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Online at PMQ.com October 2012 PIZZA TV: RECENT VIDEOS
Summer Fancy Food Show 2012
This Week in Pizza
From Italian sauces and sun-dried tomatoes to a wide selection of Mediterranean specialty foods, the PMQ staff covers some of the highlights of the 2012 Summer Fancy Food Show held in Washington, D.C.
Catch up on the latest pizza industry news every Wednesday with Pizza TV’s weekly online broadcast, This Week in Pizza, with hosts Brian Hernandez and Michelle McAnally.
PMQ’s TOP SOCIAL MEDIA PICKS Social media is more than just Web-based chatter—it’s a marketing revolution! Whether running a “Big Three” franchise or a mom-andpop operation, operators generate sales from steadfast Facebook and Twitter campaigns. PMQ editors monitor how industry professionals embrace social media and, in some ways, help write the rules for viral marketing. Here are some of our favorites this month:
Find PMQ at @pmqpizzamag.
RockStarPizza Question! “The most unusual pizza topping I ever ate was ____________.” calpizzakitchen We’re looking to spread some joy for #NationalSmileWeek! So the first 10 people to retweet these smileys get $20 e-gift cards. :) :) :) :)
Find PMQ at facebook.com/ pmqpizzamagazine.
GrimaldisPizza Celebrate your birthday with a free pizza pie at GrimaldisPizza when you sign up to become a Grimaldi’s VIP. Pizza Works If you haven’t signed up for text coupons for our Warren and Howland locations, do so immediately. The next week’s specials are kinda crazy. Don’t miss out on tomorrow’s—one 14”, two-topping pizza for only $10. Text Warren or Howland to 41411 to get in on the great deals. Cassano’s Pizza King Cassano’s has some great appetizers on the menu. Which is your favorite? Post here, and you may win a free appetizer. (Random winners chosen at noon today.) Pudgie’s Pizza Join Pudgie’s famous E-Club and be the first to receive AWESOME money-saving Pudgie’s coupons delivered right to your email inbox! Join Pudgie’s E-Club today for FREE! Plus, you’ll have the chance to win free Pudgie’s pizza! www.pudgiesclub.com 6
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
Table of Contents October 2012
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ON THE COVER 38 The Pizza Artist of Glasgow Scottish-Italian master chef Domenico Crolla’s gift for making pizzas is rivaled only by his genius for promoting them—and his restaurant, Bella Napoli—to a global audience. By Rick Hynum
FEATURES 22 The Mobile Movement From mobile websites to QR codes, an expert offers six tips for creating a low-cost mobile marketing campaign for your pizzeria. By Jamie Turner
27 Special Section: From Italy With Love From centuries-old pizza making traditions to modern-day innovators and futuristic pizzeria designs, PMQ explores Italy’s influence on the world of pizza.
28 The Italian Renaissance For pizzeria operators working in the classic tradition, only the finest Italian ingredients and methods will do. By Michelle McAnally
50 The Making of a Champion
34 The Old-World Ways
For Leone Coppola, award-winning pizza maker and owner of three Gavirate, Italy, restaurants, the greatest honor is a packed pizzeria. By Missy Green
Two Italian governing bodies—the VPN and the APN— preserve a 300-year-old legacy of Neapolitan pizza making. By Tracy Morin
46 Designing the Future of Pizzerias
56 The Salami Effect
Italy’s most innovative pizzerias and design concepts earned international recognition as winners of the Prize Le 5 Stagioni awards. By Rick Hynum
Made with three key ingredients—meat, salt and time— salami comes in numerous varieties and flavor profiles. By Michelle McAnally
IN EVERY ISSUE 6 10
Online at PMQ.com Editor’s Note
12 Letters to the Editor
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Pizza Press
63
Product Spotlight
68
Advertiser Index
69
Industry Resource Guide
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Resource Guide Advertiser Index
DEPARTMENTS 16 In Lehmann’s Terms: Fresh Sauce and Pizzas From the Sea Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehmann provides the scoop on making great sauce and seafood pizzas.
18 New York’s Finest: Rigatoni Forget-About-It Chef Bruno builds a memorable pasta dish around the versatile and universally popular eggplant.
20 Accounting for Your Money: IRS Targets Specific Errors in Tax Forms Mike Rasmussen warns about IRS scrutiny into a common error related to depreciation on fixed assets.
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82 Time Capsule: Santarpio’s Pizza A Boston pizzeria offers grumpy waiters, nonexistent parking and a bare-bones menu—and the customers love it.
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Coming Next Month Pizza of the Month: Buffalo Chicken Appetizers: From mozzarella sticks and hot wings to regional favorites and artisanal fare, a strong appetizer menu offers a feast of upselling opportunities.
Promotional Gifts: Linda “The Marketing Maven” Duke recommends unique logoed giveaway items as well as strategies for getting them into customers’ hands for maximum impact.
Metalware: Experts offer recommendations for purchasing the right types of metalware for your restaurant.
October 2012 • pmq.com
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Editor’s Note Rick Hynum
From Italy to America to Worlds Unknown There would be no pizza—and thus, of course, no PMQ Pizza Magazine—as we know it today without Italy. Although historians can’t quite nail down pizza’s origins to a single place and time, everyone concurs that the Italians, even if they didn’t actually invent it, perfected it. But there was one key ingredient that the Italians initially lacked, a certain savory, acidic fruit that, until the 16th century, could only be found in the New World. With the Spaniards’ discovery of the tomato in South America and its subsequent cultivation in the Mediterranean, the tomato became a staple in Neapolitan cooking and, eventually, perhaps inevitably, the simple combination of oven-baked flatbread, cheese and tomatoes evolved into the world’s most popular dish. And, with it, a livelihood for thousands of pizzaioli—plus a few fortunate journalists like myself—emerged. In this month’s issue of PMQ we celebrate Italy’s influence on the American pie and how Americans, in turn, have influenced the art of pizza making. And, as a special tribute to pizza and its cross-cultural appeal, we asked U.K. master chef Domenico Crolla, owner of the enormously popular Bella Napoli in Glasgow, Scotland, and a man who has been profoundly influenced by both Italian and American pizza making traditions, to make his own unique contribution to this special issue. With the November 6 presidential election rapidly approaching, Crolla, a Scottish-Italian pizzaiolo who also enjoys making pizza portraits of such icons as Marilyn Monroe and Bruce Lee, created a pair of truly American pies bearing the likenesses of Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney. You’ve seen the two major-party candidates in debates and countless TV spots and on posters, websites and billboards, but we’d be willing to bet you’ve never seen their smiling faces etched in cheese and tomato sauce on pizza crust! This month’s issue features a profile of Crolla himself (page 38), along with a profile, penned by Missy Green, on Italian master chef Leone Coppola (page 50). Meanwhile, Michelle McAnally takes an in-depth look at all the key ingredients of authentic Italian pizza (page 28), and Tracy Morin peeks inside the hallowed halls of the APN and VPN, the two international organizations committed to preserving classical Italian pizza making traditions (page 34). We even provide a glimpse into the future of pizzeria design with a pictorial spotlighting the winners of the prestigious Prize Le 5 Stagioni awards (page 46). With its proud past deeply rooted in Naples, pizza’s future doubtlessly lies in far-flung lands. From Brazil to China and all points between and beyond, chefs of all nationalities are adding their own creative touches, and pizza will continue to evolve in ways that we can only imagine. And who knows? Maybe one day, a hundred or a thousand years from now, Earth’s space-traveling ambassadors will introduce that simple combination of bread, cheese and tomatoes to denizens of remote and exotic planets—and the world’s most popular food will become an intergalactic phenomenon. From the plates of 19th-century Italian peasants to the banquet halls of some alien super-race, pizza’s a food with truly universal appeal.
Thank you, as always, for reading PMQ, and, hey, keep those cards and letters (and emails) coming!
Rick Rick Hynum Editor-in-chief PMQ Pizza Magazine On the cover: Domenico Crolla, owner of Bella Napoli in Glasgow, Scotland, puts his own unique and artistic spin on the American pie. Photo by Alan Donaldson.
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PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
Letters to the Editor Rick Hynum — A Publication of PMQ, Inc. —
A Positive Vibe Wow! Thanks so much for a wonderful article on my restaurant, Lupi’s (see “Good Vibrations,” September, 2012)! It thrills me, of course, that the slant of the article was the positive energy and homegrown food that we offer at Lupi’s. Those (along with the excellent food) are truly what I consider to be the basics behind Lupi’s success. I also have to tell you that seeing all of us on the cover brought tears to my eyes. Truly awesome! Thank you again so much! Dorris Shober Lupi’s Chattanooga, TN
Team Player I am sure a lot of people have already used this strategy, but, just in case, I figured I would share it because it worked very well for me. We have two high schools and two Pop Warner football teams in our area. Domino’s has always had a solid hold on the sports concessions for all four of them. Other restaurants have tried to get in every year (I know this because when I ran a Papa John’s, we tried, too), but the teams
were always quite content with Domino’s and had worked with them for years. But, this year, I contacted the athletic directors at each high school and the directors for both Pop Warner teams and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse: I said that I would cater each team’s first local game for free. Because of this, I was able to get my foot in the door and my product into the mouths of game attendees. The result? I ended up becoming their go-to guy for pizza and earned enough to more than cover the initial free pizzas on just their next order. In fact, because of the success of my product at their games, they ended up needing to order additional pizzas and saw an increase in their sales. This is just a suggestion for pizzeria operators trying to get involved with school events on which the competitor has a tight lock. I know some people don’t like to deal with discount pizzas, but it’s basically advertising that you get paid for. Nicholas Wrasse Uncle Nick’s Pizza Port Charlotte, FL Smart move! Kids, sports and pizza make a perfect fit. Linda Duke, PMQ’s “Marketing Maven,” wrote an excellent story on sports marketing in our March issue. Check it out!
Winner of 5 ASBPE Awards Winner of 4 GAMMA Awards ISSN 1937-5263 PMQ, Inc. Publisher Steve Green sg@pmq.com ext. 123
Co-Publisher Linda Green linda@pmq.com ext. 121 EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Rick Hynum rick@pmq.com ext. 130 Editor at Large Liz Barrett liz@pmq.com Senior Copy Editor Tracy Morin tracy@pmq.com Food Editor Michelle McAnally michelle@pmq.com ext. 133 DESIGN/PRODUCTION Art Director Kara Hoffman kara@pmq.com ext. 135 Designer Eric Summers eric@pmq.com ext. 140 Video and Web Editor Daniel Perea dperea@pmq.com ADVERTISING Sales Director Linda Green linda@pmq.com ext. 121 Account Executive Clifton Moody clifton@pmq.com ext. 138 Account Executive Tom Boyles tom@pmq.com ext. 122 ADMINISTRATION Chief Financial Officer Shawn Brown shawn@pmq.com Circulation Manager Sherlyn Clark sherlyn@pmq.com ext. 120 Director of Operations/ Event Coordinator Brian Hernandez brian@pmq.com ext. 129 U.S. Pizza Team Director Missy Green missy@pmq.com ext. 125 PMQ INTERNATIONAL PMQ China Yvonne Liu yvonne@pmq.com PMQ Australia-NZ Tom Boyles tom@pmqaustralia.com
Think Tank 2.0
Pizza&Food Gabriele Ancona gabriele.ancona@pizzafood.it
What’s the buzz? Log on to find out the latest industry buzz at PMQ.com/tt.
French Liaison Julien Panet jpanet@pizza.fr EDITORIAL ADVISORS
How do you do your marketing? Common misconceptions about your style of pizza?
Chef Santo Bruno Tom Lehmann Joey Todaro Ed Zimmerman
Dealing with negativity...
CONTRIBUTORS
Questions about to-go boxes...
Chef Santo Bruno Tom Lehmann Michael J. Rasmussen Jamie Turner
Multimedia marketing question... Thank You to Our PMQ Think Tank Moderators Daddio: Member since June 2006 Tom Lehmann: Member since June 2006
Rockstar Pizza: Member since June 2006 ADpizzaguy: Member since January 2007
We want to hear from you! Have a complaint, compliment or suggestion about something you’ve read in the pages of PMQ? Send your letter via email to editor@pmq.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line, or mail to PMQ, ATTN: Letters to the Editor, 605 Edison St., Oxford, MS 38655. We look forward to hearing from you! Friend us on Facebook! Visit facebook.com/pmqpizzamagazine. Editor-in-chief Rick Hynum 12
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
Volume 16, Issue 8 PMQ Pizza Magazine 605 Edison St. • Oxford, MS 38655 662.234.5481 • 662.234.0665 Fax • linda@pmq.com PMQ Pizza Magazine (ISSN #1937-5263) is published 10 times per year. Cost of U.S. subscription is $25 per year. International $35. Periodical postage pricing paid at Oxford, MS. Additional mailing offices at Bolingbrook, IL. Postmaster: Send address changes to: PMQ Pizza Magazine, PO Box 2015, Langhorne, PA 19047. Opinions expressed by the editors and contributing writers are strictly their own, and are not necessarily those of the advertisers. All rights reserved. No portion of PMQ may be reproduced in whole or part without written consent.
Pizza Press News and Views
Everything’s Archie!
Lynn Montana (right), daughter of Archie Comics creator Bob Montana, gave her full support to co-owner Lisa Cross (left) for the Archie-themed Archeez pizzeria.
Many restaurants have a theme, but Archeez Pizza and Grill in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, has become something of a museum dedicated to one of America’s favorite comic book teenagers. When Lisa and David Cross opened their pizzeria, they were inspired by David’s collection of Archie comics. “Since we didn’t want to use the actual name, we came up with Archeez because I wanted something fun and catchy that kids would like,” Lisa explains. The husband-and-wife team decorated their store with renditions of Archie, Veronica and the gang and even named dishes after them. Then, one day, a special customer came in. “She asked us about the name and the theme, and it turns out she was Lynn Montana, the daughter of the late Bob Montana, who created Archie,” says Lisa. Montana gave the Crosses copies of her father’s original artwork, which now adorn the restaurant’s walls. “People are excited,” she continues. “We’ve had customers come in just for the comic book theme. Some folks who knew Mr. Montana come in and tell us stories about him. Things are good.”
Revolution in the Motor City New York and Chicago get a lot of attention, but Detroit pizzerias make some pretty fine pies, too. Now Detroit Style Pizza Company (detroitstylepizza.co) is raising awareness of the region’s unique pizza with its “Spread the Pizza Revolution” Facebook sweepstakes. Fans can enter to win a free large two-topping pie, with a new winner announced every Sunday through July 2013. Entrants will also be signed up for the restaurant’s VIP Club for a free birthday pizza and access to members-only free food offers, discounts and promotions. “We all love to share our favorite foods with our friends,” says Shawn Randazzo, who co-owns Detroit Style Pizza with his mother, Linda Michaels, and won 3rd place in the 2011 American Pizza Championship before going on to score the award for World’s Best Pizza at the 2012 International Pizza Challenge in
Las Vegas. “Facebook allows us to connect with our thousands of loyal Metro Detroit customers in their online community, and it gives them the opportunity to share their love of Detroit Style Pizza with their own friends.”
Pie Five Gets High Five Nation’s Restaurant News has named Pie Five Pizza Co. (piefivepizza.com), a division of Pizza Inn Holdings, a 2012 Hot Concepts award winner for its innovation, rapid emergence and consumer appeal. “This is an incredible honor, and it supports everything that we envisioned when we launched Pie Five last summer,” says Clinton J. Coleman, interim CEO of Pizza Inn Holdings.
