PMQ Pizza Media - March 2022

PIZZA MEDIA

ADVANCING THE PIZZA BUSINESS COMMUNITY

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

THE

ZEALOT Inspired by Google and Facebook, Khanh Nguyen has designed Dallasbased ZaLat Pizza for “global pizza domination.”

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20 ZAZAS ON THE RISE | 46 HARD CHEESES | 52 SECRETS OF STAFFING SUCCESS

MILLING WHEAT INTO FLOUR FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS.

STRETCH FOR EXCELLENCE

OUR PREMIUM PIZZA FLOURS

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WHEN YOU’RE MAKING A THOUSAND DECISIONS A DAY, IT FEELS GOOD KNOWING ONE INGREDIENT ISN’T DEBATABLE. JUST GO WITH THE BEST. END OF DISCUSSION. What’s your declaration of independence?

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IN THIS ISSUE - FEATURES

MARCH 2022

36

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ON THE COVER

THE ZEALOT Khanh Nguyen calls himself an “accidental restaurateur,” but the former tech industry entrepreneur hasn’t left anything to chance in growing ZaLat Pizza to 17 stores since 2015.

Cover photo by Kathy Tran.

By Rick Hynum

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Brian’s Vegan Journey: Surviving the First Month

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Recipe of the Month: Galbani

20 26 30

Zazas On the Rise

46 52

The Hard Stuff

58

Best in Show: PlantBased World Expo

60

Fry, Fry Again

The Pizza Girl

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26

46

60

Gluten-Free is Good Business

Secrets of Staffing Success

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

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REV 022022-2 Not for oven use | All sizes given are inside dimensions | All shipping weights are approximate | All cartons meet FedEx and UPS specifications

PMQ ONLINE - DIGITAL EXCLUSIVES

PIZZA MEDIA ADVANCING THE PIZZA BUSINESS COMMUNITY

A Publication of PMQ, Inc. 662-234-5481 Volume 26, Issue 2 March 2022 ISSN 1937-5263

PUBLISHER Steve Green, sg@pmq.com ext. 123 CO-PUBLISHER Linda Green, linda.pmq@gmail.com ext. 121 EDITOR IN CHIEF Rick Hynum, rick@pmq.com ART DIRECTOR Eric Summers, eric@pmq.com SENIOR COPY EDITOR Tracy Morin, tracy@pmq.com IT DIRECTOR Cory Coward, cory@pmq.com ext. 133

Domino’s Value Deal Will Get a Little Less Valuable in 2022 Customers will receive only eight chicken wings instead of 10 in the chain’s $7.99 carryout offer and will have to place the order digitally.

PMQ.com/dominos-value-deal

Is Columbus-Style Pizza Really a Thing?

Author Jim Ellison laid out his case for the legitimacy of the Columbus, Ohio, style of pizza, but some think he has sliced off more than he can chew.

PMQ.com/columbus-style-pizza

National Pizza & Pasta Show Returns to Chicago August 23-25 Under one roof, the event features everything restaurant owners need to maximize their niche in the pizza, pasta and Italian foods business.

Are Little Caesars Fans Ready for a Higher-Priced Hot-N-Ready?

In the chain’s first price hike since 2001, the value-deal pizza now sells for $5.55, but Little Caesars says it’s still the “most affordable” in the U.S. PMQ.com/little-caesars-price-hike

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH Blake Harris, blake@pmq.com ext. 136 TEST CHEF/USPT COORDINATOR Brian Hernandez, brian@pmq.com ext. 129 REPORTER Chris Green, chris@pmq.com FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER David Fischer, david@pmq.com CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Shawn Brown, shawn@pmq.com

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Linda Green, linda.pmq@gmail.com ext. 121 SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Tom Boyles, tom@pmq.com ext. 122 SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jerry Moschella, jerry@pmq.com ext. 137 SALES ASSISTANT Brandy Pinion, brandy@pmq.com ext. 127 PMQ INTERNATIONAL PMQ CHINA Yvonne Liu, yvonne@pmq.com

PMQ.com/national-pizza-and-pasta-show

PMQ RUSSIA Vladimir Davydov, vladimir@pmq.com

Stuffed-Pizza Pioneer Nancy Palese Dies at 87 Palese and her husband immigrated to the U.S. from Italy in 1969 and opened an eatery known for a stuffed pizza inspired by the Italian Easter Pie.

PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE 605 Edison St. • Oxford, MS 38655 662.234.5481 • 662.234.0665 Fax

PMQ.com/nancy-palese-death/

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: 10 Events & Promotions 12 Moneymakers 68 SmartMarket 72 Idea Zone 8

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

PMQ Pizza Magazine (ISSN #1937-5263) is published 10 times per year.

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Pizza Industry Bulletin Board Product Spotlight PMQ Resource Guide Pizza Hall of Fame

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 9, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-9953.

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.

EVENTS & PROMOTIONS

MONTHLY MARKETING CALENDAR

MARCH 2022 Industry Events

Thursday, March 17 St. Patrick’s Day

International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York | March 6-8

Celebrate the luck of the Irish with a beer-and-pizza deal, a beer or whiskey sampler or a specialty pizza. Vinnie’s Pizzeria in Williamsburg, New York, once created a pie topped with Lucky Charms cereal and served it with a raw potato and a can of Guinness!

To be held in the Javits Center in New York City, this event brings together more than 18,000 restaurant professionals for a packed exhibit hall, educational sessions, culinary demonstrations, awards and more. Among other events, it will feature the Healthy Food Expo and the Battle of the Modern Bartender Competition.

Learn more at internationalrestaurantny.com

Bar & Restaurant Expo March 21-23 Formerly the Nightclub & Bar Show, the Bar and Restaurant Expo features cutting-edge products and technologies, keynote speakers, networking sessions, cooking demos in the new Restaurant Zone, and workshops and seminars focused on operations, marketing and promotions, staffing, and creating the perfect guest experience.

Learn more at barandrestaurantexpo.com

International Pizza Expo March 22-24 This event will showcase top suppliers, pizza industry leaders and competitions—such as the International Pizza Challenge—dedicated to the pizza restaurant industry. You can also check out the lineup of educational opportunities, including School of Pizzeria Management workshops, seminars and live demonstrations.

Learn more at pizzaexpo.com

Promote This!

March 2022 National Noodle Month It’s time to doodle with your noodle recipes! Create menu specials featuring your most profitable pasta dishes or dream up new recipes for a month-long promotion. This could be your chance to debut a buzz-worthy mac-and-cheese pizza, too.

Wednesday, March 9 National Meatball Day If you’ve got a meatball-topped pizza or spaghetti and meatballs on your menu, make sure to hype it up on social media with mouthwatering photos. Or create a specialty dish featuring meatballs for the occasion.

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PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

Here’s a look at upcoming restaurant and foodservice events you won’t want to miss in March, plus some special food and beverage holidays and PMQ’s latest live interviews with top pizza professionals!

Thursday, March 24 National Cheesesteak Day Do you already have a Philly cheesesteak sandwich or pizza on your menu? Shoot some beautiful photos and push them out in a social media campaign. Don’t have either one yet? It’s one of America’s most iconic foods, so what are you waiting for?

Learn and Earn!

2 p.m. (CT), Tuesday, March 1: PMQ Live Update: Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza Koons talks about opening a vegan pizzeria in L.A., menu creation and incorporating vegan options into your menu. He’ll also describe his journey over the last year to open a new location in a metropolitan area, plus what not to overlook in any build-out.

Join us on Facebook Live!

2 p.m. (CT), Tuesday, March 15: PMQ Live Update: Vito Iacopelli This master pizzaiolo and internet darling discusses his meteoric rise to fame on social media, the secrets of strong content and why he makes videos for home pizzaiolos and professionals alike. He will also talk about his new pizza making master class!

Join us on Facebook Live!

VISIT THE BELLISSIMO FOODS BOOTH AT PIZZA EXPO LIVE DEMOS with Italian specialty guest chefs!

LEARN how to make popular pizza styles – Roman, Detroit, Napolitana, NY & more!

Don’t miss delicious SAMPLES of gelato, arancinis, and pastas!

M ARC H 22- 24, 2022

Bellissimo Booth

#2238

www.Bellissimo.com

MONEYMAKERS

BIRDS OF A FEATHER By their second date, Kerrel and Nkem Thompson started making pizza dinners a tradition, checking out a different pizzeria in Chicago every Sunday. When they married, they served pizza at the wedding. Before long, the self-taught Kerrel landed a job slinging pies at a popular Italian restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina, despite having no professional experience. By October 2020, he and his wife were running popups around Charlotte, serving gorgeously blistered pies from an Ooni oven. Now Kerrel’s pizza dream has come true with Bird Pizzeria, a brick-and-mortar operation that opened in late December in Charlotte’s Optimist Park neighborhood. “I don’t know what came over me, man, but I’m making pizza like I’ve been doing it for 25 years or something,” Kerrel told the Charlotte Observer. Black-owned pizzerias don’t exactly abound in Charlotte, and Kerrel often finds himself answering some pretty dumb questions. “Because we’re a black family, [people ask,] ‘Do you make your own dough?’” he said. Of course he does. “The pizza we make is the pizza I like the most, which is sort of this hybrid New York/East Coast-style pizza,” he said. Although the Thompsons are both entrepreneurs—they previously owned an apparel company called In Our Nature—Bird Pizzeria is more of a calling than a livelihood for them. “Pizza, man,” Kerrel said.

“That’s one of my love languages.”

Kerrel and Nkem Thompson fell in love over pizza and have now turned it into a family business with Bird Pizzeria in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kerrel Thompson describes his pies as a hybrid of New York and East Coast pizza styles.

WHAT BOAT ARE YOU IN? For pizzeria customers in the COVID-19 economy, some are riding in leaky boats, financially speaking, while others keep sailing briskly along. Pan’s Pizza, a family-owned shop in South Hero, Vermont, has developed a “pay-what-you-can” plan for all of them. The restaurant’s pricing model features color-coded “boats” based on the patron’s ability to pay. Green signifies that the customer can pay full price. White means they’re too strapped to pay anything at all, which qualifies them for one free large pizza per family or a free medium pizza for an individual. Guests in the blue boat pay 75% of the check, while yellow pays 50% and orange pays 25% (limited to one 14” pizza per family or one 12” pizza for an individual). The “What Boat Are You In?” approach lets customers describe their financial situation without fear of stigma, co-owner Justine Zolotas told VTDigger.com. Zolatas’ mother and father opened Pan’s Pizza in 1998 and sold it to Justine, her brother Alexander and Sani Pasagic in 2021. “I really wanted to be able to have [the pricing model] implemented in a way that people didn’t have to feel they were losing any dignity,” Justine said. “The community has been patronizing Pan’s Pizza for, what, 25 years almost? We were like, this is something we can do.”

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PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

Anne Zolotas (middle) and her husband, Pan, opened Pan’s Pizza in 1998 and later sold the shop to their children, Alexander (left) and Justine (right).

B R E W BI LT.C O M · 5 30 -8 0 2-50 2 3

YOU DON’T NEED A BIG BREWERY TO MAKE A BIG IMPACT. Old Town Pizza’s brewery component Slice Beer Company knows a few things about making big beers in a small space. Slice and BrewBilt teamed up to customize a system that perfectly fits both their brewing style and 1,100-SF production area.

MONEYMAKERS

PIZZA THAT PACKS A PUNCH Alexa Sponcia might not float like a butterfly or sting like a bee, but the two pizzerias she co-owns in Knoxville, Tennessee, will get you in the mood to fight. Hard Knox features a boxing theme, including an Instagram-friendly mural portraying some of the sport’s greatest legends, and signature pies with names like the Rocky Balboa, the La Motta and the Iron Mike. Sponcia and her husband took over ownership of the original Hard Knox location in 2014 from its founders, Dean and Jill Bastian.

They opened a second store a few years later, strengthened by Sponcia’s commitment to supporting the community. Under a program called the School of Hard Knox, the pizzeria focuses on supporting Knoxville’s youth and under-resourced schools.

In 2021, Hard Knox donated 100% of its store profits for nearly a week—from Tuesday, April 20, through Sunday, April 25—to Austin East Magnet High School. Sponcia continues to look for ways to connect to local kids, including those interested in a career path that doesn’t necessarily start with a college degree.

Some of them, she hopes, just might be future restaurateurs.

“How do we educate them in a different way?” Sponcia said in an interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel, which named her to its 40-under-40 list earlier this year. “Most restaurant owners are super-creative, all over the place, and most of the time entrepreneurs aren’t A students. I love the idea of giving hope, [showing] that we care who they are—how can we connect?”

