class

pmq.com/Recipe-Bank/

www.globemixers.com • 800-347-5423

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE MIXERS CONT.

ONLINE ORDERING

Mixing, Dividing, Rounding, and Spinning www.univexcorp.com Tel. 800-258-6358 Fax. 603-893-1249

MOBILE CATERING TRUCKS/UNITS

PIZZA BOXES MOISTURE-ABSORBENT TOPPINGS CONDITIONER

OLIVES PIZZA BOX LINERS

PIZZA TRAINING

ON HOLD MARKETING

pmq.com/Recipe-Bank/ 108 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE PIZZA DELIVERY THERMAL BAGS

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE PIZZA DELIVERY THERMAL BAGS

PIZZA OVENS CONT.

Keep Your Pizza HOT & DRY 5 Pie & 10 Pie Bags

Electric Pizza Delivery Bags 888-556-2024 • www.RediHeat.com Call or Order Online

PIZZA BUSINESS CARD PACK

Get in on our Fall 2014 mailing!

Get your message into the hands of: • Every subscriber of PMQ Pizza Magazine (a BPA audited circulation) • Top officers of the 500 largest U.S. pizza chains • Pizza industry vendors and promoters

Book by May 31st to get the Early Bird Special!

View the pizza industry’s best deals online at www.pizzacardpack.com!

www.PigIronPizza.com 575-590-7769 UL2162 & NFS-4 Certiied

SPACE IS LIMITED! CALL TO RESERVE YOUR CARD NOW! Tom Boyles | tom@pmq.com | 662-234-5481 x122 Linda Green | linda@pmq.com | 662-234-5481 x121 Clifton Moody | clifton@pmq.com | 662-234-5481 x138 Anna Zemek | anna@pmq.com | 662-234-5481 x140

PIZZA OVENS EARTHSTONE OVENS, INC. ................6717 San Fernando Rd....................Glendale, CA 91201 800-840-4915........................Fax: 818-553-1133........................... www.earthstoneovens.com All units UI listed.

MARSAL & SONS, INC.................................................. The new standard in the Pizza Industry Brick Lined Deck Ovens • Standard Deck Ovens • Prep Table Refrigeration 631-226-6688.......................... marsalsons.com ......................... rich@marsalsons.com ROTO-FLEX OVEN CO...............................................................................Contact Richard Dunfield 135 East Cevallos, San Antonio, TX 78204 PH 800-386-2279................... www.rotoflexoven.com.........................Fax 210-222-9007 WOOD STONE CORPORATION.......................................Stone Hearth & Specialty Commercial Cooking Equipment..................................... 1801 W. Bakerview Rd.............Bellingham, WA 98226 TOLL Free 800-988-8103......................Fax: 360-650-1166............woodstone-corp.com 110 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Stone Deck, Pizza Dome, and Bakery

www.univexcorp.com Tel. 800-258-6358 Fax. 603-893-1249

Patent Pending

THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE PIZZA PANS CONT.

PIZZA OVENS CONT.

AMERICAN MADE

WWW.XLTOVENS.COM

Pizza Screens • The Ultimate in Bake Disks Pizza Pans... Round, Square, & Rectangular Sauce/Cheese Rings • Pan Covers Pizza Cutters/Knives

TO ORDER CALL (316) 943-2751 | TOLL-FREE: (888) 443-2751 | FAX: (316) 943-2769

P.A. PRODUCTS, Inc. BAKEWARE SPECIALISTS

33709 Schoolcraft • Livonia, Michigan 48150 (734) 421-1060 • FAX: (734) 421-1208 www.paprod.com PIZZA PEELS

PIZZA SUPPLIES

• Pizza Preparation and Delivery Products •

National Marketing, Inc.

www.nminc.com 800-994-4664

734-266-2222

PIZZA PANS

Fax: 734-266-2121

Manufacturers’ Direct Pricing • Call or order online • We export

Inventor of

The Quik-Disk™

The best screen replacement since 1989.

LLOYD INDU STR IES ®

100’s OF SMART PIZZA PRODUCTS ONLINE!

Buy Direct and Save $$ • www.lloydpans.com • 1-800-748-6251

pmq.com/Recipe-Bank/

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE PRINTING

We Will Beat Any Advertised Menu Deals...Guaranteed!!!*

Full Color Glossy TakeouT Menus 11 x 17 ~ PrinTed Full Color on BoTh sides ~ 80 lB Glossy PaPer

SPECIAL # 1 (everyday)

DESSERTS

PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. Postage PAID EDDM Retail

6 pcs. of Reg. pizza 7 - Boneless Wings 2 - Desserts and 1 - 2 liter of pop

$ 16.00

18” plain pizza & 20 wings

FULL SERVICE CATERING SUNDAY IS TRAY DAY AT G’s Mama PIZZA

1 tray of Reg. Pizza (28 pieces) and 1 - 2 liter of pop ALL FOR ONLY

$ 19.95

(pick up only)

$26 .99

Mama G’s Catering is a full line caterer that will come to your home, your business or you can come to us at the Greek Church ( Hellinic Steubenville where we cater. Hall ) in downtown

18” plain pizza & 40 wings

All food is homemade, just like Mama used to make, and we specializing in roast beef, all kinds of chicken, pork, pasta, are a full line caterer superb salads, and fantastic desserts just to name a few delicious side dishes, We can prepare anything you of our more popular items. want.