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Pie Five has grown to six locations in its first year, with more under development. “Pie Five was created to shake up the fast-casual dining landscape by introducing a new experience in custommade, hand-crafted pizza,” says Cole-
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
man. “The reaction from consumers and industry leaders has been tremendous, and this national recognition from NRN validates a lot of hard work from a tremendous team that has turned a great idea into a sensational reality.”
The Big Score Boston-based Sal’s Pizza (sals-pizza.com) is celebrating 22 years in business—and the city’s beloved New England Patriots—with a football contest, and one lucky winner may walk away with a big chunk of change. “Sal’s Pizza loves to get involved with community sports. What better way to celebrate than with a $22,000 prize just for guessing the score of the big game every week?” says Sal’s interim chief marketing officer Kristine Schreiber. “That would be some tailgate party, wouldn’t it?” Throughout the season, contestants can visit Sal’s website and enter their score predictions for that week’s Patriots game. One finalist will be randomly selected prior to each game and automatically wins a free pizza party. If the finalist also correctly predicted that game’s final score, he or she wins the $22,000 cash prize. Schreiber says the promotion quickly drew 600 contestants within a week after it was announced, adding, “And the season hadn’t even officially kicked off yet.”
A Bag for Your Boxes Juggling carryout pizza boxes can be a pain for customers. But that could soon change, thanks to the Scott Pizza Bag, invented by former delivery driver and Chicago attorney Ron Scott. He says he came up with the idea for his handy pizza box carrier after he saw a woman struggling to get on a bus while managing pizzas along with her purse and briefcase. “I knew that customers should have a practical bag that allowed them a convenient way to carry pizza boxes and still have a free hand, like every other food takeout bag,” Scott says. He created a prototype from a polypropylene bag, and the idea took off; now the reusable bag can be purchased individually or in bulk orders. “My hope is that pizzerias will see how they can benefit from having such a bag for sale at their stores so customers can more easily take advantage of carryout specials and enjoy their product conveniently in more places. I have a feeling that what I’ve done will change the pizza industry for the better. As someone who loves pizza, I’m excited about that prospect.”
Speaking the Language An estimated 45 million Americans speak Spanish as a first or second language. So how does a pizzeria take advantage of the online ordering trend while serving the fast-growing Hispanic population? Pizza Patrón (pizzapatron.com), a company that emphasizes service to the Hispanic community, has adopted an online ordering platform that supports several languages. The pizza chain will be testing it in seven stores in the San Antonio area. Using smartphones or the Internet, customers can choose their preferred language, then browse the menu and place orders in that language. “For us, bilingual service is a core part of our brand and must extend into every customer touch point,” says Andrew Gamm, brand director for Pizza Patrón.
October 2012 • pmq.com
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In Lehmann’s Terms Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehmann
Visit PizzaTV.com to see more tips from Tom Lehmann.
Fresh Sauce and Pizzas From the Sea Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehmann offers tips for making sauce from scratch and seafood-topped pies. Question: What are your suggestions for making a delicious pizza sauce?
Answer: That’s a tough question to answer, because there are so many different flavor profiles and textures to be considered. I always go with an uncooked sauce (it will get cooked on the pizza) for maximum flavor and aroma characteristics. In years past, I prepared my sauce using a long list of ingredients; it was a good sauce, but it tasted too much like the sauce that everyone else was using, so I began changing it to better provide the type of flavor that people said they wanted: fresh, natural and with texture. I accomplished this by going back to the basics and using nothing but sliced fresh tomatoes (the variety doesn’t really seem to matter) in combination with sliced or diced fresh garlic and fresh, green leaf basil. The process is simple. Brush the dough skin with olive oil, then apply the garlic and basil. Add tomato slices or filets (you don’t want 100% coverage of the pie, however) and finish it with cheese and toppings.
As far as the cheese is concerned, using torn pieces of New York-style mozzarella creates a really nice presentation; it differs from that of pies made with shredded or diced mozzarella. In addition to its fresh flavor and great texture, the torn mozzarella provides visual appeal. As a side note, I’m often told that pizzas, when made in this manner, don’t give older customers the sort of heartburn that they tend to suffer after eating pizza with regular sauce. We have found that the heartburn issue most likely results from the use of dried basil and dried oregano in the sauce or sprinkled on the pie.
Question:
fresh garlic, fresh tomato and an assortment of seafood, which, for me, typically means shrimp; any firm, white-flesh fish; and a little bit of crab or lobster meat. The amount of seafood used will depend on your price point, but I typically use a combined seafood topping weight of about six ounces for a 12” pizza. I place all of these items on top of the pizza without precooking them. I then add a sprinkling of dried dill weed and finish with a little shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese—just enough to visually tie the top of the pizza together (about two ounces for a 12” pizza). After that, I bake it just like any other pizza. This method creates a great presentation on a thin crust made with all-white flour or a portion of whole-wheat flour.
Any ideas for making a really good seafood pizza?
Answer: We make a killer seafood pizza by replacing our red sauce with Alfredo sauce and applying rings of red onion, thin slices of 16
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
Tom Lehmann is the director of bakery assistance for the American Institute of Baking (AIB). Need more dough advice? Visit the Dough Information Center at PMQ.com/dough.
New York’s Finest Chef Santo Bruno See cooking demos by Chef Bruno on PizzaTV.com.
Rigatoni Forget-About-It Chef Bruno creates an eggplant-and-pasta dish with a truly memorable name. As you know, I like to keep things simple. Some of the best dishes in the world come from simple recipes and just a few quick steps of preparation. This is one of those recipes. If you like eggplant Parmesan, maybe you’ll like this dish, too. I named it Rigatoni Forget-About-It as a sort of dare—eat it once, and I dare you to forget how good it tastes! As you’ll see, the eggplant is the key ingredient in this recipe. The eggplant’s versatility has made it an all-time favorite around the world. The Italians created eggplant Parmesan and caponata. The Greeks use it in moussaka, and the French use it in ratatouille. It’s also a must-have in baba ghanoush, which is a popular Middle Eastern dish. Native to Asia and Africa, the eggplant is a member of the nightshade family of vegetables, so it’s a cousin to potatoes, bell peppers and tomatoes. It’s also good for you—the U.S. Department of Agriculture has ranked it as one of the top 10 vegetables in terms of antioxidant properties. I hope you’ll try out my recipe for Rigatoni Forget-About-It and always remember it!
You’ll Need: 3 tbsp. olive oil 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2” pieces ¼ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. pepper 2 c. marinara sauce ½ c. fresh basil, chopped 4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed 12 oz. rigatoni pasta, cooked
Chef Santo Bruno has appeared on the Food Network and The Martha Stewart Show. 18
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
Directions: Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add eggplant and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and tender (for approximately 12 minutes). Then add marinara sauce and simmer for about 3 minutes until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in fresh basil and mozzarella cubes. Toss with rigatoni pasta and serve.
Mangia!
Chef Bruno is PMQ’s culinary advisor, with more than 40 years of international pizza experience. He is the corporate chef for Marsal & Sons and the culinary coach of the U.S. Pizza Team.
Accounting for Your Money Michael J. Rasmussen, CPA
IRS Targets Specific Errors in Tax Forms Contact your accountant about potential problems with your 1040 report. QUESTION: Should I keep in touch with my accountant about all correspondence with the IRS?
ANSWER: I recently attended an IRS Nationwide Tax seminar, and one of the topics focused on an inquiry by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), via more than 20,000 letters to tax practitioners, related to the preparation of specific forms on individual income tax returns. Why should this matter to you? Your tax preparer may have received this letter if he has remitted specific forms identified by the IRS as subject to scrutiny. For example, on Form 1040, Schedules A, C and E have been listed as areas of concern, with some practitioners failing to follow tax law and reporting items on tax returns incorrectly. For independent restaurant owners reporting on Form 1040 Schedule C as sole proprietors, the depreciation on fixed assets is an item that is commonly miscalculated or even missing entirely from many tax returns I’ve reviewed. In such cases, upon selling an asset, the net tax basis may need to be adjusted to account for this error, which could increase the reportable gain or loss of that asset after it has been sold. If this calculation has been incorrect in previous years, the solution requires going through a lengthy process to file Form 3115—Accounting Method Change. Therefore, since we are nearing the end of tax year 2012, I propose that all restaurateurs contact their tax preparers about this IRS letter. First, you’ll want to ask your preparer if his firm actually received the letter. You’ll also want to review the items that the IRS has identified as potential concerns on the aforementioned forms. Specifics on these issues can be found on the IRS website (irs.gov).
QUESTION: I receive letters from the IRS and frequently just put them in the trash. Is this a mistake?
a majority of cases, the IRS simply has incorrect information in its database, and the problems can easily be resolved with a phone call. When a notice is received, my firm encourages an immediate response from the client so that we can resolve any incorrect data immediately and stop any further unnecessary correspondence. In addition, due to automation and the reach of the Internet, taxpayer data is more accessible through a large number of databases. Therefore, incorrect data gathered from third-party sources needs to be monitored and, if necessary, sanitized. Finally, Social Security calculations are derived from the IRS database, so it is imperative to request a yearly online transcript or have your accountant make the request on your behalf.
Have a question for Mike? Send it to editor@pmq.com.
ANSWER: Yes. The IRS does not send letters without a reason. Make sure you forward any correspondence to your tax preparer and/or contact the IRS or any taxing agency on the day you receive the letter. Most correspondence is time-sensitive. In 20
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
Michael J. Rasmussen is the owner of Rasmussen Tax Group in Conway, Arkansas. Visit rasmussentaxgroup.com for additional insight into restaurant-specific tax strategies and technology programs.
The Mobile Follow these six simple steps to launch a mobile marketing campaign for your pizzeria.
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f you’re like most pizzeria owners, you’ve heard a lot about mobile marketing and how it can be used to grow your restaurant business. You may have even read articles about how major corporations have tapped into mobile marketing to build their customer base. The problem is, you’ve never seen an article that offers a step-by-step guide to getting started in mobile marketing. Everybody talks about case studies and examples from the major corporations, but nobody has put together a road map for ordinary pizzeria owners like you—the folks who come in early and stay late to make sure their businesses keep running smoothly. You probably don’t have a marketing director to whom this work can be delegated. If there’s a new marketing initiative being launched, it’ll be you—not your employees—who launches it. But you need some help in getting started. With that in mind, here are some steps you can take to get your mobile marketing campaign started right away:
they haven’t used it enough to truly understand it and appreciate its full potential. So quit talking about it and start doing it. Download the right app to your smartphone and scan a QR code today. Do a Google search from your smartphone. Check out apps for Foursquare, Living Social, WHERE or SCVNGR, and use one of them to check in at your favorite retail store. But don’t stop there; the world of mobile marketing is vast and wide. How about downloading the Delta Air Lines app and using it as your boarding pass the next time you fly on an airplane? Why not use the Starbucks app to pay for your next cup of coffee? All of these tasks may sound intimidating at first, but you won’t break anything when you try out these new options on your mobile device! So go ahead and give it a try. To truly understand mobile marketing, you’ll have to use mobile marketing in your day-to-day life. Otherwise, you’ll never grasp all the nuances of this amazing and powerful new tool.
Step 1: Start using mobile marketing today.
2. Create your own mobile website.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many people talk about mobile marketing but don’t actively use it themselves. Sure, they may understand the concept, but
If you haven’t set up your pizzeria’s mobile website yet, here’s some good news: It’s easier than you might think. All it takes is a basic understanding of a few different approaches and then selecting the right one for your business.
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PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
Movement By Jamie Turner
First, keep in mind that a mobile website—that is, a website designed specifically to be viewed on mobile devices—is different from a mobile app. A mobile website is a big computer file that’s hosted by a company such as GoDaddy or HostGator. A mobile app is a small software program that lives on your smartphone. Like Microsoft Word, for example, an app is a piece of software that has been installed on your mobile device. In many cases, a regular website—the type designed to be viewed on a personal computer—looks terrible on a mobile device. A mobile website has a more streamlined appearance that’s better suited for the limited space of a smartphone’s screen. If you use a content management system (such as WordPress or Drupal) for your website, consider installing a mobile website plug-in that can reformat your site and make it more mobile-friendly. Some of these plug-ins do a surprisingly good job of taking a regular website and packaging it into a mobile-ready format. Alternatively, you could use one of the plug-and-play systems provided by companies such as Mobify, Wirenode, Mippin Mobilizer, Onbile and MoFuse. Of course, the best option is to have your web designer create a mobile site specifically for your pizzeria. If you have a regular website, then you probably already have your own web designer. That person should be able to add a simple line of code that “sniffs out” whether a site visitor is coming from a PC or from a smartphone. If he logs on from a smartphone, he can be redirected to mobile-friendly pages on your website. Given a choice between building a mobile website or a mobile app, always build the mobile website first. Then follow the other steps listed in this article, and you can worry about creating an app later.
3. Create a QR code campaign.
You’ve seen QR codes cropping up all over the place, but you probably didn’t know how easy they are to create and use. Anyone can do it. You can use QR codes to offer special discounts to your guests and drive more traffic to your restaurant right away. Here’s how to start:
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Create a mobile web page with a discount offer. This step may require the help of a web designer, but it’s worth the expense. The key is to provide something of value to your customer. For example, create a page that says, “Thanks for scanning our code. Show this mobile web page to your server and receive 10% off your next pizza!” Create a QR code for that mobile web page. Copy the URL for that mobile Web page, then find a QR code generator online. (Just perform a Google search—these generators are not hard to find.) Drop the URL into the QR code generator and hit “submit.” You’ll see your QR code pop up instantly. This QR code is unique to your URL. Whenever it’s scanned, it will take the user to that mobile web page—and the discount offer—that you’ve created. Add the QR code to all of your printed materials. You can include QR codes in your print ads, menus, table tents, catering brochures and other marketing materials. Again, the key is to provide some sort of reward that will encourage the user to scan the code. Ideally, that reward would be a discount or freebie that can be redeemed only by visiting your restaurant. October 2012 • pmq.com
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4. Register your business with location-based services. A location-based service is a type of app that customers can download in order to receive discounts from various types of businesses. Foursquare, Gowalla, WHERE, LivingSocial and SCVNGR are examples of these services. When people open up these apps on their smartphones, they receive discounts or incentives that encourage them to visit the registered businesses. To get started, you’ll want to “claim” your business with these location-based services. “Claiming” your business is just a way of raising your hand and saying, “I’m an official representative of this business, and I want to claim our position on your service before any unauthorized person attempts to do so.” Once you’ve done this, customers will be able to “check in” at your restaurant. When a customer “checks in,” he simply opens the app from a smartphone and clicks on an icon that lets the business know he has arrived at that location. The app should then automatically give him discounts or more information about your menu while also letting him know where his friends are hanging out.
5. Run a mobile paid search campaign.
Domenico Crolla (see page 38) has developed the Serious Pizza app for restaurateurs and home chefs.
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Paid search ads show up above the organic search results that are seen in a Google, Bing or Yahoo search. There are several best practices to keep in mind when you run a mobile paid search ad. First, you need to make sure the ads appeal to people who are on the move in the local area, perhaps driving home from work or shopping in a nearby mall. After a difficult or busy day, this hurried, harried customer has dinner on her mind but may not have the time or energy to prepare a meal at home, so make sure your ad prompts her to spontaneously call your pizzeria, right then and there, by offering a good deal on a pie or several pies. However, you’ll need to make sure your mobile ads click through to a mobileoptimized landing page. There’s nothing more frustrating to a customer than
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
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clicking on a mobile paid search ad only to find the landing page isn’t set up to be read on a smartphone. That’s a good way to lose the customer right away. Finally, make sure to use a broad range of keywords in your ad campaign. Since mobile search volume is significantly lower than online searches, you’ll need that broader range of keywords in order to get the same response that you’d get with a traditional online search campaign. You’ll also want to use the word “locations” in your keyword list, as in “Tony’s Pizza locations” or “Pizza Palace locations.”