(Above) Perfect for Instagram, this boxing mural at Hard Knox portrays some of the legends of the sport.

(Right) Alexa Sponcia shows off the Sasquatch, featuring an olive oil and garlic base, Asiago cheese, prosciutto, butternut squash, apples, pecans and red onions.

CHILLIN’ WITH A COLD CHEESE SLICE Some food writers compare the cold cheese slice to a barely edible Lunchables meal. But customers at shops like Tino’s Pizza and Restaurant in Oneanta, New York, and Beto’s Pizza in Pittsburgh say, hey, bro, it’s chill. The Daily Meal credits Tino’s for inventing the style, which is a fully baked pizza piled with extra shredded cheese—usually but not always mozzarella—straight from the fridge. Some aficionados like it with cold pepperoni slices, too. The cold cheese adds an extra layer of flavor and lets you quickly bite into a slice without waiting for it to cool.

Younger guests at Little Vincent’s Pizza, a no-frills pizza shop in Huntington, New York, say it’s the perfect drunk food. Agotino Garufi Jr. says his dad invented the cold cheese pizza in response to a customer’s special request when he opened Tino’s in 1985.

“This guy came up to the counter and asked for a slice,” Garufi told the Daily Meal. “But it was too hot, so he [asked for] some cold mozzarella cheese on top so he could eat it right away.” At first, Tino’s tossed on the extra mozz for free, but as the style caught on, they began charging extra for it. Beto’s has taken the style one step further, topping all of its pies with freshly shredded cold provolone, plus tomato slices, jalapeños and other cold toppings upon request.

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PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

(Above) The cold cheese slice is a popular favorite at Little Vincent’s Pizza in Huntington, New York.

(Right) At Beto’s Pizza in Pittsburgh, the cold cheese pizza can be ordered to-go or enjoyed right there in the pizzeria’s dining room.

Top it off with CRISPETY, CRUNCHETY, PEANUT-BUTTERY CANDY

Available in 6/3 lb Bags and 25 lb Cases.

For exciting recipe ideas and to learn more about Butter�nger®, visit www.ferrerofoodservice.com, or call (800) 408-1505 for more information. © Ferrero 2022 Ferrero S.p.A.

BRIAN’S VEGAN JOURNAL

SURVIVING

THE FIRST MONTH Brian Hernandez’s search for better plant-based products and recipes continues as he learns to embrace—not just survive—his vegan journey.

J

anuary flew by! Between gearing up for live U.S. Pizza Team competitions at

two brand-new trade shows and planning the team’s April trip to the World Pizza

Championships in Italy, I haven’t even had a chance to remember that I’ve been vegan for almost a month …. he lied knowingly through his teeth. In truth, I’m reminded at every turn that I’m taking on this challenge, and you know what? It really hasn’t been that bad.

As 2021 ended on New Year’s Eve, I went to sleep nervous about the journey ahead. In my mad scramble to research recipes and learn how to make fake meat, I overlooked the fact that I hadn’t really mapped out a journey: meal plans and prep calendars, etc.

In true form, I was gonna wing it. But this got me thinking about what I need to do in the next month. Not only just be vegan but plan out my route to the end so I’m not flying by the seat of my pants for every meal. To make sure I get all the nutrients, I got my daily RDAs and researched where to find them in nature.

You can eat totally vegan and still eat terribly. As a completely hypothetical example, a bag of Skittles is vegan, but I should still limit my intake—I mean, one should limit one’s intake. I quit drinking in June and have lost 55 pounds since then. I’m making lifestyle changes. Exercise. Sensible diet. I thought I might try going vegan. I honestly haven’t noticed much of a change at this point. But that’s a good thing. No disruption in lifestyle.

Through endless label reading, I’ve noticed that most ingredient lists conclude with allergens, like wheat, soy, milk and nuts, making it easy to identify blacklisted items. It also sometimes says, *Contains less than 2% of an item, and further down it states, *May have come in contact with certain items.

So you have to pick your level of commitment. I won’t eat anything on the 2% list but draw the line at may have come in contact with. This approach could apply to a pizzeria. If you offer vegan, do you have a separate station like a true gluten-free operation, or do you add a line on the menu that says, “*May have come in contact with surfaces used by all the scary things like wonderful meats and cheeses”? Many true vegans don’t want any cross-contamination from any surface or tool used for meats.

I’ve spoken with operators that offer a vegan version of every menu item. Others only offer vegan cheese. Some have a limited number of vegan pizzas or dishes. It’s a big commitment. I’m planning to speak with more vegan pizzeria operators and dive a little deeper into what they offer and how they do it successfully.

Plus, I’m sure they’ll have some delicious recipes I can try out.

Hernandez used some of the leftover Impossible Taco Salad meat and made a rather tasty taco and white onion pie.

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PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

Hernandez gives healthier eating habits a try.

Early on, as I was failing at most vegan meat recipes, I found a nice little safety-net meal plan: steamed broccoli and Impossible Burger patties. Easy, tastes good and always ready to go. No complicated prep. I tried some vegan sausage links and chicken patties. All not bad, but definitely not the same. I tried chicken recipes that failed miserably. Found a passable pepperoni recipe.

Finally got to the textured vegetable protein (TVP) hamburger. It works really well as a ground beef alternative. Properly seasoned, it’s also sticky enough to make little sausage balls or a nice crisped-up pepperoni. I will calculate how much it costs to make 12 ounces of that and other products vs. buying commercial brands. I have a feeling it will win the price war. And it’s easy enough to prep and have ready to mix at a moment’s notice.

Now the search is on for a good cheese! That’s one reason why I haven’t made many pizzas yet, aside from a couple with low-cost vegan cheese and a delicious marinara pie. All for fear that a bad cheese could sour me on any future vegan pizzas. For a nonvegan, most vegan cheeses are very salty, gritty, runny and taste heavily of nuts—that’s essentially what most of them are. I made a couple of attempts, including a failed creamy mozzarella that became a nice cashew sauce for my steamed broccoli. Recycle, baby! The vegan cheese companies have come a long way but still have a long way to go, in my opinion. I’m hoping someone out there can change my mind!

Miyoko’s Creamery and Happy Little Plants sent in some exciting new products for testing.

These TVP burgers cooked up nicely, didn’t they?

Fortunately, I have received products from Miyoko’s Creamery, Happy Little Plants and Burke to showcase in the PMQ Test Kitchen. I’ve got items like cream cheeses, garlic herb cashew cheese and liquid mozzarella—as well as pepperoni, Italian sausage and chorizo crumbles—to play with. Now it’s getting fun!

So far, I worry that I have been surviving my vegan journey but not embracing it. But I want to find as many pizza-related tips, products and techniques to help our readers who are interested in a vegan menu. I’ll keep rolling along and posting pizza recipes and my thoughts along the journey, but don’t judge me if I sometimes still fry up some bacon and feed it to the hamster just to get the scent in the house.

Gracie the hamster gets the last of the real cheese in the house with a hamster-sized pizza.

Follow Brian’s vegan journey at PMQ.com/bvj and email him at brian@pmq.com with your tips, recipes and other suggestions!

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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RECIPE OF THE MONTH

SPONSORED CONTENT

GALBANI PREMIO & PEPPADEW PIZZA

Sponsored by:

RECIPE BY CHEF DONATELLA ARPAIA

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

16 oz. pizza dough 1½ c. Galbani Premio Mozzarella, shredded 1 c. Galbani Gorgonzola Crumbles 1 c. Peppadew Hot Whole Sweet Piquanté Peppers, halved ¾ c. caramelized red onions, for garnish 2–3 slices prosciutto, torn into shards and fried in olive oil 3–4 fresh basil leaves, torn, for garnish 2 tbsp. honey, for garnish

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Roll dough into desired shape and place on an oiled sheet pan.

Spread mozzarella shreds evenly on the dough, leaving a 1” border. Sprinkle crumbled Gorgonzola on top of the mozzarella.

Scatter the peppadew pepper halves evenly over pizza, maintaining the border.

Bake in the oven and remove when the dough is completely cooked and cheese has melted. Remove from oven.

While the cheese is still hot, garnish with caramelized onions, prosciutto shards and torn basil leaves. Finish with a drizzle of honey.

ABOUT THE PIZZA: The Galbani Premio & Peppadew Pizza, created by celebrity chef Donatella Arpaia, features the irresistible combination of top-ofthe-line Premio Mozzarella and Galbani Gorgonzola Crumbles. The Datassential Pizza Report 2021 named the peppadew pepper a trending ingredient, with a 41% increase in menu penetration over the last four years. So this recipe is sure to be a winning addition to any menu. If you’re interested in trying it yourself, the Galbani Premio & Peppadew Pizza will be available for sampling in the Galbani Booth #2147 at the International Pizza Expo. If you’re in Las Vegas, stop by and try this incredible pie.

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PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

140 reasons to celebrate with us V I S I T G A L B A N I ® B O O T H # 2 1 4 7 AT T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L P I Z Z A E X P O ® Since 1882, the Galbani brand has been inspiring pizza makers across the globe. This year, Italy’s #1 cheese brand is commemorating 140 years as a leader in the Italian cheese category.

Join us at Booth #2147 during the International Pizza Expo for a three-day party featuring: Live cooking demos Food sampling Cake cutting

Pizza acrobatics Exciting giveaways Competition team

©2022 Lactalis American Group, Inc., Buffalo, NY 14220. Galbani is a ® of Egidio Galbani S.r.l. All Rights Reserved.

Ambassador appearances And more!

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Zazas on the

Rise Brett and Chadd Nemec’s new pizzeria serves up New York-style pies with a Neapolitan flair in the land of deep-dish and thin-crust.

BY RICK HYNUM | PHOTOS COURTESY ZAZA’S PIZZERIA

B

rett Nemec got his start in the restaurant business doing the kind of work nearly everyone

hates: washing dishes. “What started as rigorous, backbreaking work turned into my absolute passion,” he recalls. “I fell in love completely.” Not with scouring

pans and soaping plates, of course—it was the culinary side that won him over. And now he and his brother, Brothers Chadd and Brett Nemec gear up for opening day at Zazas Pizzeria in Chicago.

Chadd, have launched a restaurant of their own, Zazas Pizzeria, in Chicago.

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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Brett is the culinary mastermind, Chadd runs the business side, and neither of them has to scrub a dirty dish if they don’t feel like it. Instead, they offer a menu—including whole pies for dinner and slices for lunch—that spotlights a New York style of pizza with a dash of Neapolitan flair. “We thought it would be interesting to try the kind of ingredients you might eat on a Neapolitan-style pizza but on a New York-style dough,” Brett says.

“We use products like soppressata, truffles, shiitake mushrooms, rosemary, Calabrian chilies, and the best Sicilian olive oil we can find.”

Zazas opened in early December to packed houses and media acclaim and has already been hailed by The Manual, a national pop-culture website, as one of the Windy City’s 10 best restaurants.

The ride was a little bumpy at first, thanks to a malfunctioning oven and a few no-show staffers. But Brett’s a seasoned veteran—he graduated from dishwasher to line cook, then went on to culinary school and managed several restaurant kitchens before becoming head chef at Santo Cielo, a top-rated restaurant in Naperville, Illinois.

Before they launched Zazas, though, the brothers did their homework. “The idea for our menu started when we were trying out all different types of pizza,” Brett says. “We would try our favorite New York-style spots, Neapolitan spots and Chicago-style spots. We both agreed that, when it comes to dough, New York-style is our favorite. There’s something so delicious about that ultra-thin center and the puffed heel with all of these different textures. New York style is chewy, crunchy, foldable, and it’s this balance of textures that makes it so incredible.”

Zazas serves up nine specialty pizzas, including the Truffle Mushroom Pie (topped with shiitake mushrooms, rosemary, garlic truffle cream, goat cheese and sea salt) and the Hot 22

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

In addition to tasty pies, Zazas offers a fun, kid-friendly atmosphere.

(Below) The whole family turned out for the shop’s grand opening, including Brett Nemec, Tina and John Schiele (the brothers’ aunt and uncle), mother and stepfather Sue and Steven Gambla, and Chadd Nemec.

“We wanted to create a dough that is foldable and chewy, just like your prototypical New York-style pizza, but simultaneously very crunchy and slightly sour.”

