“We’ve always been 95 percent takeout, so when restaurants were forced to close, we were lucky in that we had a lot of systems in place,” explains Joe. “We don’t take cash or debit so we can reduce the touch points. We take credit card payments in advance and we have runners who bring your pizza out to your vehicle.” Kevork Kalaydjian, Co-owner of Capri Pizzeria, with business partner Jim Koumoutsidis, also believes the club is a great idea and will bring even more attention to Windsor’s roster of great pizza establishments. “Anytime there are marketing surveys conducted locally, none of the large chain pizza restaurants finish near the top in the rankings,” claims Kalaydjian. “It’s always the local Windsor pizzerias who get all the attention and the praise.” According to Kalaydjian, the TWEPI initiative will do nothing but give more attention to pizza restaurants, once people start picking up their free membership cards and start making the rounds. “I handed out dozens of cards in the first few days, which is a great sign that this club is going to work and be very helpful for all of us,” he indicates. Membership cards can be picked up at any participating pizzerias and once a club member gets a card stamped at all
Eight local pizza shops, including Capri Pizzeria are helping to celebrate the world famous Windsor-style pizza to locals and visitors alike. Like what you see? Capri Pizzeria offers take-out, delivery and catering! Photo courtesy of Capri Pizzeria.
eight restaurants, it can be redeemed at WindsorPizzaClub.ca for a free homedelivered t-shirt (within Windsor Essex boundaries or a $10 delivery fee for nonresidents applies). For Remo Tortola, Owner of Oven 360 on Grand Marais Road West, it’s a great opportunity to work with other pizzerias across the city, many of which have struggled during the COVID-19 crisis, “It’s been difficult, but I think this idea will help bring out customers again,” says Tortola who was a pizza chef at the Caboto Club for many years before starting his own business. “There are lots of great pizzerias in this town and anything that brings us all more business is a great idea.” He adds, “I don’t view our competitors as my enemies because we are all in this business together. It’s a very positive
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idea and I’m very happy to be part of it.” Orr mentions that the club is a natural follow-up to TWEPI’s popular “Barrels Bottles and Brews Trail”, “EPIC Tasting Pass” (wine country tours) and the “Coffee Culture” program. “When the federal government announced it was seeking more ideas for Cultural Heritage funding, we brainstormed at TWEPI and came up with the idea of the pizza club because Windsor pizza’s quality is known far and wide,” says Orr. Food and drink are among the top trip motivators in the Windsor Essex region and visitors love to live like a local, and the pizza club will help showcase one of the most famous foods in the area. Two years ago, TWEPI was awarded the Culinary Leadership award from the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario and the Culinary Tourism Alliance, for leadership in culinary tourism, in part for the creation of programs such as The Windsor Pizza Club. There are eight pizzerias in the first phase of this program and TWEPI will likely add more once they move into a second phase. And when social distancing measures are more relaxed, Windsor-style pizza experiences and tours will be created at local pizza restaurants to help celebrate the area’s culinary story. In the meantime, welcome to the club!
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