6. Run a mobile display ad campaign. Display ads are the small banner ads that show up when you surf the Web on your smartphone. These ads differ from regular paid search ads, which are text ads that appear on a Google, Yahoo or Bing search. Display ads look like small banner ads and can include graphics, colors and even movement. Mobile display ads generate a better response from consumers than traditional display ads. In fact, a recent study found that mobile ads were opened by 61% of participants, while standard Web ads were opened by only 7% of the consumers surveyed. This indicates that mobile ads have distinct advantages over traditional banner ads. First, they have the benefit of novelty, which is always a successful trigger for marketers. And they also take up a larger portion of the browser page, so they’re more intrusive—you can’t miss them! You can get started in creating mobile display ads by contacting one of the multitude of mobile advertising networks, such as Apple’s iAd, Google’s AdMob, Millennial Media and Mobclix. The bottom line? You should get started today in developing your mobile marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity to attract new prospects and turn them into new customers. And keep in mind that mobile marketing is quickly becoming the best way to reach younger consumers—they’re using their mobile devices more and their big, bulky PCs less. Devise a strategy for reaching them through the devices that they love, and you’ll start growing your business right away. Jamie Turner is the founder of 60SecondMarketer.com and the co-author, with Jeanne Hopkins, of Go Mobile, a mobile marketing book. He can be seen often discussing social media and mobile marketing on CNN and HLN and is an indemand keynote speaker for corporations and events around the globe. He can be reached at jamie.turner@60secondmarketer.com.
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PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
(800) 333-9133 www.amnow.com
S P E C I A L
S E C T I O N
Italy LOVE From
with
()
From the classic Neapolitan pizza making traditions to modern-day innovators and pizzeria design trends of the future, PMQ explores Italy’s influence on the world’s most popular dish.
The
Italian
By Michelle McAnally
Renaissance
Some operators are learning the time-honored traditions of the Old World in order to create a more authentic Italian pizza experience.
G
CANE ROSSO
Cane Rosso serves up the only certified authentic Neapolitan pizza in Dallas. 28
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
enuine artisan ingredients, Old-World cooking methods, atmosphere and hospitality—these are the key features of an authentic Italian pizza experience, according to the practices of VPN and APN operators. The slow food movement in America has ushered in an Italian renaissance of sorts, particularly in regard to artisan pizza made with traditional recipes and ingredients. As more people discover the joy of foods prepared with time-honored traditions, many pizzeria chefs have begun using products, equipment and methods imported from Italy whenever practical. Certain ingredients and equipment are essential for VPNcertified restaurants. Ingredients for pizza and other Italian dishes can be purchased in the United States and other countries—indeed, some are difficult or impractical to source from Italy—but for purists wishing to recreate a true Italian experience, only the real thing will do for many dishes. Of course, tomatoes, cheeses, oils, meats and cooking methods may vary. Variables such as microclimate, vegetation and soil types produce different tastes and textures, so long-established practices are often used to replicate the kind of food found in the mother country. Strict laws regulate which products can be designated as true Italian, and these are labeled as D.O.P. (Protected Designation of Origin) or D.O.C. (Controlled Designation of Origin, used mostly for wines). However, fakery abounds in the Italian food market, and operators should beware of counterfeit products masquerading as “authentic” Italian foods. Edoardo Ruggiero, president of the Consorzio San Marzano—the organization that protects the integrity of the San Marzano tomato—has warned that 95% of the tomatoes sold as San Marzanos in the United States are phony. Additionally, as the Los Angeles Times reported in 2011, studies by the University of California-Davis and the Australian Oils Research Laboratory have shown that 73% of samples tested of top-selling imported olive oil brands “failed international extra-virgin standards.” American
pizzeria operators should always research these products and seek confirmation on their authenticity before purchasing them.
Flour serves as the most basic ingredient in pizza, and for those seeking that authentic taste and texture, Italian flour is a popular choice. VPN-certified pizza Napoletana requires Tipo “00” flour, an Italian designation; it’s the most highly refined type of flour, processed to the consistency of talcum powder, with nearly all of the ash impurities ma a ke ke a removed. Because it is so fine, it hydrates well to make f lo lou urrs rs soft, moist, almost sticky, dough. Good Italian “00”” flours t ural u r al ur a l lyy contain between 12% and 13% protein, derived naturally rra a l flafll aafrom high-quality wheat, giving them a clean, natural r oyy its i ts ts vor. The wheat is ground slowly so as not to destroy n flour, f lou fl l ou o ur, r r, flavor and nutritional value. By using real Italian o f the th he your pizza won’t burn in the high-heat environmentt of d pizza. p zzz a. pi a. wood-burning oven that’s required for VPN-certified
Gorgonzola is an Italian blue cheese that has been produced in the town of the same name since the ninth century. Made with whole cow’s or goat’s milk, Gorgonzola often comes from northern Italy in the Piedmont and Lombardy regions. Italians love it in risotto, on polenta or pasta, and, of course, on pizza, thanks to its salty bite that stands up to any sauce or topping. Parmigiano-Reggiano, an Italian hard cheese, hails from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, around the cities of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna. Since the Middle Ages, Parmigiano-Reggiano has been made by m mi mixi i xii n ng g rraw a cow’s aw c ow w ’ss milk m il i l k from ffrr om m the t hee morning m or o ni n ng n g milking m il ilki k i ng ki g with w itt h the th he mixing p pr evv ious evio io o us u s evening’s e ve v ning nii ng n g ’ss skimmed sk kii mm m ed d milk m ilk i l k that il tth h hat att has a h ass naturally n at a ur u al a l lyy sepas eep p aaprevious rrated ra ate tee d from fr om o the t he h e cream c rree am m overnight. o ve v rn rnig n ig g htt . A similar sim si mii la l r vavva ari i et e t y of o f cheese, c hee es e s e, e , known k no n wn n as a s Parmesan, Parm Pa rm m es e s an a , iss made m ad adee riety eelsewhere, el l sewh see w wh h err e, e but b ut u t only o nl nlyy the th th hee type tyy pe p e made m ade a d e in ad i n EmiliaE mili m i lii ami Ro o ma m a gn magn g a be b arr s the a th h e D.O.P. D .O. D. . O. O .P. P . llabel. P. ab b eell . Itt iiss grated g r att ed gr Romagna bears ov o ver v err p a s tta asta as a , added a, adde ad d e d to de t pizza p iz izza za a and a nd served s eerr ved v e d in ve i n sliced s llii ce c d over pasta, cchunks ch hun un unks nk kss on o n antipasti an n tii pa past a st s t i platters. pll at a t te t rrsss.
Tasty Tomatoes
Olive O Ol livve O Oi Oililil EEs Essentials sseenttia ialss
An import from the New World in the 16th century, the th h e toto g . Italy g. I ta t a lyy mato is practically synonymous with Italian cooking. e r year. er y ea a r. r. produces more than five million tons of tomatoes per L eo on nee , Tasty Italian tomatoes include Costoluto, Mama Leone, fa a mo mou uss Borgo Cellano, Principe Borghese and the most famous plum varieties, Canistrino and San Marzano. According to legend, the first seeds of the plum tomat om ma a-va v a rii eett y to that would become known as the San Marzano variety hee king k in i g were brought to Naples in the 1700s, a gift from the a rzz an ano of Peru. Initially grown near what is now the San Marzano s wee et e , area in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, this strong, sweet, ma ak k in ing low-acid tomato has a thick flesh and few seeds, making S om me a robust sauce that can stand up to most any dish.. Some r us u he h d pizzerias make their own sauce with fresh, hand-crushed ed d and a nd d San Marzano tomatoes. Others use imported canned m as ashe hee rr.. h peeled San Marzanos, pressed with a potato masher. h asi ha s ng si ng Again, though, do your research and avoid purchasing counterfeit San Marzanos.
Extra-virgin Ex x trat r aa-- vi tr v i rg r g in in o olive lii vee o oil i l (EVOO) il ( EV VO OO O ) iss an a n essential e ssee ntt ia es i l iingredient in grr ed g e d iiee nt edie n of o f VPN-certified VPN VP N-- cee rtt if ifie f iee d Pizza P izz Pi i zz z zaa Napoletana. N a po Na o le l eta tana ta naa . P Pi i zzz a ma a ke k rss sswirl w rl iitt on wi o top t op p of o f the th h e pie p e to pi t o finf in inPizza makers ish is h before b e fore be f o ree it fo i t goes go o ess into in ntt o the th h e oven. ovv en. en n . Italy IItt all y leads l e ad le ads th h e world wo worl o rrlld l d in n EVOO EV VO O O production, p r od pr o d uc u tion tii on o n , creating c rea cr eati ea tii ng ting the cclose clos cl l os o s e to t o 550,000 5 50 5 ,,0 0 00 0 tons t ons on n s per p e r year—nearly pe y e ar ye ar—n r— —n n eeaa rll y 1/3 1 /3 1/ 3 off the t he h e global g lo o baa l supply—and ssu up pp p ly l y —aa nd d many m an a n y chefs cch h eff s behef bebe lli i ev e e Italian Itt al a ia i an n oil oi l to o be b e the t e highest th hii gh high g h eess t quality. q al qu alit i ty. it y y. lieve Go G Good o od d oils o il i l s have ils h a vvee flavor ha f la l a vo v o r profiles prr of p o f il i l ess of o f fruitif uii ti fr tine e ss s , bitterness b tt bi tter err n erne nee ss and a nd d pungency, p un unge g ncy, ge n c yy,, much nc m uc u h ness, llike li i ke k wine, w ine, in n e, e depending d ep e en n dii ng g on o n the tth h e olive oli ol l iv i v e variive vaa ri reetyy and et an n d degree degr de g eee of gr o f ripeness. r pe ri pene nee ss ss. Strict S St r ct ri c t regulations r eg g ull at atio ions io n govern ns g ovv er e r n the t e proth prr oo du u cctt iio o n of o European E ur u r op opea e n olive ea o l ivv e oil, ol o l,, and oi a nd nd duction on o n ly l y oil o il from f ro r m the th h e first f i rss t pressing, fi p r es pr essi s ng si n g , with w th wi h only ac c iid d iitt y levels l e ve le v e ls of o f no higher h ig g he h r than t h an th a n eight e ig g ht ht acidity gram gr am m s pe e r kilogram k lo ki o gr g r am m of o f oil, oii l, l , can c an n be b e called cca a ll l l ed d grams per “e e xtt ra r a -v -vir irr gi g n. n ” Th T i s llevel is evv el e l is i s achieved acc hi h i evv eed d “extra-virgin.” This b y taking by t ak a ing in n g particular part pa rtt icc ull ar a care ca arr e in n the th hee pickp iicc kking in g and a n d processing proc pr o es oc essi sing si n of ng o f the th he
The Flour Factor
Champions of Cheese Italy is famous for its cheeses. The microclimates of certain cee rt r a aii n s —a a nd d, regions, which determine the browse of the animals—and, n methm et ethh-h thus, the flavor of their milk—along with production akee for ak for fo ods handed down from generation to generation, make rree else. e llss e. e flavor profiles that cannot be reproduced anywhere — mo o zz Of the more than 400 cheeses made in Italy, three—mozgii an gian a o— zarella di bufala, Gorgonzola and Parmigiano-Reggiano— rank among the most popular in the United States. e r bufbu ff Mozzarella di bufala is made with the milk of water r eg e io on faloes, the most popular coming from the Campana region V PN Nof Italy. It bears D.O.C. status and is the standard forr VPNn other o th ther eerr certified pizza. Water buffalo mozzarella is made in i n vaia vva aparts of the world, but chefs widely consider the Italian nd n d diet d iee t riety to be the best, due to the particular genetics and d mi ds m i tth h of the Italian water buffalo. As chef Jonathan Goldsmith a .com .cc om) om m) from Chicago’s Spacca Napoli (spaccanapolipizzeria.com) i n your yo o ur ur describes it, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana “dances in mouth,” and nothing else can compare.
October 2012 • pmq.com October 2012 • pmq.com
29 29
Prosciutto Perfection Prosciutto can be made nearly anywhere, but the variety that’s produced in Parma—Prosciutto di Parma—may be the most renowned. This dry-cured ham is made from pigs bred in 10 northern and central Italian regions. The pigs forage on wild chestnuts, and farmers also feed them whey left over from the milk that goes into cheese. After being salted, the meat dries in the sweetly scented air of the Parma hills, acquiring a unique Italian flavor. The only other ingredient is time. Prosciutto di Parma tastes delicious with melon, figs and pineapple or with a touch of mustard and fig preserves. On an antipasti platter it goes well with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and olives. A tasty topping for pizza, it pairs with figs, goat cheese or caramelized onions for a refreshingly different pie.
The Pasta Pedigree The average Italian eats more than 60 pounds of pasta per year. Pasta has an ancient pedigree in Italy; the Etruscans, precursors to modern Italians, prepared a lasagna-type noodle in the oven instead of boiling it. In the eighth century Arab invaders introduced a dried, noodlelike product that more closely resembled modern pasta. The pasta noodle quickly became an Italian staple, as durum wheat, used for the semolina flour that goes into pasta, thrives in the Mediterranean climate. Today Italy exports about two million tons of pasta a year. Available in dozens of shapes and sizes, pasta is one of the most versatile foods. Tossed with anything from creamand cheese-based sauces to seafood, meat and vegetable sauces, there are as many authentic Italian ways to prepare it as there are ingredients in the Italian kitchen. It’s also a comfort food, and nothing says Italian food like pasta.
Keeper of the Flame
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PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
Jay Jerrier (left) shares a laugh with a Cane Rosso employee.
Cane Rosso A Taste of Naples in Deep Ellum Jay Jerrier, owner of Cane Rosso (ilcanerosso.com) in Dallas, used to be a financial guy—until he honeymooned in Italy and had his first “real pizza,” he recalls. “This was nothing like New York, where I was living at the time. This was awesome.” A decade later, he moved to Texas, built a wood-burning oven in his backyard and started making his own pies. Unfortunately, he admits, the results were awful. So he started browsing websites geared toward restaurant owners and landed a job in a pizzeria, after which his homemade pies improved dramatically. Of course, when he had the opportunity to invest in a pizzeria, he jumped at the chance, but, with too many partners and Neapolitan pizza not proving a favorite of suburbanite families, he went off to “do my own thing.” That “thing” was Cane Rosso (Italian for “red dog”), which started out as a mobile catering unit and later opened in a brick-and-mortar location in Dallas’ trendy Deep Ellum district in February 2011. As customers lined up at the door and often got stuck waiting two or three hours for service, expansion became necessary a year later. Cane Rosso also was certified as a VPN pizzeria, which, Jerrier says, has generated a lot of positive publicity. It helped him improve his day-to-day business, too. “When VPN inspected us, it was humbling,” the former Fortune 500 corporate dealmaker recalls. “The representative helped make dramatic changes in proofing and shaping the dough to make the pizza infinitely better.” As the only certified Neapolitan pizzeria in Dallas, Cane Rosso has been regularly featured on a slew of local and national media outlets. The restaurant even earned a spot on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, which has boosted sales by 50% since the episode aired on April 30. “We get a lot of coverage for being VPN-certified, but we also respect the tradition,” Jerrier says. “I don’t miss corporate America, that’s for sure!” —Tracy Morin CANE ROSSO
VPN-certified pizza must be prepared in a wood-fired dome oven that can heat to between 900° and 1000°. As the pie bakes directly on the stone surface for 90 seconds, it becomes infused with the flavor and texture of a true pizza Napoletana. Traditional wood-fired ovens in Naples are made of sand, clay and limestone. But manufacturers also make modern Italian ovens with high-tech refractory materials such as woven ceramic blanket and compressed calcium-silicate board insulation, using precast pieces that require less fuel than traditional ovens. Importing these huge, heavy ovens directly from Italy poses a challenge, so, whether they’re constructed in Italy or in America by
CANE ROSSO
olives, especially as they are crushed and pressed. The oil is extracted from the olives using only mechanical, not chemical, methods. The olives are reduced to a uniform paste using millstones or the cold process method, or by machines with hammers and rotating disks. The paste is spread on fiber disks and placed in a hydraulic press to extract the water and oil. The oil is separated from the water in a centrifuge or by decanting. Good EVOO can be expensive, but, by purchasing the best you can afford—and watching out for fake brands—you’ll taste the difference.