— Brett Nemec, Zazas Pizzeria Soppressata Pie ( featuring soppressata, fennel oil, Mike’s Hot Honey, chili flakes and Parmigiano). “We make the fennel oil by pouring 350° oil over toasted fennel seeds and garlic, resulting in a sweet, aromatic and almost anise-y flavor profile,” Brett says. Another customer favorite is the Bacon Jam Pie, which includes red onions, Calabrian chiles, cotija cheese, Szechuan garlic oil and scallions. “The goal here was to achieve a ‘flavor bomb’ by balancing sweet, smoky, spicy, salty, fatty and acidic,” Brett says.

“A lot of my effort has been centered around the dough,” he adds. “We wanted to create a dough that is foldable and chewy, just like your prototypical New York-style pizza, but simultaneously very crunchy and slightly sour. After a ton of trial and error, we found a flour that works perfectly for the style we wanted to achieve. We use a hard red spring wheat, a poolish to help aid the fermentation, and a 48-hour cold ferment. We believe in giving the dough time to develop flavors and produce those beautiful air

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pockets that make the dough light and easy to digest. Our hydration is right at 69%, which we found to be just right to achieve that light airiness while maintaining some bite and good chew.”

Brett says he and Chadd have built “an amazing staff,” with a few of their restaurant-savvy friends working several days a week. The business also gets support from the entire family, including the brothers’ dad, Bob Nemec; their stepdad, Steven Gambla; and aunt and uncle Tina and John Schiele. Not to mention their mother, Sue Gambla, who first tipped off PMQ about Zazas. And a proud mother she is, too. “My boys, who also live and do life together—it makes this mama’s heart and soul so happy—are working side by side,” she says.

“When I was a young mom,” she adds, “I was not a very well-seasoned cook. You can ask my boys. That’s why pizza—which we called ‘za’— was probably in the house all the time.”

Zazas Pizzeria is the Nemec brothers’ first restaurant, but they hope it won’t be the last. “Down the line, we are definitely hoping to expand,” Brett says. “Most likely, we will not be interested in franchising, but having a few locations around the States is definitely a long-term goal. We are creating a relatively streamlined training process, and we believe with the right set of instructions and training, anyone can recreate what we are doing in our Chicago location and maintain the same quality and consistency.”

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

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New Jersey publisher Telina Cuppari has amassed a collection of 672 pizzarelated items, with the goal of setting a new Guinness World Record.

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Pizza girl The

Telina Cuppari aims to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest collection of pizza-related items on the planet.

BY RICK HYNUM | PHOTOS BY TELENA CUPPARI

T

At last count, Cuppari, who publishes TAPinto Kenilworth, a digital neighborhood news site for Kenilworth, New Jersey, had amassed 672 pizza-related items, from apparel and accessories to toys, games and more. “I have over 230 books just on pizza,” she says. “I have a bunch of clothes, ranging from newborn to adult, and even outfits for the dogs and cats, plus tons of jewelry from all over the world, decorations, and over 200 items in the stationery category.

elina Cuppari, aka “The Pizza Girl,”

welcomed her newborn baby boy,

Giacomo, to the world last July in a maternity room blinged out with pizza-themed decor.

That’s how much she loves a good pie. Since then, Cuppari, a New Jersey publisher, editor, writer, educator and mother of two, has built what she believes to be the largest collection of pizza-related stuff on the planet—and she’s hoping the Guinness World Records will agree.

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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Cuppari’s collection runs the gamut from games, books and toys to decorative items for true pizza fans.

“We ate pizza so much in my house growing up that I remember giving the delivery man a Christmas present every year.”

— Telina Cuppari “One of my favorites is a pizza swagger chain that spins,” Cuppari adds. “It is very ostentatious, and it is definitely a conversation starter. I also have an ‘I Love You More Than Pizza’ date night box with pizza-themed games and questions. My daughter is named Francesca, and there is even a pizza chef doll named Francesca that comes with her very own ‘Once Upon a Pizza’ story.”

Barring unexpected competition, Cuppari’s collection appears well-positioned to top the world record, currently held by Brian Dwyer, co-founder of Pizza Brain in Philadelphia. Building the collection has been a labor of love that started in 2012 when she moved from California to New Jersey. “I love going out to eat pizza dressed as the Pizza Girl,” Cuppari noted in a TAPinto Kenilworth article published on December 30, 2021. “Most people think it’s fun, and you make a statement. And if I get strange looks, well, that’s OK, too. You can’t please 28

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

everyone, plus I have never had the best fashion sense.”

On October 3, 2021, Cuppari bolstered her collection by hosting Kenilworth’s first Pizza Palooza event, featuring pizza-themed games for children and adults, music, gift certificate giveaways and food from local restaurants, including a lot of pizza. The event was free, and attendees were asked to simply donate a pizza-related item to her collection.

Earning Guinness World Records certification requires a great deal of documentation. Every item has to be logged, photographed and shot on video in front of witnesses, including an expert on the subject, and detailed and verified statements have to be submitted. As her witnesses, Cuppari brought in Kenilworth police chief Fred Soos; Attilio Guarino, owner/pizza chef of Ava’s Kitchen & Bar; and Mike Hysa, owner of Big Apple Pizza.

Ava’s and Big Apple are two of her favorite Kenilworth shops, along

with Capri Pizza. She’s also a big fan of Santillo’s in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

“There are so many great pizza places in New Jersey, so it really depends on what I am feeling,” she says. “If I’m going for more veggie, meat or just plain cheese, I have my spots. And no matter what pizza I am eating, I always love extra garlic.”

Cuppari says her passion for pizza “started at a very young age. We ate pizza so much in my house growing up that I remember giving the delivery man a Christmas present every year. Pizza, I also believe, is the one universal food that can bring people together from all different cultures. In some countries, pepperoni is more popular, and then there’s canned tuna, eggs and even bananas. However, wherever I have found myself in the world, pizza is the one food we can all enjoy—no matter what language we speak or nationality we are—that makes us happy.”

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

GLUTEN-FREE

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IS GOOD BUSINESS Billy Manzo, who knows a thing or two about stomach issues, offers eight tips for appealing to the gluten-free crowd.

BY BILLY MANZO JR. | PHOTOS BY SCOTT AND DONNA ERB, ERB PHOTOGRAPHY

I

’m going to let you in on a little secret: My stomach is a wreck. I have to be very careful about what I eat.

Not too heavy. Not too acidic. Not too who-knowswhat, depending on the day.

People in my family have always had stomach issues.

They call it spastic colon or irritable bowel syndrome. I call it the “Italian stomach.” And it’s a pain in the neck.

Eating the wrong foods can cause me pain or blow me up like a balloon. It’s not cool, it’s not fun, and it really limits a lot of the phenomenal foods out there that I can eat. But the one good thing about having this condition is that it has made me sensitive to others who share my grief and have to be careful about the things they eat, particularly people who have difficulty with gluten, such as those with celiac disease. And, unfortunately, a lot of people have it.

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Billy Manzo recommends offering gluten-free pizzas in one small size since they likely won’t be shared with the entire table.

“People who are gluten-free can’t dig into a 14” or 16” pie with their friends. They want their own pie, and that’s why we make only 8” personal glutenfree pizzas.”

— Billy Manzo, Federal Hill Pizza Celiac disease is estimated to affect one in 100 people worldwide. So many people have it in Italy that diagnosed celiacs receive vouchers to buy specifically produced glutenfree foods, up to 140 euros per month. (The Italian Celiac Association and the Italian government, by the way, have done an excellent job of educating restaurants on how to deal with celiac disease. There are even gluten-free meal options in schools and hospitals.) Here in the U.S., it is believed that 2.5 million Americans are undiagnosed and are at risk for longterm health complications. That’s a lot of sensitive stomachs.

What exactly is celiac? According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, it’s an autoimmune disease where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. When people with celiac disease eat gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye and barley), their body mounts an immune response that attacks the small intestine. These attacks damage the villi, small fingerlike projections that line the small intestine and promote nutrient absorption. When the villi get damaged, nutrients cannot be absorbed properly into the body.

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When I founded Federal Hill Pizza, it was important to me that I create some form of gluten-free pizza so that those with celiac or gluten intolerance can go out and enjoy a good meal just like everyone else. With my background in science and with knowing what would get me sick, I was able to create a focaccia-style gluten-free (and also vegan) pizza that has been a strong seller for us over the past five years.

If you’re interested in getting into the gluten-free market (and you should be!), here are eight ways to get started:

1

Research. If you don’t have a gluten-free recipe, surf the web and browse recipes that your consumer base might enjoy. I’ve seen crust recipes that use ingredients like chickpeas, butternut squash and quinoa. Remember, glutenfree customers don’t expect your gluten-free pizza to taste like your other pizza products, but it should have regional appeal.

In other words, customers in California and customers in Florida, Chicago and New York are going to have completely different tastes for gluten-free food, so you have to come up with something that’s really cool for your client base. Go to your local wholesaler and see what they have. Consult with a nutritionist. Practice on family and friends. Invite gluten-free customers in the area to taste-test. And then once you find something that’s a hit, run with it.

For example, I’m not a cauliflower pizza guy. Yes, it’s glutenfree. Yes, it’s trendy. But I’m not a fan. We don’t carry it at Federal Hill Pizza, because I feel it’s already out there, and I’m more interested in creating a recipe that can’t be duplicated.

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In addition to gluten-free pizza, Federal Hill customers can order tasty side items like scallops, baked beans and green beans without any health risks.

“It’s a good idea to put a disclaimer on your menu and website noting the potential cross-contamination risks to customers ordering gluten-free.”

— Billy Manzo, Federal Hill Pizza

2

Keep it small. People who are gluten-free can’t really eat family-style. They can’t dig into a 14” or 16” pie with their friends. They want their own pie, and that’s why we make only 8” personal gluten-free pizzas—and they’re a home run. You can price them at a premium—as much as $15 per pie—because if you come up with a good recipe, people will pay for it.

3

Keep it simple. You don’t need to go bananas with a lot of toppings. We only do a select number of gluten-free pizzas because 1) this makes the selection understandable to the customer, and 2) the customer may have other allergies besides gluten, so we want to be sensitive to that. At Federal Hill Pizza, we offer three gluten-free personal pizzas: cheese; cheese and pepperoni; and cheese with one vegetable.

4

Keep it separate. While many people choose to go gluten-free even though they have no underlying medical conditions, you want to be sure you’re always protecting those specific customers who are not glutentolerant. Invest in a separate toaster oven to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. Just as with nut allergies, gluten allergies and intolerance need to be taken seriously. It’s also a good idea to put a disclaimer on your menu and website noting the potential risks to customers ordering gluten-free. Better safe than sickly.

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PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

5

Order special-sized boxes. For our gluten-free personal pizzas, we order takeout boxes that are the size of the pizzas. They’re cute little things, and our customers love them because it’s like their own special gift in a box just for them.

6

Make it personalized. We keep little sticky pads that say gluten-free near the pizza station. When my POS ticket comes out and notes the pizza is gluten-free and the name of the customer, we place a sticky note on the box with a personalized message: Dear Mike, Enjoy your gluten-free pizza.

Regards, Billy Manzo Customers love that. They feel appreciated and understood.

7

Spread the word. Gluten-free items have become common in the marketplace, so you don’t necessarily have to make them part of an overall advertising strategy. Still, it’s important to spread the word to those who are looking for it. Start by calling your local celiac association. These groups have large memberships who are looking to support like-minded businesses. They may post about your gluten-free

products on their website, particularly if they have a marketplace or partner page, and on their social media.

Hey, it’s free, targeted publicity. On your end, you can snap a photo of one of your gluten-free pizzas, post it on your own social media account, and tag the association.

8

Create special events. You can take your networking a step further. Once a year, we do a Celiac Association Night. For every gluten-free pizza that’s sold, a percentage of the proceeds gets donated to the Rhode Island branch of the National Celiac Association. We normally sell about 200 gluten-free pizzas in that one night! And we sell only on preorder, which means we make only what we need to sell—no unnecessary extras hanging around.

Gluten-free has become a way of life for many, and offering gluten-free products gives you the opportunity to have something in your pizzeria for everyone. Plus, if I can save someone the agony of an Italian stomach, it’s the least I can do.

Billy Manzo Jr. is a veteran restaurant operator and the owner/chef of Federal Hill Pizza, with locations in Providence and Warren, Rhode Island.

This delicious menu item features grape tomatoes with marscapone and ricotta, finished with red onions.

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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e h T

t o l a e Z Khanh Nguyen got into the restaurant business on a whim, but ZaLat Pizza’s phenomenal success hinges on an astute pizza-only concept inspired by tech startups like Google.

ARTICLE BY RICK HYNUM AND BRIAN HERNANDEZ PHOTOS BY KATHY TRAN

Khanh Nguyen calls himself an “accidental restaurateur,” but he has planned carefully for longterm success.