Weddings? Graduations? Baptisms?

Funerals? Business Meetings?

Parties? No matter what the Christmas occasion, let Mama do the cooking for you. From 30 over 300 people we will provide to the best of the best in food service to you at a price that can’t be beat.

$38 .99

Pizza

by the Slice

Plain: $2.25 1 regular topping: 2 regular $2.50 toppings: $2.75 Gourmet Slice: $3.25 Sicilian: $2.50 Grandma: $2.50 Stuffed Slices: $3.95

FULL MENU ON BACK

Doesn’t include Shipping We Pride Ourselves on Quality!

HOT SUBS • COLD SUBS • ITALIAN HOAGIES GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST • SALAD PLATTERS PHILLY CHEESESTEAKS • CATERING

$1.00 Off Any Medium or Large

Valid only with coupon Not valid with any other offer Valid only at the Newnan Location

KONG’S CLUB

with purchase of a 22 oz. drink

1/2 Off

Valid only with coupon Not valid with any other offer Valid only at the Newnan Location

purchase any Large Sub get 1/2 off another Large Sub of equal or lessor value

FREE

22 oz. Drink

Valid only with coupon Not valid with any other offer Valid only at the Newnan Location

with purchase of a Medium or Large Sub

555-555-555 770-253-4711

1111 Bullsboro Dr., Ste. 9 • Newnan, GA 30265

W e're in the Newnan Promenade Shopping Plaze near Wal-mart

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INGREDIENTS...

Open 7 Days a Week MondaySaturday 11am-9:30p m Sunday 12-8pm

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ECRWSS

Local Postal Customer

PIZ

$895 $1295 $2295 $3795 shipping is extra

10,000 25,000 50,000 100,000

Vitanella Pizzeria ’s

other sizes available 7-10 day turnaround Pizza

Round Home Delivery and Neapolitan: Phone Orders md. 14” Regular $10.99 Pepperoni, Toppings: Lg. 18” sausage, $12.99 md full mushrooms, Square $1.25 md Sicilian: ham, bacon, half $.75 18” $14.99 Gourmet lg full $2.00 black olives, Toppings: onions, lg half Grilled peppers, $1.00 md full chicken, broccoli, $1.95 md breaded spinach half $.95 chicken, anchovies, basil, eggplant, lg fullSun—Sat roasted or extra $2.95 red peppers, 4pm—Midnight Plain Pizza: pesto, prosciutto, lg half $1.95 cheese sliced tomatoes, the original fresh mozzarella, Buffalo sundried mozzarella Chicken: artichokes, tomatoes, cheese and spicy boneless kalmata pizza sauce BBQ Bacon olives, ricotta buffalo Ranch: style chicken tangy BBQ White and mozzarella Md 14” w/ Broccoli: chicken and bacon seasoned White: pieces drizzled $10.99 broccoli fresh garlic lg 18” in a ricotta with creamy and ricotta mozzarella Eggplant ranch dressing $15.95 sauce with $12.99 Delight: mozzarella battered Chicken sauce eggplant, $15.95 $17.99 Parm: spots of breaded ricotta and Hawaiian: chicken, $15.95 $17.99 marinara marinara sweet pineapple sauce with and mozzarella 10/2012 © designed Baked chunks fresh basil $11.99 & printed $17.99 Ziti: baked by www.takeoutprinting.com and smoked ziti over ham Grandma: pizza crust $15.95 $13.99 fresh mozzarella Margarita and plum $15.95 $17.99 Pesto: tomatoes mozzarella, on garlic Romano: $15.95 plum tomatoes, crust $17.99 marinated and pesto artichokes, Napolitano: $15.95 sundried $17.99 fresh basil, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes $17.99 and Bacon: and fresh spinach one size marinara $15.95 and bacon $16.95 and Tomato: over a white tomatoes Vegetarian: sauce $15.95 $17.99 and spinach spinach, & a white roasted Pesto Chicken: $15.95 peppers, sauce $17.00 and mushrooms grilled chicken, Cheese $15.95 $17.99 pesto, and Steak: seasoned sundried Vitanella’s cheese steak tomatoes $15.95 $17.99 and grilled Special: pepperoni, onions Focaccio: $15.95 on pizza $17.99 sausage, peppers, peppers, mushrooms, mushrooms, Stuffed $15.95 onions, $17.99 Pizza: onions, olives, tomatoes, The Vitanella’s black olives, $15.95 spinach, special $17.99 and extra with two and basil cheese layers of $15.95 crust $17.99 Spinach

Spinach

WELCOME

are

(845)563-0 144 (845)563-0 127 PIZZ

HOURS:

WWW .VITANE LLAS

ERIA.COM

notice

FULL MENU ON BACK

$199.00

$16 .99

ALL FOR ONLY

G’s MamaZA

without

$295.00

& 10 wings

to change

555-555-555

10,000 Menus/Flyers 10,000 Boxtoppers/Flyers Full Color / 8.5 x 11 / 2- Sided / 60# Gloss Text Full Color / 8.5 x 5.5 / 2- Sided / 60# Gloss Text

14” plain pizza

$15.95

$17.99

one size

10,000 Doorhangers

$17.99

$26.99

Prices subject

H om e of T h e B I G O N E !