October 2012 • pmq.com
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Now That's Italian! Distributors
Flour Antimo Caputo, 201-368-9197, molinocaputo.it
All Things Sicilian, 607-748-0692, allthingssicilian.com
Le 5 Stagioni, 800-780-2280, le5stagioni.it
Bellissimo, 800-813-2974, bellissimofoods.com
Molino San Felice, molinosanfelice.com
Ditalia, 888-260-2192, ditalia.com
Petra Stone Ground Flour, Atlantic International Products, 888-724-4837, farinapetra.it/benvenuto/eng_petra.html
Ferraro Foods, 732-424-3400, ferrarofoods.com Latteria Biz, matureritaliancheeses.com Manicaretti Italian Food Importers, 800-799-9830, manicaretti.com
Ovens Global Industries, 800-655-1831, cupponeamerica.com
Manzo Food Sales, 305-888-1350, manzofood.com
Mugnaini Ovens, 888-887-7206, mugnaini.com
Roma, 804-484-7700, romafood.com
Pasta
The Italian American Connection, 888-684-9476, theitalianamericanconnection.com
Barilla Pasta, 866-349-4386, barillaus.com
U.S. Foods, 847-720-8000, usfoods.com
Sauce
Wholesale Italian Food, 888-252-5251, wholesaleitalianfood.com
Rao’s Specialty Foods, 212-269-0151, raos.com
craftsmen trained in Italy, many wood-burning ovens are built on-site or transported in pieces. And, once installed and placed in full view of the customers, a beautiful woodfired oven enhances the atmosphere of any restaurant, evoking the sights, sounds and smells of a cozy Italian kitchen. Creating an authentic Italian experience in any pizzeria requires getting all the little details right. Restaurateurs may opt for ultramodern Italian decor, with chrome and a black-and-white color scheme, or a warm Old-World
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PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
ambience with wooden furniture and candlelight. Additional touches—such as Enrico Caruso tunes on the CD player, photographs of Italian scenes and imported glass and tableware—can also enhance the experience. It is the combination of artisan foods, careful preparation, respect for tradition, ambience and a knack for making your guests feel welcome that evokes the true spirit of Italy.
Michelle McAnally is PMQ’s food editor.
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The
Old -World Ways The VPN and APN uphold a 300-year-old tradition of pizza making—and pizzerias across the country are eager to carry on their legacy. By Tracy Morin
S EMILY RESLING
Each of Seattle-based Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria’s four locations has gone through VPN certification to produce true Neapolitan pies. 34 34 PMQPMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
ome pizzeria chefs and owners want to do everything the old-fashioned way. And when it comes to Neapolitan-style pies, who can blame them? This artisanal type of pizza has been gaining in popularity across the United States for years, with critics and consumers alike raving about the puffy-edged crusts, back-to-basics toppings and flavor combinations, and smoky-tinged char derived from a wood-burning oven’s blazing-hot cooking temperatures. But for many pizzaioli, these pizzas aren’t authentic without approval from a pair of Italian governing bodies: the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) and the Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani (APN). “The VPN certifies restaurants that meet certain standards as far as ingredients, equipment and methods,” explains Scott Wiener, owner of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York. “The APN certifies pizza makers, focusing more on technique, and that degree stays with the pizza maker no matter where he works.”
Whereas the VPN focuses largely on what goes into pizza production, the APN is more about training and ability, Wiener says, adding that, of the two institutions, the VPN is better known in the United States because it has been around longer. “These organizations saw an opportunity for regulation and maintaining control over what a Neapolitan pizza is—and having that definition is a good thing,” he says. “A Margherita pizza can mean 25 different things, but this way people can know the boundaries.” VPN and APN certifications have also helped many pizzeria operators distinguish themselves from their competitors. PMQ spoke with leaders and members of these two nonprofit organizations to find out more about their standards and certification procedures.
However, noting the crucial role of the individual pizza maker in the process, the VPN also started certifying pizza makers a couple of years ago, says Brian Gojdics, executive chef of Seattle-based Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria (tuttabellapizza.com), whose owner, Joe Fugere, is also the vice president of VPN Americas. After eight years of training as a pizza maker in the United States and Italy, Gojdics has progressed from the first level of “oven tender” to the more prestigious designation of “pizza maker.” He can move up again to “trainer” and, eventually, “master,” the final level attainable only after decades of experience. Because Tutta Bella has four locations, each restaurant had to go through VPN certification. “We don’t view it as a marketing tactic for the restaurants—it’s more about keeping the Neapolitan culture and food alive,” Gojdics says. “But we still get attention because of it, because people in Seattle recognize and affiliate themselves with organizations that are true to an artisan product.” Miele agrees that VPN certification has its advantages. “This is a small section of the market, but this different style of pizza is well-embraced because of its light, healthy taste and because of the current focus on artisan products,” he notes. “When people travel, they seek out pizzerias that offer this style.” And when owners spend the money and time to get certified, it demonstrates that they’re “really committed to the concept,” Miele adds. In fact, they have to be—VPN inspectors may drop in to perform surprise inspections (in some cases, prompted by a tip from a consumer) at any time, ensuring that the quality of the product and the pizzaioli remain unchanged. Jonathan Goldsmith, padrone at Spacca Napoli Pizzeria (spaccanapolipizzeria.com) in Chicago, had his pizzeria VPN-certified within months of opening after studying in
Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) VPN Americas, based in Marina del Rey, California, was founded about 15 years ago as an offshoot from the original association in Naples, which was formed in 1984 by Antonio Pace and Lello Surace. “The idea was to preserve and give to the new generation the knowledge and tradition of pizza making in both Italy and internationally,” recounts Peppe Miele, president of VPN Americas. Miele notes the main characteristics of a true Neapolitan pizzeria: • A wood-fueled oven that heats to 900° to 1,000° and meets certain criteria for the materials with which it’s made, the height of its dome and the width of its mouth • A mixer that mimics the action of hand-forming while mixing the dough so as not to overheat the dough (otherwise, the dough won’t have the elasticity and softness Neapolitan pizza requires) • Dough that incorporates only four ingredients—flour, salt, yeast and water—and standards for handling of the dough, including proofing, cook time and stretching techniques
Pizzeria owners who want to become VPN-certified must submit paperwork and pictures of everything from the pizza maker and pizzeria owner to the oven and mixer, plus videos of the dough production process and a photograph of the final product. Initial approval occurs in Naples, and an inspector visits the pizzeria in person, spending the day there and observing the operation. Once approved, the pizzeria receives appropriate signage and a signed certificate with a VPN membership number. At press time, there were 69 pizzerias certified in the United States and eight in Canada; the VPN expects to reach 100 by the end of the year.
EMILY RESLING
• Simple, fresh ingredients that include Italian tomatoes, fior di latte or bufala mozzarella, extra-virgin olive oil and fresh basil
Neapolitan pizzas feature high-quality extra-virgin olive oil and a few simple, fresh ingredients. October 2012 • pmq.com
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Naples with master pizzaioli, and the responsibility is not something he takes lightly. “If one becomes certified, it’s bragging rights that you can put on your business card or on display in your restaurant, but it’s really important to follow those standards,” he says. “Only if you follow the standards can you say you’re in the service of providing this special artisanal product; you have to understand and hold true to the practices.” Goldsmith also cherishes the advice he receives from Neapolitan pizza maestros who drop in to visit his pizzeria. These are often small but important tweaks, such as removing dough from a plastic container and simply covering it with a damp cloth instead, so as not to harm the yeast. “The task for neophytes is to put the concept into practice,” Goldsmith says. “People think you open a pizzeria and you’re a pizzaioli. You’re not. You should observe and do the grunt work. This is a lifetime endeavor.” For more information on becoming VPN-certified, visit the organization’s international website at pizzanapoletana.org or its American website at verapizzanapoletana.org.
Roberto Caporuscio and Antonio Starita joined forces earlier this year to create Don Antonio by Starita in Manhattan.
Don Antonio by Starita A Neapolitan Dream Team When two of the most celebrated pizza chefs in the United States and Italy team up to open a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, it’s not just news—it’s pizza history. And, indeed, last February, when Roberto Caporuscio teamed up with Antonio Starita to debut Don Antonio by Starita (donantoniopizza.com), the pizza world was abuzz. Both men can easily hold their own as Neapolitan craftsmen: Starita as master pizzaiolo, third-generation owner of the famous Pizzeria Starita a Materdei (pizzeriastarita.it) in Naples and Caporuscio, who studied his art with Starita in Italy, as coowner of Kesté Pizza & Vino (kestepizza.com) in New York. New York magazine (which also gave the pizzeria its “Best Pizza” award this year) called the collaboration “huge—like Gennaro Lombardi rising from the grave to sling slices with Dom DeMarco.”
Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani (APN) Nearly 15 years ago, as pizza restaurants were getting certified in baking Neapolitan pies, some wondered, “What about the pizza maker?” Hence, a few experienced members of the VPN and other pizzaioli, including Antonio Starita and Sergio Miccu, branched out to form the APN in 1999. “They felt that not enough emphasis was placed on the importance of the pizza maker’s role,” says Roberto Caporuscio, one of the U.S. delegates of the APN and co-owner of two New York-based pizzerias. “We wanted to give an identity not just to a location, but to a certified pizza maker at the helm; we wanted to put the pizza maker in stark relief.” The APN has about 350 members worldwide, including 25 to 30 in the United States. APN certification takes place only in Italy and the United States, and any of the 10 board members of the APN, who set the standards for the organization, can certify the pizza maker. If a pizza
The 1,800-square-foot pizzeria is decidedly Neapolitan, but with a dose of New York sophistication. Gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan pizzas commingle with the famous Montanara Starita, a pie which is first lightly fried, then baked, using a technique Starita developed himself in Italy more than a decade ago. A full-service bar features Italian wines and beers as well as high-end cocktails (the Nero di Seppia mixes gin, black squid ink, sea salt and pepper). The space itself blends Italian marble, slate and copper with exposed brick, highlighted by a mosaic-tiled wood-fired oven crafted with volcanic soil and stone from Naples. However, with two APN-certified pizzaioli at the helm, the focus remains on the food. “The dough has to be extremely light, and the pizza must have an air-filled crust with a balance of ingredients for toppings and must be cooked properly in a wood-fired oven,” Starita explains. “Plum tomatoes from the San Marzano region must be used, as well as high-quality fresh mozzarella—we make our own daily—and extra-virgin olive oil.” EMILY RESLING
A wood-fired oven that heats to between 900° and 1,000° is a vital piece of equipment in an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria. 36 36 PMQPMQ Pizza Pizza Magazine Magazine – The – The Pizza Pizza Industry’s Industry’s Business Business Monthly Monthly
The restaurant has room for 70 pizza aficionados, and filling the seats hasn’t been a problem. As Caporuscio says, “Customers appreciate and want authentic Neapolitan pizza—not an imitation of it.” —Tracy Morin
maker has no experience in making Neapolitan pizza, he must attend an APN school to learn the correct methods. Such training includes, for example, a $4,500, 10-day U.S. course, taught by Caporuscio, which addresses key factors of Neapolitan pizza: how to make dough, tomato sauce and cheese; what equipment must be used; how the dough is stretched and cooked; how to place ingredients on the pizza; and how to work a wood-fired oven. Because the course takes place in a working Neapolitan-style pizzeria, students also get an in-depth look at what it takes to run this type of restaurant, from staff requirements and customer relations to location and design. For more information on becoming APN-certified, visit the organization’s international website at pizzaiuolinapoletani.it or the American website at apnamerica.com. Along with his restaurant’s VPN credentials, Goldsmith is also APN-certified as a pizza maker—a journey that began in Naples in 2004 when he met Starita and noted an APN certification on his wall. “I promised myself I would become a part of that organization,” he recalls. After opening his pizzeria, he received the first APN certification in the United States and went on to certify his two principal pizza makers. He notes that APN board members focus more on pizza making technique—how to extend and make the dough, the temperature of the ovens, and how many seconds the pizza should be cooked. Their goal, he says, is “to make sure the pie itself is perfect.” Caporuscio says that many pizzeria owners undergo training alongside their main pizza makers. “The certification
Simple yet elegant table settings create an Old-World atmosphere at Don Antonio by Starita.
is important because if you’re going to make Neapolitan pizza, you should learn from the best—those founders who know the best of their craft and who have trained the best.” The APN and VPN play vital roles in preserving classic Italian pizza making traditions, concludes Fred Mortati, co-owner of Orlando Foods in Maywood, New Jersey. “Both associations are important not only for the training and the breadth of knowledge that they provide to their members, but also for the intangible benefits that come with having closer ties to the Italian industry,” Mortati says. “Imagine having ties with the largest network of pizzeria owners and master pizzaioli in the land where the product was created. This level of networking brings infinite possibilities.” Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.
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The
PizzaArtist of Glasgow g
By Rick Hynum
Scottish-Italian master chef Domenico Crolla earns global acclaim—and free publicity—by crossing cultural and artistic boundaries.
E
veryone knows how James Bond likes his martinis, but what’s his idea of the perfect pizza? Scottish-Italian master chef Domenico Crolla, owner of Bella Napoli in Glasgow, Scotland, may not be a superspy, but his knack for making delicious pies—and his prodigious gift for promoting them—has earned him a reputation that even the suave and unflappable 007 might envy. So when the United Kingdom’s prestigious Pizza and Pasta Association (PAPA)
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approached him in 2006 to create the world’s most expensive pizza—to be auctioned for charity on eBay—Crolla didn’t just pile it with pricey toppings; he gave it a name that the press couldn’t resist. “Originally, it was going to be called the Pizza Royale, but the day of the auction happened to be the same day of the premiere of the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale, in the U.K.,” Crolla recalls. “It just occurred to me to change the name of the pizza, and I called it Pizza Royale 007. The
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
press got hold of this, called me and said, ‘You’re making a James Bond pizza?’ Unintentionally, this became big, big news.” The extravagant pie—featuring such Bond-worthy toppings as salmon poached in Dom Perignon, grilled venison, lobster marinated in Remy Martin, beluga caviar soaked in (you guessed it) vodka martini, white truffles and edible 24-karat gold leaf—sold for $4,500 to an Italian bidder. But the publicity for Crolla, the Glasgow-born son of hardscrabble
Italian immigrants, and his restaurants was priceless. “It made me realize you can turn PR to your advantage and take control of the media,” he says in his singular accent, which blends a Scottish burr with a faint but recognizable Italian lilt. “Instead of buying ads in a magazine or newspaper, you create a story and feed it to the press. So I always try to come up with these gimmicks. Everything’s a promotional opportunity, whether it’s a soccer match or a celebrity coming to Glasgow. Out of every 10, maybe two or three will work, but those that work get me half a page in a local newspaper, and that’s good for business.”