K

hanh Nguyen has told his life story about a million times. So it seems anyway, judging by

the ongoing blitzkrieg of media coverage earned by his Dallas-based concept, ZaLat Pizza. Fortunately, the story is anything but dull. As a child, he and his family narrowly escaped Vietnam as communist forces took over in 1975. He became a corporate attorney, then a software startup CEO, then the owner of DaLat, a Vietnamese restaurant and bar in Dallas. He even lit the spark, so to speak, that ignited Uber Eats.

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

37

Nguyen believes in focusing on one core product—pizza— and doing it better than his DELCO competitors.

But ZaLat Pizza just might be Nguyen’s crowning achievement—and that’s saying a lot. Named one of the “5 Hot Concepts” for 2021 by Nation’s Restaurant News, ZaLat’s first store opened in 2015. Now there are 17 locations around Texas, all of them company-owned, including the latest one that opened in Houston. At least six more are in construction now, and all but one focus exclusively on delivery and carryout.

For Nguyen (pronounced “Nuwen”), ZaLat isn’t just another ghost kitchen concept. “Our entire business model was designed with plans for global pizza domination,” he says. “I’m a natural business guy, especially with my ADD. Whatever I do, I’m always designing for global domination, whether it works or not.”

There’s another mission behind ZaLat, too. Nguyen doesn’t just want to get rich—he wants to make his employees rich, too. And not only the GMs, but the frontline workers and the dishwashers, too. In other words, if Nguyen wins, everybody wins.

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PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

“Our entire business model was designed with plans for global pizza domination.”

— Khanh Nguyen, ZaLat Pizza The Accidental Restaurateur Nguyen was born in a country in which a very different—and quite literal— battle for global domination once took place. His father was a general in the South Vietnamese army and governor of a province called Dalat (hence his

first restaurant’s name). When the U.S. gave up on that war, the North Vietnamese army took over the entire country, and things were about to get ugly. In the midst of a mass, panicfueled evacuation, his dad tried to get the family out of the country by air, but

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Aside from ZaLat’s side salad, employees spend their time exclusively making pizzas.

“I’m always thinking multiunit….

It’s very complex getting one of these ideas to work. If you have one that survives and makes it, why not just perfect that model?”

— Khanh Nguyen, ZaLat Pizza

In addition to receiving full benefits, all ZaLat employees have a chance to become shareholders in the company.

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PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

due to a mixup, three of his nine kids couldn’t board the plane.

The desperate family headed to the beach and hunkered down for days until a troop carrier ship arrived and took them on.

From there, they eventually ended up on a battleship bound for the U.S. Nguyen didn’t speak a word of English yet, but he had brains aplenty. After getting his law degree and working as a corporate security attorney, he co-founded, along with his brother, a tech company specializing in software for hospitals. After selling off that startup, he found himself with some downtime.

“I call myself an accidental restaurateur,” he says. “I had no intention of going into this business. I was going to start another software company.” But one day he decided to make dinner at home, even though he never cooked. “I made ramen and eggs, but with my ADD, once my passion kicks in, I’m all about it. Every day I researched recipes and cooked a four- or five-course meal for nine months.”

With so much free time, he decided, what the heck, he might as well open a restaurant. “I didn’t know a soul in the industry.

I just hired three people off Craigslist who didn’t know how to cook,” he recalls. Nguyen did a lot of the heavy lifting himself, from creating the recipes and running the kitchen to serving guests, tending bar and washing dishes. But DaLat became an instant hit, specializing in pho and other soups, as well as

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ZaLat’s menu is “pretty out there in terms of different flavors,” with 19 specialty pies that include the Elote, the OG, the Reuben, a Margherita with Srirancha sauce and the Pesto Veggie.

entrees like pad Thai and ramen dishes. The eatery’s late-night hours drew in Dallas’ service-industry crowd, who needed somewhere to drink and dine after clocking out at work. “We had a service-industry following immediately, which propels us to this day,” he says.

ZaLat came next in 2015, along with a new sense of purpose.

“I’m always thinking multiunit,” Nguyen notes. “Why knock out one concept, only to go and change it up? It’s very complex getting one of these ideas to work. If you have one that survives and makes it, why not just perfect that model so you can replicate it at scale instead of coming up with a brand-new one every single time?”

Steady Organic Growth Before long, Nguyen had opened four ZaLat locations. “That was organic growth, restaurant by restaurant,” he says. As ZaLat expanded, each existing store helped pay for the next one. After opening No. 4, Nguyen started taking on investors and adding more and more locations.

As a DELCO kitchen, ZaLat doesn’t require a lot of space, with a footprint of about 1,500 square feet. “Our buildout costs are insanely low compared to everybody else,” he says. “They don’t care about their buildout costs, because someone wrote them a $300 million check. They’re going to go as fast as they can so their [investors] can exit at a high multiple in five years.

Then, the company is left holding the bag, thinking, ‘How are we going to find additional growth going forward?’ We’re going to have steady organic growth. We have stores that pay for themselves in five months, total. That means we’re kicking off two or three more stores per year for each unit.”

ZaLat’s biggest advantage? “We just concentrate on one thing: A-plus execution on the pizza,” he says. ZaLat’s menu is all pizza, all the time, plus one side salad. No calzones or pasta dishes, no burgers or sandwiches. “Ninety-one percent of our sales is pizza,” Nguyen says. “We offer Ben & Jerry’s ice 42

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

“By design, we don’t want to make anything except pizza, so we can make it as perfectly as we can. My thought was, let’s conquer this space by focusing on one product.”

— Khanh Nguyen, ZaLat Pizza cream for dessert and Cokes. By design, we don’t want to make anything except pizza, so we can make it as perfectly as we can. My thought in designing this model was, let’s conquer this space by focusing on one product.”

Partnering With Uber Getting that pizza into customers’ hands was a tougher challenge. ZaLat started out with its own team of delivery drivers. That turned out to be one more headache Nguyen didn’t need in his life. “It became very apparent to me that the pizza chains that do delivery are not in the pizza business,” he says. “They’re in the logistics delivery business. The cost of maintaining those drivers is like a second kitchen you’re paying for. [The chains] can afford that because of the economy of their pizza, how they crank those pizzas out. We were trying to focus on great pizza and found that the entire shop was worried about who’s going to take that pizza out.”

Even with 10 or 12 drivers working on a Friday night, ZaLat was struggling to get orders to customers’ doorsteps. “Now I’ve got managers jumping into their cars,” Nguyen says. “I’ve

delivered to all of these apartment complexes myself. I was, like, ‘This sucks.’ It’s all we worried about. The stress level was just intense all the time.”

Nguyen soon found himself calling Uber drivers for help.

“The driver would come up to our shop expecting a passenger, and we’d walk out with a pizza and have a three-minute conversation: ‘Please take this pizza to a customer, and maybe they’ll give you a tip.’ We convinced three or four to take it, and one cussed us out.”

A pizza-shaped lightbulb flashed above Nguyen’s head, and he went to Uber with a proposal: “I told them, ‘I’m glad to pay full fare for your drivers to carry my food. You’ve got thousands of drivers. Get into this business, and I’ll help you. I came from a tech company. I’ll give you all the tweaks [to your software] to test out whatever model you want to deploy, but you need to be in this business.’ A month later, Uber corporate took me up on it. They said, ‘We have a piece of software we’re using in San Francisco to deliver flowers. We think we can use it to try out food delivery. Do you want to be our restaurant test project?’ They came in a few weeks later, deployed it on a Monday, and I got rid of all our drivers that Friday. We were the only restaurants Uber delivered for in the first three or four months.”

A Glorious Mission Offering delivery only through third-party companies—ZaLat also partners with DoorDash—has worked like a charm,

Nguyen says. Granted, that personal connection between the brand and the customer is lost, but the pizza is so good, he believes, it doesn’t matter. “We don’t touch our customers at all. Their only contact is when they eat the pizza. So we’re focused 100% on the quality and taste of the pizza.”

Maintaining that food quality calls for what Nguyen terms “an extremely high give-a-sh*t factor” among his staff. There’s only one way to get that, he believes: Turn your employees into “zealots” like himself and show them that they truly matter. “It can’t be a minimum-wage-plus employee force. They take care of the customer and the pizza to their maximum capability, and on our side, as a company, we do everything we can to take care of them.”

Not only does ZaLat provide all employees with full benefits, including health insurance and a 401(k) plan, they’re also offered stock options in the company. “All of our employees have a chance to be owners in this company,” Nguyen says.

“This comes from my tech experience. If you get in early, you’ve got some stock options. At a company like Google or Facebook, no matter what you did there, when it goes public, you’ve got a huge amount of cash as your payday.”

So the better workers do their job, the better their chances of a future windfall. But most service-industry employees don’t understand stock options and evaluations, so Nguyen makes sure to educate new employees on the benefits of buying in.

“We explain how it works. You get a chance to buy a brick in this house. When you do [good work] that causes the value

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

43

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of the house to go up, your brick becomes more valuable. You’ve got a chance to buy in at a very low price. They’re not going to get this opportunity anywhere else. Where else can you be a frontline cook and potentially have a chance of cashing out on a tech-level IPO? We’re talking frontline guys potentially getting millions out of it. It’s a glorious mission, and they all get it.”

The strategy has helped ZaLat weather the labor crisis while some restaurateurs can’t even find enough employees to open a new store. At the time of Nguyen’s interview with PMQ, ZaLat was gearing up to open a new store in Houston. “It’s the largest application pool we’ve ever had,” he says. “We’ve had 200 to 300 people apply already.”

“Where else can you be a frontline cook and potentially have a chance of cashing out on a techlevel IPO? We’re talking frontline guys potentially getting millions out of it.”

— Khanh Nguyen, ZaLat Pizza

To learn more about Perfect Crust’s pizza liners and other products, visit perfectcrust.com or email Eric Bam at Eric@perfectcrust.com.

About Eric Bam:

A Boston native now living in Tulsa, OK, Eric Bam is VP of sales and marketing for Perfect Crust, with 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry. A powerful force in the workplace, Bam uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. He has three children and loves helping the men and women of the pizza industry grow their businesses.

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If ZaLat does achieve global pizza domination, Nguyen believes it will be on the strength of “the best pizza in the universe” and his employee-first model. “There’s more than a food mission here,” he says. “There’s a people mission. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure we don’t go the way of other concepts, where the rich get richer and we’ve got equity coming in and it’s all about money for us. Supporting ZaLat means these very hard-working men and women—who are usually neglected in our society—have the chance to cash out at a tech level in five or 10 years if we really grow. So you’re supporting a beautiful mission.”

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief. Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s test chef and U.S. Pizza Team coordinator.

G E T T Y I M AG E S

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The

HARD

Stuff

Mark “The Cheese Dude” Todd makes it easy to understand hard cheeses for pizza applications.

BY BRIAN HERNANDEZ

W

hen it comes to cheeses, Mark

“The Cheese Dude” Todd is a

walking, talking encyclopedia. He’s a consultant for Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, the California Milk

Advisory Board and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, among others. And he has become PMQ’s go-to advisor on all things cheesy. In the January 25 episode of PMQ Live Update on Facebook, we hit him with more questions—this time about hard cheeses for pizza applications—and, as always, The Cheese Dude responded with generosity and candor. Here’s

PMQ: So what’s the best hard cheese out there?

Todd: The reason everyone knows Parmigiano-Reggiano is because it is one of the top cheeses in the world.

Ask any serious cheesehead, and they will list it in their top three, if not No. 1. It’s just one of the most fabulous cheeses in the world. But it is not the only hard cheese, and if there was only one to choose from, it would be a pretty dull world.

Hard cheeses in Italy range from whole-milk cheeses like Asiago and Piave Vecchio to the part-skim cheeses like Parmesan. When you’re talking about hard cheeses, the milk content—whether it’s whole-milk or part-skim—will go a long way toward telling you how it’s going to perform and how to manipulate it, whether

an edited version of the 50-minute

you shave it or grate discussion, and you can visit PMQ’s it, and how it’s going to work in cooking Facebook page to watch the full video. applications. Parmesan and all of the Italian hard cheeses are in somewhat similar PMQ: What makes Parmigianofamilies, other than Romano, the Reggiano special as compared to sheep’s milk version. You have cheeses Parmesan cheese? from northern Europe like Gouda, Todd: Parmigiano Reggiano is only which is a gorgeous cheese when made in Italy. It’s part-skim cow’s it’s aged. I’ve had it up to 25 years milk and has a higher protein/lower old, and it’s outstanding. It becomes fat ratio. That makes it ideal for quite butterscotchy and caramelly grating. When it’s perfectly ripened at as it ages—literally dark brown like 24 months, it has the overwhelming caramel. It’s almost like a dessert flavor of candied or dried pineapple. cheese. You have great American hard There is a certain region in Italy, cheeses as well. California is famous part of three different territories. If for a cheese called dry Jack, a wholeyour cheese is made in that region, milk hard cheese with a coating on the you can call it Parmigiano-Reggiano. outside to seal the cheese.