429 South Plank Rd. Newburgh, (RT. 52) New York 12550

Local Postal Customer

SPEC IALS

SPECIAL #2 (everyday) 14 pcs. of Reg. Pizza 1 order of Cheesy Garlic Bread and 1 - 2 liter of pop

THIS GOOD

Starburst Cut Keeps All Info.Together

Full Service Catering Available

ECRWSS

Our selection of delicious Sara Lee Bistro Collection Desserts vary, please ask your server for selections. $2.75 each or 3 for $7.50

...CAN MAKE A PIZZA

$ 16.00

ONLY THE FRESHEST

ALL FOR ONLY

11/2013

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429 South Newburgh,Plank Rd. (RT. 52) New York 12550 Dine

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We ship nationwide

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100# Gloss Text, Full Color, 4.25 x 11, 2 Sided

Below Wholesale Prices Always

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DeeLee Printing 678-886-3664

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Please Mention this Ad When You Place Your 11 x 17 Menu Order Some Restrictions may apply. While Supplies Last. Limited Time Offer. Call for Details. *Lock in today.... While supplies last

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We also offer:

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SPICE FORMULATION, BLENDING & PACKAGING

112 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE SPICE FORMULATION, BLENDING & PACKAGING CONT.

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WINGS

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pmq.com 113

DEPARTMENT TIME CAPSULE

Rosati’s Pizza This Illinois-based pizzeria has grown to nearly 200 locations in 14 states, yet it remains familyrun—with the values to match.

As with many Italian families, Rosati’s roots run deep. In the 1920s, Italian emigrant Silvario Rosati served Pizza A’Olia—a flatbread with garlic and oil—as a premeal treat for customers like Al Capone. His son, Sam, also opened a successful restaurant, and when third-generation Dick Rosati returned from the war, he decided to dive head-first into the pizza biz, opening Rosati’s Pizza (myrosatis.com) in 1964 in Mount Prospect, Illinois. “The entire family worked in the store, day and night—all of the brothers and sisters, plus their spouses,” explains Marla Topliff, president of Rosati’s Pizza, headquartered in Elgin, Illinois. “Pizza wasn’t as well-known then, so people would actually come in requesting apple pies, not pizza pies.”

As a carryout operation and a pioneer in the fledgling concept of delivery, Rosati’s offered impressive variety, with three crusts (thin, Double Dough and Chicago-style), plus entrées like rib dinners and pastas. And with the family name already ingrained in the area, Rosati’s took off. Employees soon wanted to start their own locations, leading to expansion that grew organically for 40 years; in 2005, the 60-location business officially decided to franchise. Today, the pizzeria counts almost 200 locations in 14 states and even bottles its own wine—perfect for its newest concept, Rosati’s Pizza Pub, which offers dine-in service in a family-friendly atmosphere.

To control franchise quality, the business private labels its ingredients; distributes recipe books; regularly routes operations staff to locations; and handles graphic design, social media and catering promotions in-house. “We’re a family business—still owned by the Rosati family—and we consider our franchisees as part of that family,” Topliff says. “We call them often and let them know we’re here for them; we know all of them by name.”

Topliff believes those family values—and working to give back as a neighborhood pizzeria in its communities—are intrinsic to the Rosati’s success story, which includes a spot on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500. To celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, Rosati’s is promoting an all-expense-paid trip to Naples. Food prizes, domestic air tickets, and branded hats and T-shirts are also up for grabs. “The Rosatis are an amazing family to work for, and it shows in their pizza, product and franchisees,” Topliff concludes.

“They’re fiercely loyal to quality and their customers. They just want to keep spreading that love to others.” —Tracy Morin

(Top to bottom) Clockwise from left, Al, Dick, Ron and Fred Rosati helped build a pizza empire; Rosati’s was an early pioneer in delivery; the pizzeria offers several crust types, including thin, Double Dough and Chicago-style.

114 PMQ Pizza Magazine The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Has your pizzeria been in business for 50 or more years?

If so, contact us at tracy@pmq.com.

Links to Extra Content

Featured Video: Profile of Joe Bologna’s, operated

by Lexington, Kentucky’s own “godfather of pizza”

Featured Video: PMQ Extra: Highlights of the U.S. Pizza Team’s trip to Italy for the World Pizza Championship

Featured Video: Pizza 360: Sean Brauser of Romeo’s Pizza offers tips for combating rising food costs