Rocky Beginnings Of course, making great pizza is even better for business; luckily, Crolla has a genius for that, too. His cross-cultural approach—blending time-tested Italian techniques with American-style innovations—has made him one of the most acclaimed chefs in the U.K., a threetime winner of PAPA’s United Kingdom Gold and Pizza Designer of the Year
awards, and the recipient of the prestigious Italian Cuisine Worldwide Award in 2011. He’s also an in-demand judge in pizza making competitions around the world. Crolla grew up in the food business—his father opened a restaurant in Glasgow after starting out as a dishwasher and learning the craft— but rolling out pizza dough and slicing meats didn’t suit him at first. “I was quite snobby about not wanting to dirty my hands,” he says. “I wanted to be in management.” He attended the Scottish Hotel School before starting his own pizzeria, a small carryout operation, in 1990. He learned to cook “out of necessity,” he says, when his chef quit after the first week in business. “I was left to try and make my own dough. I just tried to follow what I’d seen him doing. It turned out OK, just by luck, but I really didn’t know what I was doing.” Fortunately, he was a fast learner, and the arrival of another pizzeria in the area stoked his competitive spirit. “I realized I had to make a better
pizza,” Crolla says. “If it was tomato sauce, I had to buy better tomatoes than my competitor. I had to buy better cheese, better flour. I learned how to build a better pizza through better ingredients. I read books and magazines, watched videos and learned the art of pizza making. A lot of people probably thought I was being very geeky about it. But the bottom line was, it became a very busy pizzeria.” There were a few bumps in the road, though. He’d hit upon the original name for his little shop during a visit to the United States, where he spotted a certain pizza delivery chain that had not yet made it to Scotland. “Since my name was Dominic, I thought, that’s fine, I’ll call my place Domino’s, too,” he says, with a chuckle. “I even copied the logo. Over here, nobody blinked an eye—they’d never heard of the name before. Then, after a year or two, I got a lawyer’s letter saying, ‘Change your name or else.’ Once I realized they were serious, I couldn’t afford to change the sign, so we dropped a few letters and just called it Dom’s.” He later renamed it Dom’s Place, but the original name still makes for a good anecdote. “When I speak to Domino’s bosses here now, I proudly tell them that I opened the first Domino’s in the U.K.,” he says. “They’re
At Bella Napoli, Domenico Crolla—who once made a pizza specifically for the Pope—caters to those willing to spend a little more for high-quality food, including his famous Valentine Day’s special. October 2012 • pmq.com
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Crolla also owns a high-end carryout pizzeria, Pizza Couture (left) and formerly owned Italmania (right).
quite surprised by that until they hear my story.”
A Fighting Spirit After launching and then selling a larger carryout operation called Italmania, Crolla took over Bella Napoli, a handsomely decorated, full-service Italian restaurant, in 2006. That same year he began entering pizza making competitions, compiling awards from around the world, absorbing
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new ideas and eventually becoming a judge at many events. He’s known for being picky about his ingredients, working with select Italian suppliers and Scottish producers. “The choice of ingredients is the cornerstone of any good restaurant,” he says. “A bad chef with good ingredients can still create a good dish, but even a good chef cannot create a good dish with bad ingredients. You have to be willing to pay for better
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
ingredients, and you need to know the difference between one flour and another or one olive oil and another.” In addition to owning Bella Napoli, Crolla also owns Pizza Couture, a Glasgow carryout and delivery pizzeria. Both stores allow customers to build their own pies from a selection of 55 toppings. But, aside from fresh ingredients, Crolla says the key to any restaurateur’s success is a basic understanding of mathematics.
“You have to know how to count,” he says. “A lot of operators, especially in a recession, are doing special offers. I hear about one of my competitors doing two-for-ones with a free bottle of wine. All of these things sound fantastic, and they’ve got a full house on a Saturday night. But there’s not enough money in the till to support the business. And you may not realize that until three or six months down the line, and it’s your accountant who tells you that you’re not actually making any money.”
At the same time, Crolla has little patience with operators who blame all their woes on the economy. He recalls a conversation with a fellow restaurateur whose sales had dropped dramatically over the past year. “He shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘What can I do? It’s not my fault—it’s the recession.’ I swore at him in Italian. You can’t sit back and blame the recession. You have to change things. You have to adapt. I’ve changed everything at my restaurant—I’ve changed the menu; I’ve invested money to
make the restaurant look better. You have to let customers know that you’re fighting for their business.”
Pizza Portraiture A clever publicity gimmick doesn’t hurt either. In addition to his celebrated Pizza Royale 007, Crolla makes headlines in the U.K. every February with his lavish Valentine’s Day pie. The heart-shaped pizza boasts toppings that are said to be aphrodisiacs, such as caviar, oysters, king prawns, gold leaf and crushed pearls. More recently, he has begun to create pizza portraits, paying homage to icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Bruce Lee. His technique involves drawing or tracing an image onto a sheet of parchment paper with a soft pencil and sprinkling mozzarella cheese over the image. He bakes the sheet in an oven for two to three minutes to create a cheese slice, then places it onto a halfbaked pizza crust with tomato sauce. He peels away the paper to reveal the penciled image transferred onto the cheese, cuts away the excess cheese with a fine razor blade, fills in any gaps with pizza sauce and bakes the final product for another minute or two to soften the artwork’s edges. At PMQ’s request, Crolla created pizza portraits of President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney for this month’s cover. The likenesses are remarkable, and the pies are even edible. “My Obama pizza could have been presented to Obama, and he could have sliced it and eaten it,” he says. “Although I’m sure Obama would have preferred to eat the Romney pizza, slice by slice.” Crolla says he always declines customers’ requests for personal portraits, although he will occasionally create a pie bearing a company’s logo for corporate events. Otherwise, he observes, drily, “If I did it for one person, I’d be doing it every night, making pizza portraits of babies and children for their birthdays. That’s really not something I want to do.”
World Traveler What Crolla does want to do is what he’s been doing for the past six years—running his popular restaurants, jetting across the globe for 42
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A frequent judge at international competitions, the entrepreneurial Crolla also recently launched the Serious Pizza app for professional and home chefs.
Crolla occasionally creates pizza portraits of icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Bruce Lee and Santa Claus.
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pizza competitions, learning from fellow pizzaioli, and studying the styles of other pizza making cultures from California to China. He respects the traditions of the Italian masters, but he also admires the adventurousness of their American cousins. “When Italians come to America to compete, they are influenced by the American style,” he observes. “I also think Americans have begun to be influenced by the Italian style. One isn’t better than the other—both are
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
perfectly good. Some days you enjoy a classic Italian-style margherita, and some days you’re looking for a Chicago deep-dish. It just depends on what mood you’re in.” So where would this Scottish-born pizza master with deep Italian roots and a flair for American experimentation want to live if he ever left the U.K.? As usual, Crolla has another surprise up his sleeve. “If somebody bought Bella Napoli from me tomorrow, I think I’d go to Hong Kong,” he says. “I’d open a pizzeria there and then retire after five years. The way the Chinese love Italian food, even a bad chef would do well in Hong Kong.” Meanwhile, though, Crolla is happy where he is. “I’ve got a lot of friends who own multiple units or chains, but I don’t have that ambition,” he says. “I’m enjoying doing what I’m doing. It allows me to travel, to keep competing and judging at these events. That’s what I like—I like the freedom.”
Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor-in-chief.
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Future Designing the
By Rick Hynum
of Pizzerias
With prizes totalling €13,500, pizzeria design competition attracts top firms and yields ideas, inspiration for the industry.
F
rom St. Peter’s Basilica to the Roman Colosseum, the magnificent structures of Italy have influenced architects and designers around the world for millennia. But sacred spaces and gladiatorial venues aren’t the only sights worth seeing in the motherland of pizza.
Several of Italy’s most innovative pizzerias and design concepts earned international recognition—and a
total of 13,500 euros in prizes—as winners of the Prize Le 5 Stagioni awards, a competition sponsored by Le 5 Stagioni, an Italian manufacturer of specialized flours, and Agugiaro & Figna Mills, along with POLI.design, a consortium of the Politecnico di Milano. Categories included Openings, featuring existing pizzerias with cutting-edge designs, and Concepts, which focused on proposed designs that could set future trends. Here, PMQ takes a look at a few of the winning designs and the key elements that make them exceptional.
OPENINGS
Osteria Dodici Rondini, Foligno Designer: Studio Carini (Giampiero Carini, Elisa Eleuteri, Maria Chiara Gallinella, Manuela Silvestri and Varvara Tsamassiotis) Located in a historic 16th-century building with a stone vaulted ceiling, this open-space structure offers a view of the pizza makers in action, with lightbulbs dangling from the ceiling and original artwork behind the counter. It includes three dining areas: a quick-meal section ideal for work or school breaks; a lounge area; and a traditional full-service dining room. The jury particularly admired the designers’ incorporation of simple elements into an important architectural context, innovative use of artwork and careful choice of materials and details.
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PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
2nd Place Lamericano, Altamura Designer: Pasquale Gentile With a name that alludes to the owners’ experience as caterers in the United States, this pizzeria uses lines, warm colors and natural materials—such as stone, wood and glass—to create a quintessential space. With a staircase and flooring made of light travertine and tables and seats of white pine, spruce fir and red laminated wood, the walls of Lamericano also feature a museumlike display of photographs that recount the family’s history in America.
3rd Place Pizza, Rome Designer: Josef Arbau
A small, futuristic-looking space located near a university, Pizza exudes a youthful ambience accented in striking reds and immaculate whites. The colors directly recall the raw materials used in pizza making (such as the bright red hue of tomatoes). Dining areas are furnished with glossy red console tables, and a large mirror amplifies the space and creates multiple reflections of the graphic elements on the walls.
CONCEPTS
La Tata Designers: Adelina Ilieva, Petio Budakov, Olga Georgieva, Svetoslava Georgieva and Kalina Arsova Designed for families, this concept presents three different sections identified by clear and bold chromatic choices. Red prevails in the pizzeria section, a warm yellow dominates the children’s play area (where kids can pass the time kneading, manipulating and baking dough), and bright green characterizes the merchandise area, where customers can purchase branded products. Throughout the space, the harmonic element is the circle, a graphic motif that can be found in the general layout, the tables, the cash desk and the lamp.
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2nd Place A Fuoco Lento Designers: Castel di Lama (Marina Cincirpini and Giovanni Carati) This space focuses on “the re-education of taste” and seeks to create a contrast with the prevailing notion of pizza as lowbrow fast food. It’s designed as a place of high culture, created with materials inspired by tradition and nature. The carryout area allows the customer to follow the pizza making process step by step and learn more about the ingredients; the second area, differentiated from the carryout area by a difference in height, is reserved for dine-in customers. Samples of pizzas can be served on special chopping boards that hook onto the tables via a central track.
3rd Place ComeilBasiliko Designers: Nicola Marcello Tropea and Federica Lentini The design for this functional space derives from the three key ingredients in pizza—tomato, mozzarella and basil. The concept presents three separate areas of the restaurant named in honor of the key ingredients; customers can even purchase the ingredients, including three varieties of fresh basil, in the pizzeria. Technology plays a role, too: Customers can interact with the pizza maker and create a personal menu or a customized pie through a website or by sending an email—or they can even rent a special kitchen area and, with the assistance of a professional chef, prepare their own innovative recipes.
Special Prize— Educational Institutions Espaco Top Pizza Designers: The Faculdade Mater Dei in Pato Branco, Brazil (Ariadna Taverna, Alice Biezus, Amarildo Pain Henrique, Sidney Bressan, Caroline Giacometi Arisi, Rodrigo Stanguerlin, Renan Augusto Kempa and Ertal Vasconcellos de Oliveira Jr.) The interior design of this pizzeria creates a sense of magic that enhances the Italian pizza tradition and the flavors of the pizza itself. Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor-in-chief. 48
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
New York’s Ribalta doubles as a restaurant and a pizza school, serving as the U.S. headquarters of the Venice, Italy-based Scuolo Italiana Pizzaioli.
Ribalta Back to School Opened in May 2012, New York’s Ribalta (ribaltapizzarestaurant.com) has been accurately described as “part restaurant, part pizza school.” The restaurant side is decidedly complex, with 90 seats in a space designed by the architect behind the New York-based Italian megacenter, Eataly; three different pizzas on offer; and handiwork from pizzaioli Chef Paolo Spadaro and VPN-certified Massimiliano Crocetti. The trio of pizza types are churned out by three ovens on the premises to reflect the different types of pizza one would find in Italy. The main oven creates verace pizza napoletana; a double electric oven bakes pizza in pala (typical in Rome, this style includes high quantities of water and a long fermentation that lends a breadlike texture); and pizza classica, with dough fermented at least six days, emerges from the gas oven. Regardless of style, however, the ingredients are imported from Italy, with a focus on quality, authenticity and freshness. The school side of the restaurant also serves as the United States headquarters of the Venice, Italy-based pizza school, Scuolo Italiana Pizzaioli(italianpizzaschoolusa.com), started in Italy more than 30 years ago and certified by the Italian government. More than 30 of these schools exist around the world, from France to Brazil, and at each the master chef of the restaurant has undergone schooling in Italy to be a head trainer of the school and runs classes out of the restaurant. For the remainder of this year and through 2013, Ribalta will host some of the best trainers from Scuola Italiano Pizzaioli— those who have 20, 30 or more years of experience as pizzaioli. For one week each month, a chef will be flown in from Italy to hold training classes in the day and make pizza for customers in the evening, bringing true masters of the craft in contact with both beginner chefs and Manhattan pizza lovers alike. —Tracy Morin
The Making of a
Champion With three successful restaurants in Gavirate, Italy, every day is a victory for world-renowned pizza maker Leone Coppola. By Missy Green
S
Leone Coppola is a world champion pizza maker, owner of three restaurants and consummate host to his international clientele.
tep inside the spacious, darkwood dining hall of Il Vecchio Ottocento in Gavirate, Italy, and you’ll immediately feel like part of owner Leone Coppola’s family. His wife, Rina, greets customers with a smile from the bar, while his sister-in-law and baby niece amuse themselves at a nearby table. Any shyness a visitor may feel is left at the door as friendly customers greet you warmly, asking who you are and where you’re from. A native of southern Italy, Coppola has been a star on the international pizza scene for 15 years. In 2005, his pan pizza won first place at the
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World Pizza Championships in Salsomaggiore, Italy. Two years later, he broke the Guinness World Record for the longest pizza, creating a pie that stretched 886’. He returned to Salsomaggiore this year and captured third place for his pan pizza. Meanwhile, awards and accolades aside, his hefty physique and gregarious nature have made him one of the industry’s truly unforgettable characters. The name of Coppola’s pizzeria, Il Vecchio Ottocento, means “the old 1800s” in English. It’s one of five restaurants that he has opened over the years in the small lake town of Gavirate, situated in the foothills of
the Alps. It’s an impressive, old-fashioned, two-story building and the site of his famous pizzatas—or, as Coppola puts it, “nights of so, so much pizza!” His other restaurants have included La Caretera, La Caretera II, Darsena and the exclusively gluten-free Mangiare e Bere. He eventually decided that running five stores was “too much business,” so he sold two of his shops and now thrives on the challenge of running only Il Vecchio Ottocento, La Caretera and La Caretera II and producing 40,000 pizzas per year. With his magnetic personality and unyielding passion for quality ingredients, Coppola has made it to the top. But his journey began when he was still a young boy. Already trained in bread making and flour making, he migrated to northern Italy at the tender age of 15 in search of bigger and better opportunities. He started out washing dishes in a restaurant in Turin. After only a few months, he became an apprentice in the kitchen. He soon decided to dedicate his life to the restaurant business, spending hours in the kitchen perfecting his culinary skills while never forgetting his start as a bread maker. In fact, his knowledge of bread and dough inspired him to buy his own pizzeria. By the age of 22, Coppola was married and the proud owner of La Caretera.