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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It’s a protected name, so no one else but farmers in that region can call it that.

There literally are farms in Italy where a line runs through the farm. The milk from cows on one side of the line goes into making Parmigiano-Reggiano. The milk from the other side of the line goes into Grana Padano.

Trentino is made identically to Parmigiano-Reggiano, but it comes from up in the mountains. Some say it’s even better. It all depends on your personal taste.

PMQ: What’s the difference between Romano and Pecorino Romano cheeses?

Todd: The difference between Romano and Pecorino Romano is like the difference between Parmesan and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Pecora means “sheep” in Italian. So Pecorino means sheep’s milk cheeses, which are very different from cow’s milk cheeses. This cheese comes from a specific area of Rome. It’s aged in a specific way for about five months. It’s fairly dry, and because of the way it’s made, aged and salted, it picks up a lot of flavor really quickly. At five months, it’s fully strong. It’s a very sharp cheese with a distinctive sheep’s milk flavor and aroma. It smells intense and sharp—or piquant—and that’s how it tastes, too.

If the cheese is made outside of that specific area in Italy or if it’s not made with sheep’s milk, it’s just Romano.

Anyone can use the name Romano, but 48

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“The reason everyone knows ParmigianoReggiano is because it is one of the top cheeses in the world. Ask any serious cheesehead, and they will list it in their top three, if not No. 1.”

— Mark Todd Pecorino Romano is a protected name.

And if the Romano comes from the U.S., it’s cow’s milk. Guaranteed.

It’s all about terroir. It’s the flavor of place, tradition, the animals that make the milk. That’s why you go around the world and eat like me.

PMQ: How would you describe Asiago cheese?

Todd: Asiago has some of those same tropical fruit flavors as ParmigianoReggiano, but they’re not nearly as intense. It has more of a nutty flavor, like cashew or almond, and it has a bit of a floral bouquet.

PMQ: What are some of the lesser known or lesser used aged cheeses?

Todd: Italy is the undisputed king of aged cheeses. They do make some in Switzerland, including one that looks exactly like Parmesan. But the real Italian hard cheeses typically come from the mountainous regions. Piave Vecchio is one of my favorites. It’s similar to Asiago and comes from a similar Alpine region. It’s aged anywhere from a few months all the way up to several years.

The aged version is somewhere between a cheddar and an Asiago—closer to Asiago than to Parmesan. It has a beautiful flavor with a rich nuttiness.

It’s one of the first hard cheeses I fell in love with. That’s one of the alternatives.

Very few people have ever experienced aged Gouda. And that’s one I think should be on everyone’s must-try list. It’s different than any other cheese you have ever tasted. It’s almost caramelized and sweet. It looks like caramel or butterscotch. The first time I tasted it, I described it as like caramel and butterscotch dipped in peat whiskey. There are some raw-milk versions like Boerenkaas Gouda, which is usually about three years old, and there are a couple of pasteurized-milk versions that are quite good. If you can get a four- or five-year Gouda, it’s an experience very different than you’ve ever had in a cheese before.

PMQ: How does American Parmesan cheese differ from the Italian version?

Todd: A lot of the cheeses in the U.S. have a legal or federal standard of

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It might contain an anti-caking ingredient to keep it from sticking together. With that, you’ll never be able to make a cream sauce. It is OK for cheaper, lower-end pizzas, but if you’re doing real pizza, you want to use real cheese.

identity that will tell you how the cheese has to be made, aged, how much fat and water it can have. In Italy, you can buy Parmesan at 12 months old. In the U.S., it only has to be aged 10 months. When America first started producing Parmesan for commercial uses, it was released right at 10 months so the producers could get their money back quickly. At that age, it doesn’t have a lot of flavor, and it’s quite elastic. It’s perfect at that age for making Parmesan crisps—the protein bonds are still nice and firm. But as the cheese ages, it becomes more crumbly. The protein breaks down, making it easier to grate and shave. This also intensifies the flavor.

About 25 years ago in the U.S., we started experimenting, and now there are three or four companies doing beautifully aged Parmesan, some aged out 18 months. American Grana from BelGioioso is aged 18 months and very Parmesan-like; the flavor on a smaller wheel gets really intense quickly.

California has dry Jack, and there are people making aged Alpine cheeses in the northeastern U.S., like Jasper Hill Farm.

There’s cheese galore in the U.S., but hard cheeses are a little harder to come by because of the time you have to invest in aging them. It can take a few years to make your money back on it.

To me, there’s a sweet spot for aged cheeses between 18 and 20 months. In that range, you start to get that really intense tropical-fruit flavor. After about 30 months, that flavor drops off. You still have great cheese, still nutty and rich, but it loses that tropical-fruit flavor.

PMQ: Any tips for buying the best Parmesan cheese?

Todd: A good foodservice distributor usually will sell Parmesan in whole wheels or one-eighth wheels. The oneeighth wheel weighs maybe six, eight or nine pounds and is perfect for a pizza shop. You can go through that in a matter of weeks if you use it a lot. That keeps it fresh and turning quickly.

If you buy pre-grated Parmesan, the first thing you want to do is look at the ingredients. If it has anything other than cheese listed, you have something that won’t work in sauces.

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PMQ: How should you apply Parmesan to a pizza?

Todd: If I’m going to use Parmesan on a pizza, it’s going on after the pizza is cooked, and I’m grating it on top of the pizza as I’m serving it. That way, all of the tropical fruit esters (chemical compounds responsible for the flavor and smell of foods) are still there, and those intense aromas are wafting out because it’s warm on the top of the pizza. If you cook it on the pizza, it’s still good, but you lose all of the subtleties of the flavor. If I’m using Parm as a topper on a pizza, it’s going on after it comes out and after I’ve cut it, so it’s as fresh as it can be when it hits the customer’s plate.

PMQ: So we shouldn’t cook Parmesan on a pizza?

Todd: Cooking Parmesan changes it dramatically, taking away all of the high notes in the flavor. But the more you bury it in the pizza, the better it will be. If you’re doing a Chicagostyle pizza with the cheese at the bottom, you want to put the Parmesan under your mozzarella. Then that flavor will penetrate into the sauce as it cooks, thus saving some of that flavor. But, basically, once it hits about 125° or 130°, the aromas are gone. They’ve cooked off. If you’re just looking for the texture of the crispy bits on the top, then put it on before you bake it. The Parm won’t melt—it just kind of crisps up.

PMQ: How many hard cheeses should a pizzeria keep on hand?

Todd: If you’re running a pizzeria with one or two deck ovens and putting out 100 pies a day, you don’t need five hard cheeses. You just need one hard cheese for your salads, pizza, lasagnas or any Italian plate dishes—one size fits all. If you’ve got several locations, maybe you need two. If you’re a chain, maybe three. These are not cheap cheeses to buy, and there’s not enough difference in flavor between most of them to warrant having three or four. The aged Gouda is the only one that’s radically different from all of the rest.

PMQ: Do you have a favorite hard cheese?

Todd: For pizza, Parmigiano-Reggiano is the king of hard cheeses. I love a lot of the American cheeses, too—they’re outstanding, and I promote them all the time. ParmigianoReggiano is hard to beat. I also like the intensity of a real Pecorino Romano, and I like the nuttiness of a dry Jack. Those are the ones I use a lot.

Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s test chef and United States Pizza Team coordinator.

Be sure to visit our PMQ advertisers’ booths at the Pizza Expo in Las Vegas!

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SECRETS OF

STAFFING

SUCCESS Learn more about the myriad ways your POS system can assist with a potentially treacherous task at the pizzeria: employee management.

BY TRACY MORIN

A

t the start of 2022, the U.S. labor shortage remains a grave concern on the minds of many business

owners—especially those in foodservice. According

to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, last November alone, 920,000 hospitality workers bid adieu to their jobs in the accommodation and foodservice category—at a rate of 6.9%, far higher than any other industry.

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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The labor shortage may prove a persistent concern for the year ahead, which is all the more reason for properly overseeing the employees you do have on staff right now (and, by using the right approach, you’ll have a better chance of retaining them over the long haul). It’s here that your POS system can be an invaluable ally. But what features can be most helpful in today’s everevolving labor landscape? To give you some ideas, we asked experts to share their most important POS features when it comes to labor management— and why they’re indispensable.

The Right Track The expert: Ryan Fyfe, chief operating officer, Workpuls, San Francisco, CA First, by tracking employee productivity and sales data, you’ll be able to identify which employees are most effective at driving sales and generating profits. You can then assign them more difficult 54

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

“You can use your POS system to better manage your staff by tracking their time, taking inventory and making reports.”

— Ryan Fyfe, Workpuls tasks or goals, or give them more challenging products to sell, in order to challenge them and improve their skills.

You can also use your POS system to better manage your staff by tracking their time, taking inventory and making reports. Time tracking tracks the hours employees spend on different tasks so you know how much time was spent on each one. This information will help you determine which tasks will take up more of an employee’s time.

Inventory management keeps track of the items in stock so you know what needs to be restocked or replaced. This information will help prevent out-ofstocks from happening too often—and

helps prevent or draw attention to employee theft. Finally, I recommend generating reports that show sales data by day, week, month and year, as well as reportable tax information for tax filing purposes at the end of the year if required by law.

Overall, a pizzeria’s POS system needs to be able to manage and track orders, as well as handle payments. It should be able to handle multiple orders at once, calculate taxes and tips, print receipts, and accept payments via card or cash.

But, on the labor side, all of this should also be easy to use, so that employees don’t have to spend too much time on training. In addition, a good POS system

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“The function of making a schedule is not only to control labor costs and run service, but also to retain your current team. The managers who write great schedules are better staffed than those who don’t.”

— Matt Martin, Toppers Pizza will provide reporting tools that allow pizzeria owners to track sales and performance data. Ultimately, a good POS system will help keep your business running smoothly.

Scheduling Notes The expert: Matt Martin, franchise operations director, Toppers Pizza, Madison, WI (70-plus locations) There are a couple of key ways we utilize our POS system to improve how we manage our teams. First, we gather data for scheduling. We believe that the function of making a schedule is not only to control labor costs and run service, but also to retain your current team. It’s easy to see that the managers who write great schedules are better staffed than those who don’t. A couple of key attributes of a great schedule that result in better retention are: 1.

2.

Writing a schedule that will handle the service demands. Chaotic environments encourage turnover.

Writing each team member’s schedule how they want it to be written—i.e., not scheduling them more hours than they want, or scheduling them outside of their normal availability. These things are important to team members, and they’ll quit if you don’t excel in this area.

But to make a great schedule, you’ve got to have great data. Our POS system gives us granular data that allows us to project scheduling needs down to the quarter-hour for each of the positions in our stores. To do this well, the data must be able to be broken down into the right time frames (e.g., quarter 56

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

hour), and it must accurately show the output by role. For example, you would need to know how many items are sold during a specific time in order to estimate how many pizza makers to schedule.

The other big way we’re able to lean on our POS system is through flexibility—to tailor it to the needs of our teams. We built and own our POS system, called PiZMET, and have a team of developers on staff, constantly working to improve the system. This has given us the ability to adjust to changing team member needs. An example of this is introducing and excelling in curbside delivery during the early stages of the COVID pandemic. We were able to introduce curbside delivery to our customers before most other concepts, thanks to the ability to integrate an automatic texting program into our POS to remove the manual part of communication in the curbside process. The result was fulfilling a major customer need without creating a cumbersome process for team members.

Don’t be afraid to make adjustments! We maintain an active pipeline of development, based on team member and franchisee needs. There are some big tech development items on our list, of course, that will have a positive impact on managing teams, but there are a bunch of small items as well. We think of these as “death by a thousand paper cuts” items: No one item on its own is a big deal, but when you add them all up, they can be painful. We work both the big and small items into development so that we can keep the jobs in our stores as easy as possible. That’s what team members want from an employer, and owning the POS gives us the best chance to deliver for our team members.

Watching the Clock The expert: Mark Moeller, national restaurant consultant and founder, The Recipe of Success, Westport, CT Many POS systems have an integrated labor or scheduling module included in their software, but many do not have a very robust platform. Usually, third-party integrations are recommended, as they will provide greater control over the scheduling/labor management process.

Perhaps the greatest tool to assist in labor management that these systems provide is the one that limits clock-in availability. If a schedule is built out with specific clock-in and clock-out times, management has the ability to restrict how soon or how late a team member can clock in or out.

Employees often arrive early and decide themselves that, since they are on the premises, they should begin working and do

“Perhaps the greatest tool to assist in labor management that [POS] systems provide is the one that limits clock-in availability.”

not seek management approval to start early. Management is often busy with their daily tasks and don’t realize someone clocked in early. Especially in today’s environment, early clockins can result in hundreds, if not thousands, of additional labor dollars spent, resulting in lower profitability.

Therefore, the key POS features an operator should look for are: labor scheduling, clock-in/-out restriction function, communication portal, shift replacement, employee contact information, comparative reporting, minor violation tracking and awareness, overtime scheduling awareness, labor forecasting, and ideal schedules based on revenue forecasts.

— Mark Moeller, The Recipe of Success

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor and the editor of PizzaVegan.com.

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Best in Show Browse some herbivore-approved highlights from the latest Plant Based World Expo North America.

BY TRACY MORIN

A

fter a pandemic hiatus, the Plant Based World Expo—the only 100% plant-based B2B conference

for the food and retail industry, produced by JD

Events—returned to New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Center on December 9 to 10, 2021. And attendees were hungrier than ever for its unique array of plant-based products and education.

If you need more proof that plant-based is the future, note that more than 3,100 show-goers perused the aisles of 200-plus exhibitors—reflecting more than 65% growth in exhibit space and more than double the audience over a pre-pandemic 2019. Trends on display included female-owned businesses, plant-based cultured butters, global cuisine, and more plant-based chicken than you could shake a beak at—from the usual nuggets and patties to shreds, chunks, strips and more.

Plant Based World Expo 2022 has been scheduled for September 8 to 9 at the Javits Center, and it’s already expected to double in size again. Find more info at plantbasedworldexpo.com, and to keep up with the plant-based pizza scene, visit PMQ’s sister site, PizzaVegan.com. In the meantime, peruse some of the products that caught my eye as I roamed the show floor for two glorious plant-based days.

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Umaro Foods Manufacturers and consumers alike are on the hunt for a better bacon alternative, and there were a few delicious entries in this category at the trade show.

The one that made me double-take (literally—I had to go back for more) is from Umaro Foods and available in three varieties: Original, Maple Bourbon and Hickory Smoke. Bursting with flavor and sporting a seductive crunch, this bacon would be a win on taste alone. It was only later that I learned the bacon’s base is—surprise!—seaweed. The company is even working with two U.S. universities to “advance the first generation of offshore seaweed farming in the Gulf of Maine,” with the goal of making seaweed the new soy, as a source of protein that’s both sustainable and nutritious. How cool is that? umarofoods.com

MeliBio Attendees were downright swarming this booth at the show, and for good reason: MeliBio is making the world’s first plantbased honey, one that promises “the real taste and nutritional profile of bee-made honey.” With this product, vegans—who do not consume the animal-based version—can once again enjoy honey-drizzled specialty pizzas, desserts and drinks.

The bee-free honey was even given a special mention in Time magazine’s roundup of 2021’s best inventions, and I agree that it’s a game changer. While sampling a small spoonful, had I not known it wasn’t “real” honey, I would have never guessed it was an alternative. MeliBio calls itself “a food biotechnology company” with its sights set on disrupting “the unsustainable $9 billion global honey industry.” It looks like they’re on the right track—they’ve totally nailed this replica. melibio.com

Chicago Vegan Foods We all know that pizza and ice cream go hand in hand, and personally I find that plant-based frozen desserts taste even better than their dairy counterparts. So I inhaled the generously sized show sample of Chicago Vegan Foods’ Temptation Vegan Soft Serve, a luxuriously creamy plant-based mix for foodservice, made from oats. The unique recipe for this dairy-free, soft-serve mix creates a frozen treat that’s not only decadently rich and smooth, but free of fat and cholesterol, 100% vegan and gluten-free, and made without peanuts or tree nuts. Shelf-stable for one year, it’s available in classic vanilla and chocolate base flavors as a customizable powder mix that’s easy to prepare (simply add cold water) and ready to use in any commercial soft-serve machine. chicagoveganfoods.com

Miyoko’s Creamery I’d heard directly from vegan-friendly pizzerias that Miyoko’s Liquid Vegan Pizza Mozzarella is a new superstar in the plantbased cheese world, so I was excited to try it myself at the show. The company predicts it “has the potential to change the future of pizza,” thanks to a recipe “so good that pizza lovers cannot believe it is vegan.” In this unique formulation, rather than creating a traditional solid block of vegan cheese that is then shredded, Miyoko’s removed the additives, which tend to hinder one of the most in-demand characteristics for pizza: meltability. The liquid is crafted from organic cultured cashew milk and stripped of excess ingredients or added flavors, instead receiving its delicious taste through fermentation. It’s also free of lactose, gluten, palm oil, soy and GMOs, and boasts the ability to melt, bubble and brown like the real thing. Sign me up! miyokos.com

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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FRY FRY AGAIN

Learn how a deep fryer can benefit your pizzeria—and how to maximize its usage and longevity in the pizzeria setting.

BY TRACY MORIN

W

hile foods served fresh out of the deep fryer may feel like add-ons at your pizzeria (or may not grace

the menu at all), many owners believe they’re a must for a successful operation. “There are plenty of pizzerias that don’t have a deep fryer, but if you do, it opens up so

much more opportunity—it’s a very important tool in a pizzeria,” says Chuck Sillari, co-owner of Mortadella Head in Somerville, Massachusetts. “I have owned restaurants with and without a deep fryer, and I can attest that having one definitely helps your business.”

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M O RTA D E L L A H E A D

Sillari remembers how, at the first restaurant he ever opened, the head chef was “totally against” having a deep fryer in his kitchen. “His opinion was that deep fryers were only for places that sold low-quality food and that they were too messy in the kitchen. So we used deep pans with oil on the stove top whenever we needed to deep-fry something,” Sillari recalls.

“Fast-forward 20 years, and I couldn’t imagine running a kitchen without a deep fryer.”

F RY M A S T E R

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

— Chuck Sillari, Mortadella Head can also invest in deep fryers with a cool-touch surface to minimize burns during cooking.

Also make sure the fryer has a decent drainage system,” she suggests. “Otherwise, cleaning the fryer can be very irritating!”

Ultimately, fryer selection starts with identifying your menu, according to Wendell Hays, director of product management and customer service for Frymaster in Shreveport, Louisiana. “If you’re primarily doing freezer-to-fryer foods, the most common fryer size is a 14” frypot with two fryer baskets per pot,” Hays explains. “If you are primarily doing chicken wings, the most common fryer size is an 18” frypot. If you are doing a lot of fresh breaded products, like bone-in chicken, you may need an even larger frypot.” Next, decide whether you will be using gas or electricity to run your fryer.

Once you decide on a frypot size and energy type, you’ll need to think about

The Right Equipment A deep fryer offers many benefits for any restaurant. Sillari explains that this vital equipment speeds up the line and prep, and allows chefs to create fun and creative menu items. “Having a deep fryer makes frying easier and less time-consuming,” adds Lori Bogedin, chef, culinary expert and owner of TwigsCafe in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania.

“Since it’s automated, you may offer food items that provide a large profit margin.

Furthermore, having a deep fryer saves oil, and it can come with a preinstalled food odor filter that makes meals smell wonderful.”

To select the right equipment, Sillari recommends first considering the kitchen layout and the volume of what you plan to cook, then making sure the deep fryer fits into the rest of your line for maximum efficiency. Bogedin advises choosing a deep fryer with a detachable oil reservoir, which ensures that any used oil can be securely poured into a container after usage. “You 62

“I have owned restaurants with and without a deep fryer, and I can attest that having one definitely helps your business.”

See us at Pizza Expo, booth #2045!

“The biggest mistake made when restaurants first start frying food is focusing on equipment cost rather than oil cost. The most expensive part about fried food is the oil.”

— Wendell Hays, Frymaster how you’re going to manage your oil. “The biggest mistake made when restaurants first start frying food is focusing on equipment cost rather than oil cost,” Hays notes. “The most expensive part about fried food is the oil. If you filter the oil often, you can significantly extend oil life and reduce oil expense—and the oil savings will generate a fast ROI.” (For a further breakdown on filtration, see the sidebar at right.)

Finally, when selecting a fryer, decide on the type of controller desired. Hays notes that the most basic option is a simple timer controller, while the next level up involves a computer controller that can store recipes and provide help with cooking compensation. “Oil temperature varies throughout a cook; when you add frozen food to hot oil, the temperature drops,” Hays explains. “As the oil heats back to a set point, if you drop in a second basket of food, the temperature of the oil drops again. With cooking compensation, the controller adjusts cooking time based on actual oil temperature to make sure the food is cooked properly every time.”

The most advanced option is a touchscreen controller.

“Touchscreens make fryer operation simple and intuitive,” Hays says. “Filtering operations, preventative maintenance and troubleshooting are so much easier when the controller can help your crew take care of the fryer. The simplicity of a touchscreen controller makes training and operation easier for everyone.”

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THE FILTER FACTOR Wendell Hays, director of product management and customer service for Frymaster in Shreveport, Louisiana, notes that the typical filtration options on fryers include automatic, manual, portable and no filtration. Which is right for your business? Here’s Hays’ breakdown: Automatic is the lowest-fuss option, because it takes the work out of filtration—the fryer will prompt the user to filter when needed. Simply skim any large particles off the top and push the filter button. Because it’s easy, employees are more likely to filter more often, and it’s simple to train new team members on the system.

Manual filter systems that are built into the fryer work the same as auto filtration fryers, but these require the user to know how to filter the fryer. The user must power off the fryer, open up the drain valve, turn on the filter pump, let the filter pump run long enough to filter the oil, close the drain valve, wait for the frypot to fill, turn off the filter pump, and then turn the heat back on to the fryer. Because it’s harder to do, users often will not filter as often, which leads to shorter oil life. Training users is also more difficult.

Portable filters create an even cheaper solution, but they require you to purchase and store another piece of equipment. In addition to all of the steps required for manual filtration, the employee has to retrieve the portable filter, roll it up next to the fryer and plug it in.

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From Menu to Maintenance Sillari uses the deep fryer to make everything from homemade chicken cutlets and mozzarella sticks to deep-fried lasagna sticks, pizza fritta and cookies-andcream fried dough desserts. “We also use it to make our famous sweet sriracha chicken wings,” Sillari adds. “We’re always using the deep fryer to come up with new appetizers. Some of our most popular are the homemade mozzarella sticks, fried Bolognese lasagna sticks, and fried mac and cheese balls. The sky’s the limit on appetizers when you have a deep fryer. It’s an important tool when it comes to menu development and creativity.”

Meanwhile, Bogedin recommends getting creative with items like fried turkey and ice cream balls. “Fried foods allow you to be quite creative—for example, you can prepare fried ice cream and top it with all kinds of delicious toppings,” she says. “If you offer a good peanut butter sandwich on your kids menu, try a crispy fried peanut butter sandwich for something that’s one-of-a-kind.”

Hays agrees that pizzerias can fry up everything from appetizers and entrees to desserts. “Wings have been a very popular addition, and by using a variety of different wing sauces, one base fried product offers customers a lot of options for enjoying different flavors,” he says. “A lot of foods can be added with very little additional labor—there are a large number of freezer-to-fryer foods that require no preparation.” Plus, chefs can use ingredients already on hand to dress them up—think french fries or mozzarella sticks served with pizza toppings, wing sauce and/or cheeses.

Once you have your deep fryer up and running, make sure that proper maintenance ensures it’s working properly and will last over the long haul. The most important daily operation, Hays notes, is filtering the oil and cleaning the filter pan. “It’s also a best practice to do a boil-out on the fryer once per month,” he says. “After disposing the oil, you fill the frypot with water, add your boil-out product and heat the water. Let the solution sit overnight. In the morning, scrub the frypot, drain and rinse the frypot, and then dry it out well before adding fresh oil.”

Sillari similarly stresses the importance of changing the oil regularly (depending on the deep fryer’s amount of use) and filtering the oil daily. “It’s important to have clean oil at all times so the food you’re serving tastes fresh,” Sillari says. “Give your deep fryer a good cleaning after every shift: Wipe down the front, back and sides of the fryer so you don’t get built-up grease—once it gets caked on, it’s very hard to get off. If you do these few simple things, your deep fryer will last you for a long time.”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor and the editor of PizzaVegan.com.