interview him in March, he politely urged them to set aside their cameras and mangia bene (“eat well”) before getting to work. When some customers stopped by, Coppola introduced them as old friends who had frequented his restaurant for 26 years. Before long, he had pulled up extra chairs for them at the PMQ table and begun pouring wine for everyone. Coppola never misses a chance to please his customers, it seems, even if they end up hijacking his own interview. Once the conversation finally petered out around 2 a.m., the indefatigable Coppola accompanied his PMQ guests back to their hotel, helped them with their bags and reminded them of the next day’s agenda. “Tomorrow, you’ll have breakfast delivered to
your room,” he said. “Then I’ll come pick you up, and we’ll have breakfast again. Later, we’ll have spaghetti at my store. OK?” Coppola smiles often, but he insists that smiling isn’t good enough. “You must be radiant,” he says. As a manager, he stays in constant contact with both his staff and his guests to build stronger relationships. He also connects with the Gavirate community through public charity events. Twice per year, Coppola’s pizzerias set up in the town square to sell pizza, and all profits from the two-day events are donated to organizations that help the disabled and the hungry. Coppola also takes part in milestone events with the people of Gavirate—Il Vecchio Ottocento has a room that
More Than a Smile Typically Italian, Coppola lavishes every guest with hospitality. He’s never too busy to enjoy the company of his customers. As PMQ staff members arrived at Il Vecchio Ottocento to
This breathtaking mural of Lake Varese creates the perfect dining atmosphere in Il Vecchio Ottocento.
Coppola believes that wearing a friendly smile for every guest isn’t enough—“You must be radiant,” he says (left). Even the littlest Coppolas are ever-present at Il Vecchio Ottocento. Pictured is Coppola with his niece (right). October 2012 • pmq.com
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will accommodate 200 people, and it’s here that he throws his lively pizzatas for wedding receptions, anniversaries and other grand celebrations.
Quality and Simplicity But good customer service alone won’t make any restaurant a success. “You may treat your customers fantastically, but if the pizza’s not good, it’s over,” Coppola says. “A good pizza must be highly digestible and healthy for the customer.” In fact, he says his pizza ingredients contain antioxidants
that keep customers feeling youthful: All of his pizzerias use a specialty flour called Pizza Giovane that’s made with nutritious grains, including Kamut, omega 3-rich flax seed and red wine extract to combat the aging process. Using local and seasonal ingredients is also a must for Coppola. One of his prized toppings is an asparagus grown in the town of Cantello. It’s highly valued for its short growing period (April 15 through May 30), thick and tender flesh and white coloration. Other ingredients are sourced from
southern Italy, where many of the nation’s specialty foods are produced. The best pizza, in Coppola’s estimation, is a simple one. “Let’s not forget, pizza was created as a food for the poor,” he notes. Topping a pie with lobster meat is fine, but the best pizza ingredients—preferably a combination of flavorful seasonal vegetables— come from the soil. He prepares his favorite pizza, the Italy Pizza, with ingredients that mimic the colors of the Italian flag, including basil, tomato and buffalo mozzarella.
The Only Score That Matters Coppola’s dedication to the art of pizza making has earned him global success. In addition to his first-place showing in Salsomaggiore in 2005, he was dubbed the No. 1 pizza master at the 2012 Pizza Science and Culture competition in Tuscany. He won third place in the pan pizza category in Salsomaggiore this year with a pesto-and-prosciutto pizza topped with handmade burrata, a fresh mozzarella pouch filled with soft cream. “The secret to winning an award,” he notes, “is knowing how to take advantage of the tastes and scents of the season. That’s what brings you to victory.” But winning competitions isn’t everything. Coppola also relishes the exchange of ideas between pizza makers from around the world, which allows him to keep up with the latest trends in the pizza industry and return home with new ideas every year. “There’s a huge ongoing evolution of pizza, and you’ve got to follow the pizza market in order to provide the newest products to your customers,” he says. “I value improving my work.” In fact, Coppola views his day-today work as a competition of sorts, one that requires maximum effort— “as if it were your first day,” he says. “The most important judge is the customer. The customer is the one who will continue to appreciate the work that you do. That score is the one that really matters.” One day Coppola hopes to open a pizzeria in New York, despite the challenge of moving from a sleepy town to a fast-paced metropolis. Opening a restaurant in the U.S. would also require a cultural shift for Coppola, 52 52 PMQPMQ Pizza Pizza Magazine Magazine – The – The Pizza Pizza Industry’s Industry’s Business Business Monthly Monthly
Coppola displays a certificate for his third place win in the recent World Pizza Championships in Salsomaggiore, Italy.
from the typical Italian business model of dinner as a lengthy and leisurely experience to the American standard of quick and efficient service. He also dreams of reclaiming his title as the holder of the Guinness World Record for the longest pizza. (In 2011, the Spanish pizza chef Jesus Marquina topped Coppola’s record by
Coppola broke the record for the world’s longest pizza in 2007 with a pie that stretched more than 886’.
building a pie that stretched 3,743’, more than four times longer than Coppola’s previous record-holder.) Coppola recalls his own record-breaking experience as his finest moment, proudly representing his country before the entire world. But, despite all of his international awards, Coppola says his greatest honor is a pizzeria packed with customers; it’s the truest measure of success. “I win every time I return home to my stores,” he says. “It’s the greatest satisfaction a pizza maker can have, better than the world championships. There’s no competition that can replace the enormous satisfaction of seeing your pizzeria full of people eating your pizza or the line outside the door on a Saturday night. That’s when you know you’ve won, because it shows that you’ve made an excellent product from within you, from the heart. Every day is a victory here. Viva la pizza!”
Missy Green is PMQ’s U.S. Pizza Team Director. October 2012 • pmq.com
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The
Salami Effect
With its numerous varieties and flavor profiles, salami brings pizzas, sandwiches and salads to full, zesty life. By Michelle McAnally
F
rom its humble beginnings as a staple food for Southern European peasants to its elevated status as a luxury deli meat, salami has been gracing Italian dishes for thousands of years. This versatile meat, with varieties ranging from pepperoni to sopressata, is an essential element of the antipasti platter and brings sandwiches, salads and, of course, pizzas to full, zesty life. The term “salami” comes from the Italian word for salt (sale) and originally referred to any kind of salted meat. Modern usage of the word refers to meat that is ground and cured in a casing by fermenting and drying rather than by cooking. According to Lorenza Passetti, president of Volpi Foods in St. Louis, there are three key ingredients for every salami type: meat, salt and time. Salami makers honor “the traditions of colder fermentations and allow enough time for flavor development,” Passetti says. “We do not rush through a time-honored process. We embrace it.”
Salami Styles Usually made with pork, salami also comes in beef, venison, poultry and, in some parts of the world, even horse- and shark-meat varieties. Other key ingredients include salt, pepper, garlic, minced fat and, depending on the type, herbs, spices, wine or vinegar. Like some cheeses, salami is often treated with edible mold, such as Penicillium culture, to aid in the curing process and impart flavor. As the salami cures, bacteria grow, driving the fermentation process. In many cases, an added dose of sugar feeds the bacteria, producing lactic acid, which lowers the pH and helps to dry the meat while preventing dangerous bacteria from forming. The lactic acid also imparts a tangy flavor that cannot be achieved by machine drying. The process can take between 24 and 36 weeks. “Historically, the flavors of the salami depended on the town that created it,” explains Vanessa Chang, marketing and education manager for Creminelli Fine Meats in Salt Lake City. “Often, these towns would have spices and seasonings unique to 56
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
balanced out with salt and aromatics from the spice rub before aging for two to three months. “Several factors go into differentiating salami, including type of meat, amount of fat, salt and spices, fermentation time and temperature, dimension of the product, casings used and drying times,” Chang adds. “These all have an impact on flavor.” Genoa salami is the most common type found in delicatessens and on sandwiches in American restaurants. The Italian Genoa salami originated in the hilly interior of the province, where pigs are raised on acorns, chestnuts and hazelnuts. “Genoa salami typically is made solely from pork, but there are combinations of pork and beef trimmings and, in some cases, beef-only versions,” says Rachel Haaland, marketing specialist for Burke Meats in Nevada, Iowa. “Traditional
Genoa salami has elements of garlic and fennel, with black peppercorns and possibly wine as the base flavors.”
Pepperoni Lovers Pepperoni, another type of salami, is often lightly smoked and heavily seasoned with one or more types of red pepper, such as paprika or cayenne, as well as black pepper and garlic.
FONTANINI
their flavor preferences and to their location on the old spice trade routes. For example, sopressata is typical of the Veneto region and features wine and garlic for a unique flavor. Varzi is named for a town and has notes of clove and nutmeg. Piccante features chili peppers synonymous with Southern Italian cuisine.” There are almost as many types of salami as there are regions, even subregions, in Italy. “Sopressa is deliciously bright with wine and garlic; it’s flavorful, with a nice acidity that makes it an easy favorite,” Chang notes. “Finocchia features subtle hints of whole fennel seed, typical of Southern Tuscany, where pork and fennel are constant companions. Capicola features succulent pork textures from the shoulder that are rubbed with spices and cooked. Bresaola has a lovely, deep beefy flavor that’s
Irregular shapes of sliced pepperoni have recently become trendy at some pizzerias. October 2012 • pmq.com
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Americans love pepperoni—a recent Zagat survey ranked it as the most popular pizza topping in the United States—but it’s not traditionally found in Italy, where the word “pepperoni” refers to peppers. Pepperoni’s Pizza (pepperonis.net), a chain located in Fort Bend County, Texas, embodies America’s love for this classic topping. Its signature pizza, the Pepperoni’s Special, features the popular salami variety, along with Canadian bacon, mushrooms, green peppers and black olives. “It’s our most popular,” says Christina Guerra, the chain’s marketing director. “It's simplicity at its best, and you can't go wrong with fresh dough, cheese, sauce and pepperoni. Customers of all ages order it.” Another popular Pepperoni’s pizza is the New Yorker, featuring extra pepperoni, sauce and cheese. “It definitely takes pizza to the next level,” Guerra says. “Who wouldn't want more cheese, sauce and pepperoni on their pizza? The New Yorker satisfies the cravings of those who want a lot of flavor in every bite.” And flavor is what pepperoni is all about. “A good pepperoni is spicy, almost hot,” observes Gene Fontanini, president of Fontanini Italian Meats and Sausages in McCook, Illinois. Pizzeria operators can purchase pepperoni in sticks or presliced, but, because pizzerias make so many pies, presliced is by far the more popular option. “Our customers expect fast and efficient service, and presliced pepperoni definitely gets the job done,” Guerra says. “If you're working with presliced pepperoni, the slice should deal easily onto the pie, like poker chips,” Haaland says. Small slices generally top pies and salads, while larger slices are
Presliced pepperoni should deal easily, like poker chips, onto a pie. 58
BURKE CORPORATION
Your Sources for Salami Battistoni, 716-826-2700, battistonibrand.com Burke Corporation, 800-654-11452, burkecorp.com Creminelli, 203-570-8484, creminelli.com Fontanini, 800-331-6328, fontanini.com Liguria Foods, 800-765-1452, liguriafood.com Murray's Cheese, 888-692-4339, murrayscheese.com Northwoods Cheese Company, 888-878-3161, northwoodscheese.com Olli Salumeria, 877-655-4937, ollisalumeria.com Volpi Foods, 800-288-3439, volpifoods.com
ideal for stuffing sandwiches. Irregular shapes of sliced pepperoni, with a coarser, old-fashioned grind, have become trendy lately, Fontanini adds. On the other hand, stick or link pepperoni has its place in the pizza kitchen, too. “It’s very attractive to folks who manufacture their own pies,” Haaland says. “They like to slice to their own thickness, right onto the pie. This adds an extra element of color stability that presliced offerings cannot provide. From a cost standpoint, link pepperoni also can be very advantageous.”
Old and New There are two main types of pepperoni for pizza on the market today—OldWorld and modern. “Modern pepperoni was developed to address the concerns of how traditional pepperoni baked on top of a pizza,” says Daniel Thor, marketing manager for Bellisimo Foods in Walnut Creek, California. “The three concerns are cupping, charring and greasing out. All of these may enhance—or detract from—the appeal of the pizza.” According to Thor, modern pepperoni does not cup or char during the baking process. “This uniformity gives
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
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the pie a consistent, clean look while maintaining its original 'meaty' texture and physical integrity. Old-World pepperoni, on the other hand, does cup and char during the baking process. It is more prone to grease out, but it usually has a stronger, more bacon-style flavor and appearance.” Low-quality pepperoni can be overly salty or gristly or have so much fat that it burns or curls up excessively
after baking. “You want an end that chars a little bit but doesn’t burn, and you don’t want it to bleed orange on the pizza,” Fontanini suggests. “You don’t want it to chew like bologna. It should have the texture of good European dry-aged salami.” Several factors determine the way a pepperoni cooks on a pizza, including the type of oven that’s used, cooking time, the characteristics of other
toppings and the amount of cheese on the pie. “Our recommendation is to sample,” Thor says. “See if your distributor can come to your store with various styles of pepperoni. Cook different pies as you normally would with several different pepperonis and see which one works best for you.”
Salami Pies While Americans love pepperoni, other types of salami, each boasting its own flavor and texture, can enhance pizzas, too. “Salami and pizza were meant for each other,” Chang says. “The intense, concentrated flavor of cured meats is great for pizza—any flavor works wonderfully.” “Salami is the go-to topping for pizza. It is very popular, a close third behind pepperoni and sausage,” observes David Dubiner, owner of San Francisco pizza institution Uncle Vito’s (unclevitos.com), which goes through nearly 2,000 pounds of salami every year. “We put it on our house combo, The Mountain, as well as on our Greek pizza and a few of our daily specials. Because it’s so sweet, salami is the first topping I get kids to try to wean them off plain cheese.” According to Chang, cooking temperature and duration determine how thickly you should slice the salami. “We recommend slicing it as thick as a dime for cooking applications, whether it be cold for sandwiches or hot atop a crust in a pizza oven. This prevents incineration of too-thin slices and preserves the flavor and integrity of the salami.” Salami also features prominently on antipasti platters and salads. “Salami plus homemade Italian dressing equals delicious!” Dubiner says. “We use dry Italian salami. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and salty, and it always looks as good as it tastes on a pizza, salad or sub.” “I love salami on pizza,” Passetti adds. “A finer-ground, spicy salami is preferred. Varietal salami is also becoming really popular. Salami with different wines, mushrooms, herbs and seasonings are worth experimenting with to give a good pizza the push it needs to become a great pizza.”
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JOIN PMQ’S MISSION TO CHINA!!! DISCOVER THE WORLD’S LARGEST GROWING PIZZA MARKET! FHC CHINA/PMQ PIZZA SHOW November 14-16 Q PMQ Dinner Reception of pizza business leaders Q Chinese Distribution Seminar
EXHIBIT OR ATTEND EXHIBIT BOOTH PACKAGE $5,555 PIZZA MISSION ATTENDEE PACKAGE Includes flight, hotel, tours, food Nov. 13-19, $4,200 Call Brian Hernandez for more information:
662-234-5481 X129
PMQ and the United States Pizza Team would like to thank all who helped make the 2012 American Pizza Championship and U.S. Pizza Team Trials a success! Special thanks go out to NYPD Pizza, WPRK and all of our esteemed USPT sponsors!
OFF THE WALL MAGNETICS October 2012 • pmq.com
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PMQ’S IDEA ZONE Mvix USA
Signs of the Times For pizzeria owners, every new specialty pie or dish requires changes to in-store signage and printed materials—and making these changes can be an expensive, time-consuming proposition. Fortunately, new technologies from the digital world are streamlining and simplifying the process. Mvix USA, a Chantilly, Virginia-based company specializing in digital menu solutions, has made everything from redesigning a menu to promoting new specials and upcoming events something that can be handled in mere minutes. Mvix, whose client list includes Domino’s, Papa John’s, Ray’s Pizza in New York, Westside Pizza in Seattle and YNot Pizza in Virginia Beach, provides a low-cost, user-friendly digital solution which utilizes a Web-based content management system that can be accessed via the Internet 24 hours a day. “We give the content management system away free of charge, with no monthly or annual hosting costs,” says Ross McClymonds, Mvix’s vice president of global sales. “All you need is an Internet connection, and you can manage your menu content from anywhere. The client has full control over what’s displayed on the screen.” Until recently, paper signage has lagged behind advancements in digital and on-screen technology. Digital signage offers an eye-catching, hip and cost-effective way of getting
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dynamic messages out to customers in a format to which they have become accustomed. Restaurant owners can create any type of advertising message, from lunch and dinner menus to rotating daily specials, wine and beer lists, nutrition and calorie information, even promotional videos or TV commercial spots. Once the files are uploaded, operators can schedule messages for specific times of the day and control the frequency and duration of the messages that appear on the screen. “The system is really quite flexible,” McClymonds notes. “Most importantly, the user can customize it to fit each store’s needs. If you run a pizza shop, for example, you can create custom text to promote everything from a new spaghetti dish to your daily special. You can schedule your content to run when you want, and changing price listings is very easy to do, too.” In addition to saving time and labor, Mvix’s system generates substantial savings by cutting printing costs. “We had one client that had been spending $80,000 every quarter on new marketing collateral and associated shipping costs,” McClymonds says. “Our system helps to reduce ongoing costs for what in the end are very arcane expenses. This is about modernization—it’s a clean and simple solution that’s especially beneficial for curbside places or any restaurant with a takeaway component.”
Product Spotlight What’s On the Market
BETTER THAN A POSTCARD Enjoy explosive redemption rates with Triadex Card Mailers’ new plastic postcards. Redemption rates for these cards range up to 45%! Major pizza restaurants have confirmed that redemption rates soar when a discount gift card is used with a direct mail piece. 877-874-2339, triadexcardmailers.com
NATURALLY DELICIOUS Liguria Foods’ family of meat products offers a distinctive blend of all-natural seasoning. All varieties are offered in link, diced and pieces and contain no fillers or MSG. 800-765-1452, liguriafood.com
50 YEARS OF PERFECT PIES The three Italian Cuppone Brothers started building pizza ovens and related equipment in 1963. Now, as the largest pizza oven manufacturer in Europe, the second Cuppone generation manages production in two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. Headquartered in northern California, Cuppone America brings these pizza ovens and service to the United States and also offers customer training in its fully operational pizza kitchen, including instruction from an Italian-trained pizza chef. 800-655-1831, cupponeamerica.com.
CREATE A SIGNATURE FLAVOR! Grande Mozzarella Provolone Mild Blend Cheese provides a smooth, well-balanced taste that’s subtle enough to use every day, yet distinct enough to provide signature flavor across your menu. With exceptional flavor and consistent quality, this unique blend distinguishes your dishes with a nutty, buttery flavor while allowing other flavors to shine. Additional Italian cheese blends include East Coast Blend, Cheddar Blend and 50/50 Blend. 800-847-2633, grandecheese.com
A PAN FOR EVERY PIZZA With more than 5,000 different sizes and styles available, American Metalcraft has a pan for every pizza and a style for every oven. Pizzeria operators can order trays, pans, screens or disks in sizes from 5” in diameter up to 29” in diameter. Covers, pie pans, cake pans, and bun pans are also available. 800-333-9133, amnow.com
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Advertiser Index
October 2012
Display Advertiser
Phone
Website
Page
Antimo Caputo................................................... 201-368-9197 .......................................... molinocaputo.it ................................... 41 AM Manufacturing.............................................. 708-841-0959 ........................................... ammfg.com ...................................... 24 American Metalcraft .......................................... 800-333-9133 .............................................amnow.com .......................................26 Bellissimo.......................................................... 800-813-2974 ..................................... bellissimofoods.com ................................ 17 Breakaway Restaurant Solutions ........................ 817-299-4500 .......................................... breakawaypos.com .............................. 33 Burke Corporation .............................................. 800-654-1152 ........................................... burkecorp.com ...........................Cover 3 CrustSaver.......................................................... 877-437-4743 ......................................... crustsaver.net ..................................... 64 Cuppone America............................................... 800-655-1831 .................................... cupponeamerica.com ............................... 43 EZ Dine .............................................................. 877-853-1263 ........................................... ezdinepos.com ...................................67 Fontanini........................................................... 708-485-4800 ......................................... fontanini.com .................................... 25 Grande Cheese................................................... 800-8-GRANDE ..................................... grandecheese.com ........................ 3, 54, 55 Hojiblanca ......................................................... 201-384-3007....................................................................................................... 64 HTH................................................................... 800-321-1850 .......................................... hthsigns.com ...................................... 65 La Nova.............................................................. 716-881-3355 ........................................... lanova.com ............................... Cover 4 Pendelton Flour Mills.......................................... 800-545-5640 ............................................ pfmills.com ........................................19 Le 5 Stagioni...................................................... 800-780-2280 ............................................ le5stagioni.it...................................... 31 Lillsun ............................................................... 260-356-6514............................................... lillsun.com .......................................53 Liguria............................................................... 800-765-1452 ........................................ liguriafood.com ............................ Cover 2 MF&B Restaurant Systems.................................. 888-480-EDGE ........................................ edgeovens.com .................................... 40 Manzo Food Sales .............................................. 305-406-2762 .......................................... manzofood.com .............................42, 52 Marsal & Sons..................................................... 631-226-6688 ........................................ marsalsons.com ................................... 60 Meridian Star POS............................................... 855-853-6485 ......................... meridianstarmerchantservices.com ..................... 49 Microworks........................................................ 800-787-2068 ........................................ microworks.com ................................... 11 Middleby Marshall.............................................. 877-34-OVENS ......................................... wowoven.com ...................................... 7 Moving Targets.................................................. 800-926-2451 ..................................... movingtargets.com ................................ 45 Mvix .................................................................. 886-310-4923 .......................................... mvixusa.com .......................................62 PDQ Signature Systems....................................... 877-968-6430 ........................................... pdqpos.com ...................................... 21 Perfect Crust...................................................... 800-783-5343 ....................................... perfectcrust.com ................................... 65 Petra Molino Quaglia Flour................................. 631-804-1879 .....................farinapetra.it/Benvenuto/Eng_Petra.html ................ 37 Pizza Keepa ....................................................... 516-546-7744 ........................................... pizzakeepa.com .................................. 58 Prox Print........................................................... 888-310-7769 ......................................... proxprint.com ..................................... 66 Rao’s Specialty Foods ......................................... 212-269-0151....................................................................................................... 32 Restaurant Depot ........................................................................................................... restaurantdepot.com ................................ 44 Somerset Industries............................................ 978-667-3355 ........................................... smrset.com ....................................... 66 Stanislaus........................................................... 800-327-7201 ......................................... stanislaus.com ...................................4, 5 Take Out Printing ............................................... 877-25-PRINT ...................................... takeoutprinting.com ................................ 65 The Menu Express............................................... 877-250-2819 .................................... themenuexpress.com ................................ 64 Thunderbird Food Machinery ............................. 888-771-9479 ...................................................................................................... 59 Univex............................................................... 800-258-6358 ........................................ univexcorp.com ................................... 66 XLT Ovens .......................................................... 888-443-2751 .......................................... xltovens.com ...................................... 13 PMQ provides this information as a courtesy to our readers and will not be held responsible for errors or omissions. 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Industry Resource Guide Grab a direct weblink to every advertiser in this guide at PMQ.com
ADVERTISING
APPAREL
BAGS COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE
BAKING SCHOOLS AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF BAKING .............................................Manhattan, KS 785-537-4750 ....................................................................Fax: 785-537-1493
CHEESE
Technology choices for every taste. p p p
p Loyalty Programs Point-of-Sale Online Ordering p Automated Marketing Smartphone Ordering
Foremost Farms USA: Your source for award-winning, soft, all-natural Italian cheeses. Crafted by Wisconsin Master Cheese Makers® www.foremostfarms.com ...................................................... (608) 355-8700 October 2012 • pmq.com
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PMQ Industry Resource Guide COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE, CONT.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE, CONT.
CONSULTING
CRUSTS BAKER’S QUALITY PIZZA CRUSTS, INC. ..................................... Waukesha, WI Par-baked, Sheeted, Pressed and Self-Rising Crusts; Custom Crusts; All sizes. www.BakersQualityPizzaCrusts.com ......................................800-846-6153 MOUNTAIN HARVEST PIZZA CRUST CO.......................................... Billings, MT Contact: Eric LeCaptain ........... 800-342-6205.................... Fax: 406-248-7336 Sheeted Dough, Prebake Crusts, Dough Balls, Freezer to Oven, Self-Rising Crusts in Standard, Wheat and Nine Grain. ...eric@mountainharvestpizza.com
CUTTING BOARDS - EQUAL SLICE
DOUGH
FREE POS SYSTEM Meridian Star offers a free POS system with no gimmicks. Included in a low-cost processing account, merchants can enjoy an all-in-one touch screen, a thermal printer, a kitchen printer, an electronic cash drawer and PC America restaurant management software, all at no cost.
As Seen in Product Spotlight!
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PMQ Industry Resource Guide DOUGH, CONT.
DOUGH PRESSES, ROLLERS, CONT.
DOUGH DIVIDERS/ROUNDERS
DOUGH TRAYS/PROOFING TRAYS DoughMate® by Madan Plastics Inc.
DoughMate
®
• Dough Trays – extremely durable and airtight! • Dough Tray Covers – designed to fit! The Leaders in • Plastic Dough Knives – two ergonomic designs! Dough Handling Products • Dough Tray Dollies – heavy duty! • Excellence in Customer service since 1955! The preferred dough tray of the largest pizza companies in the world. Buy direct from the manufacturer with over 20 years experience in dough trays.
Call 800-501-2458 .............. www.doughmate.com .............fax: 908-276-9483
FLOUR, GLUTEN-FREE BAY STATE MILLING GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA MIX.............. baystatemilling.com Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour, Custom-blends and Co-Packing Dedicated production area for exceptional purity.........................800-55-FLOUR DAKOTA PRAIRIE is a dedicated manufaturer of Gluten-Free flours, 37 pre-mixes, custom-mixes and many packaging options. By far the best grinds and the highest standard of purity ............. dakota-prairie.com............ ............701-324-4330
DOUGH PRESSES, ROLLERS
FLOUR
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PMQ Industry Resource Guide FRANCHISE
FLOUR, CONT.
Should You Franchise Your Restaurant? Call today to receive your free DVD on “How to Franchise Your Business� and learn about one of the most dynamic methods of expanding your business in today’s marketplace.
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FRANCHISE CONSULTANTS
GELATO
FOOD DISTRIBUTORS True Artisan Gelato
(888) 316-1545 www.stefanosgelato.com
GLUTEN-FREE PRODUCTS
INSURANCE 1051 Amboy Avenue, Perth Amboy NJ
800-997-0887 or 732-346-0600 Fax:732-346-0882
Serving NY, NJ, PA, DE, CT
www.vesuviofoods.com
FOOD COSTING PIZZAPRO .................................. Low cost pizza delivery insurance program Contact Julie Evans (717) 214-7616 ....................... www.pizzapro.amwins.com
MACHINERY/OVENS/EQUIPMENT
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PMQ Industry Resource Guide MACHINERY/OVENS/EQUIPMENT, CONT.
MACHINERY/OVENS/EQUIPMENT, CONT.
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PMQ Industry Resource Guide MAGNETS
MARKETING IDEAS, CONT.
pmq.com/tt2/recipe
MARKETING, MOBILE MAILING SERVICES
Eighty-Six Slow Sales Mobilize your best customers with a free mobile website and low-cost texting.
...mobilize & connect
ruxter.com 800.763.1953
MEAT TOPPINGS MANAGEMENT
KEEP MORE OF YOUR HARD EARNED DOUGH! 3 MONEY SAVING PROGRAMS:
SCHEDULING • ATTENDANCE • DAILY LOG
FAST, PAINLESS SCHEDULING • MONITOR LABOR COSTS • REDUCE TURNOVER • NOTIFY EMPLOYEES • ELIMINATE BUDDY PUNCHING • IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS • WEB-BASED
SAVE TIME AND INCREASE PROFITS!
WWW.TIMEFORGE.COM 866.684.7191
MARKETING IDEAS
BURKE CORPORATION...................................................www.BurkeCorp.com Italian, Mexican-Style and Specialty Fully Cooked Meats Contact: Liz Hertz.............sales_info@burkecorp.com.............800-654-1152
LOCALGIFTCARDS.COM..........888-494-9760.....Your pizzas are mobile – why not try mobile gift cards? Sell e-gift cards and m-gift cards on your website. SUGAR CREEK PACKING CO., Private Label Precooked Meat Topping Specialists No upfront costs. Simple set up. Visit LocalGiftCards.com to get started. www.sugarcreek.com800-848-8205...............................sales@sugarcreek.com
MENUBOARDS
MIXERS
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PMQ Industry Resource Guide MIXERS, USED
OLIVES CONT.
USED HOBART 60 QT. MIXER FOR SALE AT US $4980.00 PLUS SHIPPING. Call Lynn at 214-552-3218........................................ or e-mail tbfm@tbfm.com
MOBILE CATERING TRUCKS/UNITS
ON HOLD MARKETING
MOISTURE ABSORBENT TOPPINGS CONDITIONER KRISP-IT LTD. .............................................800-KRISP-IT (800-574-7748) Keep it Crisp with Krisp-It! www.krisp-it.com........................................................nick@krisp-it.com
ONLINE ORDERING
OIL
OLIVES
PIZZA BOXES
PIZZA BOX LINERS
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PMQ Industry Resource Guide PIZZA DELIVERY THERMAL BAGS
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PMQ Industry Resource Guide PIZZA DELIVERY THERMAL BAGS, CONT.