Make SOME

EARLY BIRD REDUCED ADMISSION RATE OF $50

DOUGH IN CHICAGO

Offer valid until May 1, 2022 (Save $50, See website for registration details)

 AUGUST 23325, 2022

FEATURING 400 EXHIBITS

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30 Hot Topic Seminars Live Demonstrations PMQ’s U.S. Pizza TeamTM Pizza City, USA ToursTM



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20 Master Workshops Chicago & Artisan Pizza Certification ProgramTM New Products Showcase

NATIONAL PIZZA & PASTA SHOW Stephens Convention Center 5555 N. River Road, Rosemont, IL (5 minutes from Chicago/O’Hare)

 August 23-25, 2022: 10am-5pm

(Show Issue)

For exhibitor or attendee information, please visit our event website:

 www.nationalpizzashow.com (5 minutes from Chicago/O’Hare)

EXPO MEDIA, INC. (Show Management)

754-246-6112 (tel) | info@nationalpizzashow.com Original organizers of the National Pizza Show and International Gourmet Show held at McCormick Place.

(Pizzeria Tours)

SMARTMARKET

SPONSORED CONTENT

MAKING A CRISPIER, CHEESIER VEGAN PIZZA Nearly one-third of Americans plan to eat more vegan foods in 2022, and pizza makers have a unique opportunity to tap into this growing trend as flexitarians and new vegans search for plant-based versions of the foods they love—like pizza. Unfortunately, finding ingredients to create delicious vegan pizza has been a challenge.

Many vegan cheese solutions have come to market in recent years, but most rely on spice blends that are insufficiently flavorful—lacking the depth and intensity of dairy cheese—and result in finished products that are bland and without sensory appeal.

Saf-Pro Artisan Fleurage Semolina topping is a new solution from Lesaffre that adds a crunchy burst of cheese flavor to pizza crusts, breadsticks and other baked goods while maintaining vegan specifications. Fleurage Semolina is durum wheat semolina infused with a proprietary blend of fermentation-based coatings that’s as easy to add to existing recipes as sprinkling onto formed dough. The soy-free and sesame-free topping imparts rich, cheesy umami characteristics with mild salty notes and adds crunchy textures to vegan and traditional pizza crusts and other breads.

“With Fleurage Semolina, it’s your recipe but with a twist,” said Ralf Tschenscher, master baker and baking business development manager at Lesaffre North America.

“The aroma, flavor and texture from Fleurage gives you a totally different product.”

Foodservice operators that offer vegan or traditional pizzas for takeout and delivery will find additional benefits to using Fleurage Semolina. The crunchy topping helps crusts resist sogginess while in the steamy environment of a pizza box and warming bag, and it also gives take-and-bake and frozen pizzas extra visual appeal to stand out in the refrigerator or freezer case.

With Fleurage Semolina, pizza makers now have an easy-to-use ingredient solution to create cheesy, crunchy, delicious vegan pizza that caters to the growing base of consumers who are looking for plant-based comfort foods.

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SMARTMARKET

SPONSORED CONTENT

USING SPEEDLINE TO PLUG YOUR PROFIT DRAINS If you’re not consistently identifying and eliminating profit drains, your restaurant could quickly take on water and become a sinking ship. But profit drains aren’t always easy to spot and are often even harder to stop. With the right point-of-sale for your restaurant, this all becomes much easier.

Knowing where to look is key: Neglected Upselling By not charging for every extra add-on, you (or, more likely, your employees) are leaving money on the table. SpeedLine POS automatically includes prompts to remind employees to ask customers if they’d like to add certain extras to their order. This upselling tactic can account for thousands of additional dollars each month without taking on any more customers.

The upselling capabilities of SpeedLine have impressed countless clients, including Domenick Colandrea, the owner of King’s Pizza Pronto. “It’s pretty impressive. SpeedLine lets you put them in order from priority, and I prioritize my first one to be garlic dipping sauce because everybody loves garlic dipping sauce with pizza,” Domenick says. “And you’ll be surprised—people add two, three, four of them. It’s incredible. So I do take advantage of that.”

High Food and Labor Costs Your food costs can creep above 35% without the proper planning tools, and your labor costs could get up to 30% or more. Instead of giving away two-thirds of your revenue to these areas, switch to SpeedLine POS, which provides state-of-the-art labor and food prep planning tools.

SpeedLine uses your store’s sales forecast and goals to recommend labor targets that will let you efficiently schedule staff. The schedule also integrates with the time clock, effectively controlling early clock-ins and late clock-outs. All through the day, you can keep track of your labor versus sales and adjust the schedule as you go to keep within budget.

The system can also recommend a food preparation plan to minimize waste, providing more control over food costs. With this plan in place, even the newest prep staff will know how many tomatoes to chop or crusts to pre-sauce for the dinner rush. The result will be less food waste and more profits.

SpeedLine’s many operational planning tools and upselling features allow you to get ahead of profit leaks you may not even know you had. Make the switch to a POS designed to protect your profits so that you can focus on serving customers and growing your business.

Find out more by visiting speedlinesolutions.com.

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Wondering where your profits are going?

Get our Top 3 Restaurant Profit Drains guide.

www.speedlinesolutions.com/ProfitDrains 1-888-400-9185 • info@speedlinesolutions.com

IDEA ZONE

SPONSORED CONTENT

The Driving Force Behind the Portion PadL … Is You! Twelve years ago, while working at his pizza shop, Greg Getzinger invented and commercialized the Portion PadL, one of the pizza industry’s most popular pizza portioning tools for cutting pizzas into equal slices. Since then, he has broadened his product line so he can custom-make Portion PadLs for any pizza size, any pizza shape and any slice application. He created a wood pizza peel, called the Portion PeeL, with laser-etched measuring circles to ensure consistency when stretching dough on the peel. A few years ago, he came out with the Lasagna Portion PadL for cutting one-half and full pans of lasagna into equal portions. He makes Portion PadLs for submarine sandwiches, cutting loaves of bread, cutting fresh dough and even for cutting cheesecake. Part of Getzinger’s business philosophy is to make all of his products in the U.S., which eliminates problems arising from supply shortages and delays.

“The pizza industry is made up of pizza professionals dedicated to their craft,” Getzinger says. “The average consumer doesn’t realize the time, energy, expense and passion that goes into making pizza. I enjoy learning about my customer’s pizza business. Being a former pizzeria owner and operator, I understand the highs and lows other pizza professionals

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experience. My mission is to make simple-to-use, kitchenefficient and high-return-on-profit products based on pizza makers’ needs. I ask questions to know what I can do to help make their life in the kitchen a little more efficient, consistent and more profitable.”

While exhibiting at last year’s International Pizza Expo, Getzinger was asked by several people to custom-make cutting boards in certain sizes and shapes—not Portion PadL boards, but, rather, cutting boards made from the durable composition material that the Portion PadL is made of. “The cutting boards were a big hit!” he says. “Since my overhead is low and the cutting boards are custom-made to each customer’s size and shape of pizza, I can make the cutting boards for a reasonable price. At this year’s Pizza Expo, I plan to introduce a line of cutting boards with the option to custom-make them.”

The International Pizza Expo will be held March 22 to March 24. You can visit Getzinger there at booth #1040. You can also see his line of Portion PadL products on his website or call his cell phone for more information.

330-608-5928, portionpadl.com

THE POWER BEH The U.S. Pizza Team returns to Italy with help from their sponsors.

T

he U.S. Pizza Team wishes to thank all of its sponsors for their support, not only of the team, but of the pizza industry as a whole. Because of their involvement, the USPT is taking a posse of 14 hungry

competitors to the World Pizza Championships (WPC) in Parma, Italy, April 5-7. With a mix of seasoned

veterans and excited rookies, the team hopes to claim gold for the United States in both Culinary and Acrobatics events. Our 2022 U.S. Pizza Team WPC roster and categories are:

State of Mind Public House & Pizzeria, Los Altos, CA The Nona Slice House, Safety Harbor, FL Jamie Culliton - Freestyle Acrobatics, Pizza en Teglia, Pizza for Two McKenna Carney - Freestyle Acrobatics, Pizza for Two John Walker - Pizza Classica

2019 Galbani Champion Lars Smith - Pizza Classica, Pizza en Pala, Pizza en Teglia, Pizza for Two Cristina Smith - Pizza Classica

PIZZALEAH, Windsor, CA

Leah Scurto - Pizza Classica, Pizza for Two, Largest Dough Stretch

Follow all the USPT’s adventures in Italy on Facebook @USPizzaTeam

HIND THE TEAM Mangia e Bevi, Oceanside, CA Tore Trupiano - Pizza Classica

Master Pizza, Cleveland, OH

Michael LaMarca - Pizza Classica, Pizza en Teglia

Gallucci Pizzeria Napoletana, Chicago, IL Gianni Gallucci - Pizza Classica, Gluten-Free, Neapolitan STG

Danger von Dempsey’s Pizza and Brewhäus, Aberdeen, SD

Sean Dempsey - Pizza Classica, Pizza en Teglia, Pizza for Two David Solum - Pizza Classica, Pizza en Pala, Pizza for Two

The Lamb & The Wolf, Rocklin, CA

Michael Wolf - Pizza Classica, Pizza en Teglia, Pizza for Two

Tievoli, Palatine, IL The Pizza Consultant, San Diego, CA James Terwilliger - Neapolitan STG, Fastest Dough Stretch

Giovanni Labbate - Pizza Classica, Neapolitan STG, Pizza for Two

PIZZA INDUSTRY BULLETIN BOARD

THE ALL-IN-ONE BUSINESS INVENTORY APP

• Business ordering application designed specifically for the iPad • Allows for quick and easy ordering of inventory for your business SCAN HERE FOR

• E-mail your order to your vendor quickly and easily.

• Minimum requirement iOS Version 14.8 • Just $3.99 per month MORE INFORMATION

ORDERPILOTAPP.COM 76

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

PIZZA INDUSTRY BULLETIN BOARD

The “Original Steel” Detroit Style Pizza Pan is Back!

10” X 14”

8” X 10”

14” Round Teflon Coated Pan $12.00

Plastic Lids Available for Steel Pans

CALL FOR PRICE QUOTE ON OTHER STYLE PANS

P.A. PRODUCTS, Inc. BAKEWARE SPECIALISTS

(734) 421-1060 • tim@paprod.com MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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PIZZA INDUSTRY BULLETIN BOARD

JOIN PMQ AT THESE OTHER GREAT RESTAURANT SHOWS!

March 21-23, 2022

barandrestaurantexpo.com

August 23-25, 2022

November 9-10, 2022

nationalpizzashow.com

pizzatomorrow.com

Be sure to visit the PMQ booth!

PROOFING BOARDS

FLIPPIN’ GOOD DOUGH BOARDS, BOXES & TRAYS

Visit MFG Tray at

Pizza Expo

Booth #2641

PROOFING BOARDS » Designed for use with standard proofing racks » Lightly textured surface » Can withstand temps -60o to 250oF » Safely holds heavy loads with no bending or sagging

DOUGH BOXES

DOUGH BOXES

» Fiberglass strength and durability outlasts plastic » Color matching available » Secure stacking with no bending or sagging » Easily cleaned in any standard or commercial high-temp washer » Snap-on lids and dollies available DOUGH BOX DOLLIE

SUPREME & MARKET TRAYS » Resists scratching and chipping » Smooth, sanitary surface » Won’t bend or sag » Many colors and sizes available

Contact your preferred distributor to order SUPREME AND MARKET TRAYS

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PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

PH 800 458.6050 • www.mfgtray.com

PIZZA INDUSTRY BULLETIN BOARD

HOT PRINT

SPECIALS MENUS / FLYERS

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11 x 17 or 8.5 x 11 • 4-color • Both Sides • Glossy Paper Additional Quantity must be Same Artwork Printing at the Same Time as Original Order

Order 5,000 11x17 for $695 Get an Additional 5,000 only $199 OR Order 10,000 11x17 for $995 Get an Additional 10,000 only $495 Order 5,000 8.5x11 for $345 Get an Additional 5,000 only $149 OR Order 10,000 8.5x11 for $495 Get an Additional 10,000 only $245

Car Signs

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Order 12,500 11x5.5 for $900 Get an Additional 12,500 only $350 OR Order 25,000 11x5.5 for $1300 Get an Additional 25,000 only $750 Order 12,500 8.5x5.5 for $800 Get an Additional 12,500 only $300 OR Order 25,000 8.5x5.5 for $1,200 Get an Additional 25,000 only $700

1-800-321-1850 Call Now 800-783-0990 www.bestchoiceprinting.com MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

SPONSORED CONTENT

LLOCKED Putting an end to ineffective costly tapes and stickers, Pizza Packet introduces LLOCKED™ technology for tamper-free delivery. This new solution ensures every delivery pizza box is securely locked before leaving the store. Customers simply press the perforated tab to unlock their pizza. LLOCKED™ is compliant with COVID-19 sealedfood regulations for foodservice, including California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 3336.

FIBRAMENT FibraMent offers top-quality baking stones for commercial use. Precision-engineered from a patented blend of kilnfired high-temperature and conductive raw materials, FibraMent is NSF-tested and -certified. The company stocks a wide selection of sizes to fit most commercial oven makes and models. FibraMent can also provide custom manufacturing solutions to meet your unique requirements.

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LESAFFRE Saf-Pro Artisan Fleurage Semolina and Seeds toppings from Lesaffre can significantly change the flavor, aroma and texture profile of pizza crusts, breadsticks and other baked goods—including clean label and vegan applications—with minimal reformulation. Visit their website to request a sample of these easy-to-apply toppings that add rich, aromatic flavors and umami to baked products.

WPACKAGING WPackaging’s Hot & Fresh boxes are high-quality pizza boxes that are perfect for delivery or pick-up orders. They were designed to let you save on custom printing costs while maintaining the integrity of your high-quality products. Whether you have a large pizza chain or neighborhood pizza shop, WPackaging is a one-stop shop for pizza packaging. Call them for a quote!

888-400-3455, WPACKAGING.NET

800-770-2714, LESAFFREYEAST.COM

LLOYD PANS Start your pizza on the pan and finish it on the deck or stone in your oven. This technique of baking promotes a more crispy crust for bar- or tavern-style pizza. LloydPans offers this pan in 10”, 12” and 14” sizes with PSTK, a permanent, stick-resistant finish that is metal-utensil safe and built to last for years in commercial kitchens.

800-748-6251, LLOYPANS.COM/BAR-PIZZA

RED GOLD Why pay more for a can when Red Gold now offers its Redpack Marinara and Spaghetti Sauce in affordable 105ounce pouches? You’ll get the same exceptional quality sauce made with Italian spices, pieces of tomatoes and oil—without the can. They are available in 6/105-ounce cases. Ask your distributor for Redpack Marinara and Spaghetti Pouches today.

REDGOLDFOODSERVICE.COM

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VIDEO PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

SPONSORED CONTENT

OPEN WATER Open Water is a bottled water company that uses allaluminum packaging as a sustainable alternative to single-use plastic bottles. They offer electrolyte-rich still and sparkling water in 16-ounce twist-top aluminum bottles and 12-ounce standard cans. Their packaging is recycled more often and more efficiently than plastic, glass and even cartons. The company donates 1% of its sales to ocean conservation initiatives.

GRILL PARDNER The Grill Pardner is a unique and durable serving tray that keeps a variety of foods at their optimal eating temperature. Made of conductive metal with a compartment under the main tray, it can keep food hot, warm, ambient, cool or cold for extended periods. Wicktype chafing fuel is used for hot or warm use, and dry ice is used for cooling and cold settings.

DRINKOPENWATER.COM

Watch the video at PMQ.com/grill-pardner

GRILLPARDNER.COM

Watch the video at PMQ.com/open-water

CONTROL PLAY Control Play provides customized HD music videos, music playlists and digital signage solutions made specifically for restaurants and bars. They’re focused on helping subscribers exceed guest expectations through innovative digital audio/video experiences. Using their data-driven software, you can create an atmosphere that fits your brand and an experience that makes an impact as soon as guests walk in the door.

TEINNOVATIONS Teinnovations specializes in flexible and rigid packaging for food and other products. Their offerings including peelable, lock-seal and resealable lidding films; tamperproof stock and custom containers; pouch and bag solutions; thermoforming and form-fill-seal roll stock; and lidding machinery. Their goal is to make your business more competitive in your market.

CONTROLPLAY.COM

Watch the video at PMQ.com/teinnovations

TEINNOVATIONS.COM

Watch the video at PMQ.com/control-play

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE

CHEESE

BAKING STONES

FibraMent Baking Stones The professionals’ choice for evenly cooked, perfectly crispy crust on pizza and bread. We offer a wide variety of stock sizes and custom options. NSF certified.

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CHEESE SHAKER LIDS

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Choosing a POS: right the first time speedlinesolutions.com/PizzaPOS 1-888-400-9185

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pmq.com/Recipe-Bank/ 82

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

877-968-6430 PDQpos.com

12/17/2018 10:04:19 AM

PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE

COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE

DOUGH

CRUST

DELICIOUS MADE-TO-ORDER BREAD AND PIZZA DOUGH

THE IRRESISTIBLE CRUST EVERYONE LOVES TO TOP-AND-BAKE!!

Old World Tradition with New World Convenience.

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For more exciting recipes and tips about Nutella®, visit www.ferrerofoodservice.com or call (800) 408-1505 for more information.

HOME OF THE PIZZA DESSERTS FAMILY STYLE “PIZZA” COOKIES AND BROWNIES

8-Inch Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brownies Fully Baked; Simply Heat & Serve The perfect dessert for your restaurant!

stellasgourmet.com info@stellasgourmet.com or 866.383.2444

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE

DOUGH DIVIDERS/ROUNDERS, PRESSES/ROLLERS

FLOUR

A revolutionary ingredient of below and sign-off on the advertisement as shown or indicate changes in the changing thecolumn. way people Please return this signed proof to Stacie Dennison at either: enjoy Italian cuisine Email: sdennison@pizzatoday.com Carlo F. Pedone • 414.301.4245 • carlo@pinsaromana.us or Fax: 502-736-9518 Learn more about Pinsa Romana or attending the academy: pinsaromana.us • pinsaschool.com FOOD DISTRIBUTORS

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DOUGH TRAYS/PROOFING TRAYS HONEY

• Dough Trays -Standard Standard && Artisan Artisan Sizes Sizes – extremely – extremely durable durable and and airtight. airtight.

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INTERNET MARKETING

R E E T, S U I T E 2 0 0 , L O U I S V I L L E K Y 4 0 2 0 3 • 5 0 2 - 7 3 6 - 9 5 0 0 pmq.com/Recipe-Bank/ 84

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PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE

MACHINERY/EQUIPMENT

MIXERS

4-Year Warranty on 10-150 qt. mixers!

MAGNETS

800-222-1138

•

www.varimixerusa.com

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GET YOUR SLICE OF THE PIE! Marketing Assurance

Heavy-duty, 60 qt. capacity Direct gear drive transmission Standard #12 attachment hub 2-year parts & labor warranty

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MOISTURE-ABSORBENT TOPPINGS CONDITIONER/SUPPLIES

MANAGEMENT

keep more of your hard earned dough!

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MIXERS

Precision HD-60 Pizza Mixer 7-Year Unconditional Parts Warranty on all gears and shafts in the planetary and transmission!

Holdsbowl! art 80-qundles a Ha . bag 50 lb our! of fl

www.pizzamixers.com • 1-877-R-MIXERS

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE

ON HOLD MARKETING/PHONE SERVICES

PIZZA BOXES

(888) 400-3455 | (909) 825-7700 | wpackaging.net ™ Next Level Packaging

Distribution Center Locations

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DoughBox-SmallAd-2021.pdf

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PIZZA BOX LINERS

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Discover all the pizza trends in the Pizza Consumer Trend Report.

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ORDERING APPS

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Best Choice Among Brand Name Mixers in the Market. HIGH QUALITY at a REASONABLE PRICE High Quality spiral and Planetary Mixers, Bread Slicers, Dough Sheeters, Meat Grinders, Dough Dividers/Rounders, Rotary Ovens and More!

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THUNDERBIRD FOOD MACHINERY, INC. (PIZZA HUT OFFICAL VENDOR)

4602 Brass Way, Dallas, TX 75236 TEL: 214-331-3000; 866-7MIXERS; 866-875-6868; 866-451-1668 FAX: 214-331-3581; 972-274-5053 WEBSITE: www.thunderbirdfm.com; www.thunderbirdfm.net

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Spiral Mixers Capacity from 88lbs to 440lbs of Dough

PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

PO Box 4768, Blaine, WA 98231 TEL: 360-366-0997; 360-366-9328 FAX: 360-366-0998; 604-576-8527 EMAIL: tbfm@tbfm.com; tbfmdallas@hotmail.com

PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE

PIZZA OVENS

PIZZA BOX LINERS

Stone Deck, Pizza Dome, and Bakery

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1100 series impinger oven, now with easyTouch controls MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE

PIZZA SUPPLIES

SAUCE

• Pizza Preparation and Delivery Products •

Since 1915, The Neil Jones Food Company has been producing premium quality tomato and custom blend sauces. A family owned and operated corporation, we only pack from the freshest and finest vine-ripened California tomatoes. So whether you prefer classic #10 cans or new shelf-stable pouches, you will always get the very best in fresh packed tomato products from Neil Jones Food.

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

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TOMATO PRODUCTS PIZZA TOPPINGS

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PIZZA HALL OF FAME

Has your pizzeria been in business for 50 years or longer? If so, contact us at tracy@pmq.com.

PIZZA NOVA

(Clockwise from top left) Sam Primucci poses with sons Michael and Domenic, current president of Pizza Nova; Gerry Discianni, a pizza maker turned district manager, tosses a pie; Pizza Nova has prioritized sponsoring local events, like this Italian festival, since 1963; Sam and wife Gemma celebrate Pizza Nova’s newest support office in North York, Toronto.

Still family-owned while growing to 150 locations, this Torontobased franchise success story has maintained its focus on people and premium products for nearly 60 years. BY TRACY MORIN In 1963, Italian immigrant Sam Primucci had a vision of opening a pizzeria in what was then the northern reaches of Toronto and enlisted his three brothers to bring a taste of their homeland to Canadians. Eventually, Sam would become the last owner standing, but the company still flourished—especially after Pizza Nova opened its first franchised location in 1969. “At that time, franchising was still in the early stages as a business model, but they took the leap,” recounts Domenic Primucci, Sam’s son and current president. “They wanted to help people like themselves: immigrants with an entrepreneurial spirit who were new to the country. They took franchising as an opportunity to provide for them and their families through owning a business. It was a very noble start.”

That focus on giving back now reverberates to the communities Pizza Nova serves (all 150 locations are located in Ontario, within a couple of hours of its Toronto headquarters). Philanthropy is a core value of the company, with a recent fundraiser for Variety Village (helping children with disabilities) raising more than $200,000 in a single month, plus a yearly golf tournament that benefits an everevolving charity, among other efforts. Pizza Nova is also the official pizza of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team and hosts an annual conference and gala for all franchisees to enjoy ongoing education and an awards ceremony with their families.

After nearly 60 years, the brand continues to evolve while keeping its original focus on customer satisfaction via high-quality food and friendly service. Pizza Nova offers a single phone number for all orders systemwide, which is featured in frequent radio ads alongside a nowiconic ’80s-era jingle and Domenic’s own voice explaining the pizzeria’s story, products and ingredients. Meanwhile, a central commissary and distribution center maintains consistency across locations, and a new app and loyalty program are in the works for 2022.

To Domenic, such longtime success has been all about finding a niche—then overdelivering and consistently improving. “We consider ourselves more in the premium category, and that’s how we always positioned ourselves in the marketplace,” he explains.

“We use tomatoes picked and packed within six hours, the best mozzarella blend in Canada, and olive oil from Italy. We were the first in Canada to offer pepperoni without antibiotics or hormones.

We’re always looking to better ourselves in whatever we do—whether it’s a marketing flyer or the staffing at our call center. And we make sure every franchisee fits the mold of what we strive for: to deliver excellence every single day.”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor and the editor of PizzaVegan.com.

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WING SAUCES!

CALL FOR A FREE SAUCE SAMPLE! 716-984-5666

Joey Todaro, III (LJ), Wing King

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La Nova Wings

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PIZZA MEDIA

ADVANCING THE PIZZA BUSINESS COMMUNITY

MARCH 2022 | PMQ.COM

THE Customized solutions from

ZEALOT

wedge to shred

Inspired by Google and Facebook, Khanh Nguyen has designed Dallasbased ZaLat Pizza for “global pizza domination.”

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20 ZAZAS ON THE RISE | 46 HARD CHEESES | 52 SECRETS OF STAFFING SUCCESS

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