ELECTRIC HOTBAG
DELIVER GUARANTEED OVEN PIZZA • Heats and stays at 160-175° • Dry electric heat = no moisture • Removable heating elements • Made of rugged 1000 Denier nylon • Easily cleaned
PIZZA OVENS • Buy one bag or make a system
MARSAL & SONS, INC. ....................The new standard in the Pizza Industry Brick Lined Deck Ovens • Standard Deck Ovens • Prep Table Refrigeration 631-226-6688 .............. marsalsons.com ........... rich@marsalsons.com
• Wired with AC power • Heats all bags simultaneously • Quick release connectors, no hassle
800-927-6787
Made in the USA
www.HOTBAG.com
ROTO-FLEX OVEN CO. ........................................Contact Richard Dunfield 135 East Cevallos, San Antonio, TX 78204 PH 800-386-2279 ...... www.rotoflexoven.com .......... Fax 210-222-9007 October 2012 • pmq.com
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PMQ Industry Resource Guide PIZZA OVENS, CONT.
PIZZA OVENS, CONT.
EARTHSTONE OVENS, INC. .. 6717 San Fernando Rd....Glendale, CA 91201 800-840-4915 .........Fax: 818-553-1133 ...... www.earthstoneovens.com All units UI listed. FISH OVEN & EQUIPMENT CORP. 120 W. Kent Ave........Wauconda, IL 60084 TOLL Free 877-526-8720 ....... Fax: 847-526-7447 ...... www.fishoven.com WOOD STONE CORPORATION..............Stone Hearth & Specialty Commercial Cooking Equipment.....1801 W. Bakerview Rd....Bellingham, WA 98226..... TOLL Free 800-988-8103.....Fax: 360-650-1166......woodstone-corp.com
i feel preƩy.
oh, so preƩy!
PIZZA PANS
The Marsal MB Series is designed to fit your restaurant’s specific needs. Not only is it equipped with our exclusive burner system and 2” thick brick cooking surface to ensure the most evenly baked crust, but it looks great too. You can customize the exterior decor of your MB Series oven easily either with our prebuilt finishing kits or your own brick of tile design. Attract customers with a great looking oven and a great tasting pizza.
Seƫng the new standard. visit us online at www.marsalsons.com
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(631) 226-6688 FAX (631) 226-6890
& sons, inc. Pizza Ovens and Equipment
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
Bakeware Specialists
PIZZA PEELS
Manufacturer & Distributor of Pizza Smallwares www.paprod.com 734-421-1060
PMQ Industry Resource Guide PIZZA PEELS, CONT.
PRINTING CONT.
PIZZA SUPPLIES
PLASTIC DOUGH CONTAINERS Non Stick • Easy to Clean • FDA Approved Plastic Heavy Weight • Last 10X longer than metal! Replace your dented ones TODAY ! Manufacturers’ Direct Pricing Free Sample Available - $15 del/hand REBATED on first order. email us at: SunsetPlastics@aol.com
Call Vito:
718-200-1013 or Call Sid
516-546-7744
pmq.com/tt2/recipe REFRIGERATION PRINTING BEST CHOICE PRINT & MARKETING EXPERTS ...................... For over 25 Years Best Prices & Quality: ..........................Menus, Flyers, Door hangers, Post Cards Print & Mail, Menus or Postcards .............................. Includes postage 27.5 ea WWW.bcms.US ............................................................. or call 800-783-0990 October 2012 • pmq.com
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SPECIALTY FOODS
TOMATO PRODUCTS
CASTELLA IMPORTS, INC. ............................................... www.castella.com 60 Davids Drive, Hauppauge, NY 11788 ....................................... 866-Castella
SPICE FORMULATION, BLENDING & PACKAGING CALIFORNIA BLENDING, INC. ........ Confidential Custom Blending & Packaging. Bill Mooreheart, Jr. ....................... Serving Industiral Spice needs since 1976. 2603 Seaman, El Monte, CA 91733.............................................626-448-1918 CASTELLA IMPORTS, INC. ............................................... www.castella.com 60 Davids Drive, Hauppauge, NY 11788 ....................................... 866-Castella MCCLANCY SEASONING ........................... One Spice Road, Fort Mill, SC 29707 Contact: Dominic Damore 800-843-1968 .................................................................info@mcclancy.com
SAUCE ARMANINO FOODS ..............................................................Fine Italian Sauces 30588 San Antonio Street, Haywood, CA ..................................... 866-553-5611 Email: customerservice@armaninofoods.com ......... www.armaninofoods.com
TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT/SUPPLIES/SERVICE Specializing in voice and data communications service, repair, installation, sequencers and on-hold messaging.
GUARANTEED LOWEST INDUSTRY PRICE! www.fidelitycom.com.........................800-683-5600
VENTILATION STICKY NOTES
TAKE AND BAKE TRAYS
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PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly
WINGS
Resource Guide Advertiser Index October 2012 Resource Advertiser
Phone
Page
411eat.com..........................................................213-622-4247 ............................. 75 AFC Insurance ......................................................800-411-4144 ............................. 72 Allied Metal Spinning ...........................................800-615-2266 ............................. 78 AM Manufacturing ..............................................800-342-6904 ............................. 71 American Institute of Baking ................................785-537-4910 ............................. 69 American Wholesale.............................................216-426-8882 ............................. 79 Armanino Foods ...................................................866-553-5611 ............................. 80 Arrow POS ............................................................888-378-3338 ............................. 69 Bacio ................................................................... 855-BACIO85 .............................. 69 Bag Solutions.......................................................866-224-8646 ............................. 76 Baker’s Quality Pizza Crusts ..................................800-846-6153 ............................. 70 Bay State Milling ..................................................800-55-FLOUR ............................. 71 Belissimo .............................................................800-813-2974 ............................. 72 Best Choice Print & Marketing Experts ..................800-783-0990 ............................. 79 Best Point of Sale .................................................866-285-7613 ............................. 70 Burke Corporation ................................................800-654-1152 ............................. 74 Campus Collection ................................................800-289-8904 ............................. 69 Capstone Headwear .............................................888-551-8311 ............................. 69 Caputo .................................................................708-450-0074 ............................. 72 Castella Imports ...................................................866-CASTELLA ............................. 80 Chef to Chef Palm Oil............................................716-684-5470 ............................. 75 Chef Santo Bruno .................................................813-230-8108 ............................. 70 CoverTex ..............................................................800-968-2310 ............................. 77 Crown Custom Metal Spinning ..............................800-750-1924 ............................. 79 Crust Saver ...........................................................877-437-4903 ............................. 75 Dakota Prairie Flour .............................................701-324-4330 ............................. 71 DeIorio’s...............................................................800-649-9212 ............................. 70 Delivery Bags USA................................................888-501-BAGS ............................. 77 Domata Living Flour .............................................417-654-4010 ............................. 71 Dough Xpress .......................................................800-835-0606 ............................. 71 DoughMate ..........................................................800-501-2450 ............................. 71 Dutchess Bakers’ Machinery .................................800-777-4498 ............................. 71 Earthstone Ovens .................................................800-840-4915 ............................. 78 EDGE ....................................................................888-480-EDGE ............................. 78 Electric Hotbag.....................................................800-927-6787 ............................. 77 Epic Insurance ......................................................925-244-7719 ............................. 72 Escalon ................................................................ 888-ESCALON.............................. 80 Erika Record .........................................................973-614-8500 ............................. 71 Eyenalyze ............................................................501-358-4292 ............................. 72 Fidelity Communications ......................................800-683-5600 ............................. 80 Fish Oven & Equipment ........................................877-526-8720 ............................. 78 Foremost Farms ...................................................608-355-8700 ............................. 69 Fontanini ............................................................ 800-331-MEAT ............................. 74 GI. Metal ..............................................................630-553-9134 ............................. 76 Granbury Restaurant Solutions .............................800-910-3947 ............................. 69 Grande Cheese Company ..................................... 800-8-GRANDE ............................ 69 Hojiblanca ...........................................................201-384-3007 ............................. 75 Hudson Refrigeration Manufacturing ...................800-924-8687 ............................ 73 iFranchise Group ..................................................708-957-2300 ............................. 72 Incredible Bags ....................................................888-254-9453 ............................. 76 J & G Mills ............................................................734-469-4504 ............................. 73 Krisp-It ................................................................800-590-7908 ............................. 75 La Nova............................................................... 800-6-LANOVA............................. 80 Le 5 Stagioni ........................................................800-780-2280 ............................. 71 Liguria Foods .......................................................800-925-1452 ............................. 74 Lillsun..................................................................260-356-6514 ............................. 78 Lindsay Olives ......................................................800-252-3557 ............................. 75 Lloyd Pans............................................................800-840-8683 ............................. 78 M.Press Packaging ...............................................541-548-9889 ............................. 80 Magnetic Ad Concepts ..........................................800-365-3351 ............................. 74 Mario Camacho Foods...........................................800-881-4534 ............................. 75 Marsal & Sons ......................................................631-226-6688 .................. 72, 77, 78
Resource Advertiser
Phone
Page
Max Balloons .......................................................800-541-5961 ............................. 74 McClancy Seasoning .............................................800-843-1968 ............................. 80 Melissa Data ........................................................800-635-4772 ............................. 74 Menu Powerhouse ...............................................888-210-8189 ............................. 79 MenuPro ..............................................................800-907-3690 ............................. 70 Meridian Star MS..................................................855-853-6485 ............................. 70 Message On Hold..................................................800-392-4664 ............................. 75 MFG Tray ..............................................................800-458-6050 ............................. 71 Microworks POS Solutions.....................................800-787-2068 ............................. 70 Molino San Felice .................................................201-368-9197 ............................. 72 Mountain Harvest Pizza Crust ...............................800-342-6205 ............................. 70 Moving Targets ............................................. 800-926-2451 ext. 356 ..................... 69 Mr. Peel ...............................................................888-994-4664 ............................. 79 Musco Family Olive ...............................................800-523-9828 ............................. 75 Mvix ....................................................................886-310-4923 ............................. 74 Neil Jones Food ....................................................800-291-3862 ............................. 80 NMI .....................................................................800-994-4664 ............................. 79 Northern Pizza Equipment....................................800-426-0323 ............................. 73 NoteAds ...............................................................800-309-9102 ............................. 80 Off the Wall Magnetics .........................................800-337-2637 ............................. 74 One Click Diner......................................................877-328-8040 ............................ 75 Pacific Coast Producers .........................................800-510-3706 ............................. 80 P.A. Products ........................................................884-421-1060 ............................. 78 PDQ Signature Systems ........................................877-968-6430 ............................. 70 Peel A Deal...........................................................877-563-5654 ............................. 74 Peerless Ovens .....................................................800-548-4514 ............................. 78 Picard ..................................................................800-668-1883 ............................. 78 Pizza Dough .........................................................718-951-3555 ............................. 71 Pizza Equipment Warehouse.................................888-749-9237 ............................. 78 Pizza Ovens.com...................................................877-367-6836 ............................. 78 Pizzapro...............................................................717-214-7616 ............................. 72 Pizza Trucks of Canada ..........................................204-297-7667 ............................. 75 POSnet ................................................................866-976-7638 ............................. 70 Portion Padl .........................................................330-608-5928 ............................. 70 Presto Foods ........................................................800-589-8604 ............................. 72 Proxprint .............................................................888-310-7769 ............................. 79 Red Gold ....................................................... 877-908-9798 ext. 163....................... 80 Redi Heat .............................................................888-556-2024 ............................. 77 Restaurant Depot .................................................................................................... 72 RockTenn .............................................................816-415-7359 ............................. 75 Roto-Flex Oven Co.................................................800-386-2279............................. 77 Ruxter .................................................................800-923-1953 ............................. 74 Saputo .................................................................800-824-3388 ............................. 69 Somerset .............................................................800-772-4404 ............................. 71 SpeedLine ............................................................888-400-9185 ............................. 70 Stanislaus Food Products ......................................800-327-7201 ............................. 80 Star Pizza Box ......................................................800-626-0828 ............................. 75 Stefano’s Gelato ...................................................888-316-1545 ............................. 72 Sugar Creek Packing .............................................800-848-8205 ............................. 74 Sunset Plastics .....................................................878-200-1013 ............................. 79 Superior Menu .....................................................800-464-2182 ........................74, 79 Tasti Grain............................................................315-624-2748 ............................. 72 Tasty Breads.........................................................888-352-7323 ............................. 70 Thermal Bags by Ingrid.........................................800-622-5560 ............................. 77 Thunderbird .........................................................800-7-MIXERS ............................. 73 Timeforge ............................................................866-684-8791 ............................. 74 Toscana Cheese ....................................................201-617-1500 ............................. 69 Univex .................................................................800-258-6358 ............................. 74 Ventilation Direct .................................................866-433-8335 ............................. 80 Vesuvio Foods ......................................................800-997-0887 ............................. 72 Wood Stone .........................................................800-988-8103 ............................. 78 XLT Ovens .............................................................888-443-2751 ............................ 78 October 2012 • pmq.com
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(
time capsule
)
Santarpio’s Pizza From bread bakery to neighborhood bar to legendary pizzeria, Santarpio’s has been pleasing customers for more than a century. Pizza might never have been introduced at Boston-based Santarpio’s Pizza (santarpiospizza.com) if Joseph Santarpio didn’t turn down an offer to play for the New York Yankees, which was then a pro football team. His father, Francisco, owned a bread bakery he’d founded in 1903 and insisted that his son abandon his pro athlete dreams and work for the family business, hauling bread on his shoulder to sell in the streets of Boston. After Prohibition ended, the bakery became a bar that fed patrons lunchtime fare such as spaghetti and meatballs, and, by the 1940s, Joe Timpone, Joseph’s brother-in-law, came in to make pizzas at night after working as a mason in the daytime. A third generation inherited the business in the 1960s, when Joseph’s son Frank took over. “My father made the pizzeria what it is today,” says Joia Santarpio, daughter of “H He was was wa Frank and current owner of the pizzeria with siblings Joe, Frank and Carla. “He at the pizzeria six or seven days a week and just retired seven years ago!” Santarpio’s, says Joia, has always been “nothing too fancy”—a pizzeria with “grumpy waiters,” no windows, nonexistent parking, and a bare-bones menu with only pizza, homemade sausage and lamb tips—but people still visit from all over the world, and it consistently places on “best of” lists. The pizza itself is stripped down, with a thin crust, fresh-cut mozzarella, “plain tomato sauce” sans herbs or spices, and traditional toppings such as sausage, peppers and onions. It’s assembled “upside-down,” with pizza makers adding toppings, cheese and finally sauce, and then cooked until the crust becomes crunchy and crispy. But this simplicity, opines Joia, is a key to the pizzeria’s success. “Try to keep it simple; you should do a few things really well,” she advises. “A lot of places you go to, everything is good, but nothing is great, and customers can find that anywhere. But where else can they get your one-of-a-kind grandmother’s secret recipe?” Though Santarpio’s existed for more than 100 years with only one location, in September 2010 the family decided to branch out and open a second, more family-friendly location in Peabody, Massachusetts, 14 miles from the original. As the fifth generation gets involved in the family enterprise, Joia says, there might be room for additional pizzerias in the future. But, for now, she celebrates the melting pot that the original location has become. “There’s not just one type of person coming in,” she notes. “People can come in a limo, wearing sequin dresses, or they can show up in pajamas—everybody feels comfortable here.” –Tracy Morin (Clockwise from top) Santarpio’s, shown here in the ’70s, has stood in the same location for 100-plus years; Francisco (far right) began the Santarpio’s tradition; boxer Jack Dempsey visits the restaurant in 1950.
Has your pizzeria been in business for 50 or more years? If so, contact us at tracy@pmq.com. 82
PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly