PMQ Pizza Magazine Jan/Feb 2020

January/February 2020

PIZZA MAGAZINE T H E W O R L D ' S A U T H O R I T Y O N P I Z Z A | P M Q . C O M | P I Z Z AT V. C O M

PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | Volume 24, Issue 1

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

The Uyanik family reinvents the pizza scene in a famous Manhattan neighborhood.

PAGE 26 The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly | PMQ.com

HARLEM VIBES DIGITAL MARKETING 34

BIRD IS THE WORD 42

THE BEST INGREDIENTS MAKE THE BEST PIZZA. PERIOD. YOU KNOW IT. I KNOW IT. AND YOU BETTER BELIEVE THE CUSTOMER KNOWS IT.

What’s your declaration of independence?

Grande is championing operators who have an independent spirit and shared passion for excellence. By providing the finest all natural, authentic Italian cheeses, along with an unwavering commitment to quality, we’ll continue to advocate for independents and their love of the craft.

grandecheese.com 1-800-8-GRANDE © 2019 Grande Cheese Company

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FEATURED STORY LEGENDARY DI FARA NOW DELIVERS ANYWHERE IN THE U.S. Pizza lovers no longer have to visit New York to sample Domenico “Dom” DeMarco’s legendary Neapolitan and Sicilian pies. The company announced that it would start shipping its pizzas nationwide in early December through Goldbelly, a specialty delivery company that has received coverage from Good Morning America, Today, Fox News, Time and other national media outlets. Goldbelly reports it has gotten more than 20,000 requests for Di Fara’s pizzas since its launch in 2013.

P M Q . C O M /D IFA R A G O L D B E L LY D E L IV E RY

ALSO ON PMQ.COM

WHY PIZZERIAS SHOULD MAKE SUSTAINABILITY A PRIORITY IN 2020

PIZZA HUT CHIEF BRAND OFFICER RESIGNS ABRUPTLY

Consumers have demonstrated that sustainability needs to be a priority for restaurants, and the U.S. government is following suit. An expert looks at the top policy trends related to sustainability and foodservice in 2020.

After less than two years on the job, Marianne Radley, Pizza Hut’s U.S chief brand officer, resigned in December, and the company offered no reason for her abrupt departure. BrandInnovators.com named Radley one of the top brand innovators for 2019.

PMQ.COM/PIZZERIASUSTAINABILITY

PMQ.COM/MARIANNERADLEYRESIGNS

HAS ZUME BACKED AWAY FROM PIZZA MAKING ROBOTS?

MICHIGAN PIZZERIA GIVES 100% OF ONE-DAY SALES TO EMPLOYEES

Zume, famous for its pizza making robots, appears to have shifted its priorities to working with restaurants that use cloud kitchens and partnerships with third-party delivery providers. Will Zume become “the Amazon of food”?

Klavon’s Pizzeria & Pub, with three locations in Michigan, dedicated a full day’s sales to Christmas bonuses for its employees. The goal: to make Klavon’s employees, most of whom have worked there for six to 10 years, feel irreplaceable.

PMQ.COM/ZUMESHIFT

PMQ.COM/KLAVONSEMPLOYEEAPPRECIATION

6 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

IN THIS ISSUE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY FEATURES

26

ON COVTHE ER

For the Love of Harlem

In historic Harlem, Jeannie and Alper Uyanik, founders of Harlem Pizza Co. and Sliced

by Harlem Pizza Co., work to spur social change through the power of pizza. (Cover photo by Margaret Pattillo)

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Chef’s Corner: Brad Corbin & Sloopy’s Cafe

42 Bird is the Word 8 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

34

Marketing in a Digital World

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IN THIS ISSUE A Publication of PMQ, Inc. 662-234-5481 Volume 24, Issue 1 January/February 2020 ISSN 1937-5263

JANUARY/FEBRUARY DEPARTMENTS

PUBLISHER Steve Green, sg@pmq.com ext. 123 CO-PUBLISHER Linda Green, linda.pmq@gmail.com ext. 121 EDITOR IN CHIEF Rick Hynum, rick@pmq.com ext. 130 ART DIRECTOR Eric Summers, eric@pmq.com ext. 134 SENIOR COPY EDITOR Tracy Morin, tracy@pmq.com

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In Lehmann’s Terms: Oil vs. Shortening

The Dough Doctor explores how oils and fats can affect the flavor of a pan pizza.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Callie Daniels Bryant, callie@pmq.com DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS/ SOCIAL MEDIA Heather Cray, heather@pmq.com ext. 137 DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH Blake Harris, blake@pmq.com ext. 136 TEST CHEF/USPT COORDINATOR Brian Hernandez, brian@pmq.com ext. 129 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Bill DeJournett FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER David Fischer, david@pmq.com CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Shawn Brown, shawn@pmq.com

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Recipe of the Month: Pizza Siciliano with Nutella

This unique dessert pizza features fiore di latte cream, chestnuts and crumbled hazelnut biscotti.

SALES DIRECTOR Linda Green, linda.pmq@gmail.com ext. 121 SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Tom Boyles, tom@pmq.com ext. 122 ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Chris Green, chris@pmq.com ext. 125 SALES ASSISTANT Brandy Pinion, brandy@pmq.com ext. 127 PMQ INTERNATIONAL PMQ CHINA Yvonne Liu, yvonne@pmq.com PMQ RUSSIA Vladimir Davydov, vladimir@pmq.com PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE 605 Edison St. • Oxford, MS 38655 662.234.5481 • 662.234.0665 Fax

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Pizza Hall of Fame: Yetty’s Pizza & Pasta At just 21, Felicia Netty took over this six-table hangout and transformed it into a thriving two-story empire.

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

IN EVERY ISSUE 6 Online @ PMQ 14 Moneymakers

52 Product Spotlight 54 The Pizza Exchange

10 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

Cost of U.S. subscription is $25 per year. International $35.

Periodical postage pricing paid at Oxford, MS. Additional mailing offices at Bolingbrook, IL. Postmaster: Send address changes to: PMQ Pizza Magazine, PO Box 9, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-9953.

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

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IN LEHMANN’S TERMS

OIL VS. SHORTENING: SOLVING A SLIPPERY, STICKY DILEMMA Adding oil or shortening to your pan can affect your pizza in a variety of ways—not all of them good. BY TOM LEHMANN

Q A

When making pan pizzas, does it make a difference which type of oil or fat is used in the pan?

This is actually a two-part question, and the short answer to both is yes. The type of oil used in the pan can impact the flavor of the finished pan pizza. I recommend using either canola or peanut oil due to both oils’ high-heat performance properties and bland flavor profiles.

When you’re looking at using oil vs. shortening in the pan, the differences will be much more pronounced. If oil is used, it can be nearly impossible to open the dough ball in the pan; the dough will just keep sliding around and won’t stay put. If you’re going to use oil, I recommend opening the dough into a skin first and then placing the dough skin in the pan. Even with that approach, after 30 or more minutes of proofing, you will most likely still need to carefully stretch the dough a bit more to get it to fully fit the pan.

When you use shortening or a “plastic” fat in the pan, the dough actually adheres to the fat, making it much easier to hand-form the dough to the pan. Once the dough becomes “stuck” to the shortening, it stays put long enough for the dough to fully relax. Hence, in all probability, you won’t need to do any more fitting of the dough to the pan. This is

12 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

especially useful when forming a raised edge on the pan crust.

There is also a major difference between how oil and shortening affect the finished crust. Shortening will lend it an outer crust characteristic that’s very similar to that of a loaf of white pan bread. With oil, on the other hand, the crust will have a distinct fried characteristic.

If your customers are sensitive to fat or object to what might be perceived as a “greasy” or “oily” pizza, you should reconsider the use of oil in the pan. The oil will get on diners’ fingers, napkins, and possibly even on the bottom of your pizza boxes after baking. Shortening, on the other hand, will give your pizza a much drier, less oily perception, regardless of the amount used. And since shortening reverts back to its original crystalline state upon cooling, the crust is never perceived as greasy or oily, even in a delivery/ carryout situation.

Tom Lehmann was the longtime director of bakery assistance for the American Institute of Baking (AIB) and is now a pizza industry consultant.

T H E DOU GH DOCT OR@H OT MAIL .COM

MONEYMAKERS

ONE SMART COOKIE

Miami-based foodie influencer Sam Schnur of The Naughty Fork sampled Wild Slice’s Girl Scout cookie pizzas and posted a photo that has garnered 12,570 likes on Instagram.

You might say Mike Thomas, owner of Wild Slice in Roswell, Georgia, is one smart cookie. He’s the culinary and marketing whiz behind a trio of pizzas inspired by the famous flavors of Girl Scout cookies—Thin Mint, Samoa and Tagalong.

Already known for his super-sized slices, Thomas hit upon the idea for the dessert pizzas one night last February while scrolling through Facebook.

“When the Girl Scouts start to sell cookies, I noticed there was a significant number of people getting excited to pick up their cookies,” he says. “It was all over my Facebook feed.” Thomas bought several boxes of cookies and dreamed up recipes for pizzas loaded with crumbled-cookie goodness and other ingredients. The Thin Mint, for example, features a Nutella base, Thin Mint cookies and a peppermint chocolate drizzle. To create online buzz, Thomas hosted a special event for local foodie influencers.

“About 10 to 15 influencers simultaneously launched them for us on Instagram and Facebook,” Thomas recalls. “Almost instantly, we had guests coming in to try them, some coming from as far as two hours away!” The 10” pies sell for $10 to $12 for as long as the cookies are available. At other times, Thomas substitutes storebought cookies, such as Mint Oreos, upon request.

LOADING UP THE FRONT LINE With help from Kirkwood Pizzeria in Kirkwood, Missouri, members of the Kirkwood High School Pioneers took carb-loading to a whole new level on the day before their big annual Thanksgiving rivalry game with the Webster High School Statesmen. In the newest tradition surrounding the historic Turkey Day matchup—which dates back to 1898—the Pioneers’ offensive linemen sat down for an epic pizza eating contest, with senior Don Brown obliterating an entire 16” cheese pie in just seven minutes for the win.

Fortunately, all that cheese and crust didn’t slow the gladiators down—the Pioneers wrapped up their 7-4 season with a 42-28 win over the Statesmen, their Kirkwood Pizzeria challenged seventh Turkey Day victory in a row.

Kirkwood High’s offensive line to a pizza eating contest just one day before their annual Thanksgiving Day game with rival Webster High.

14 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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MONEYMAKERS Children rang in the new year at Mici Handcrafted Italian in Denver with sparkling cider, party hats and kid-sized items from the Bambini Menu.

NOT JUST ANOTHER AULD LANG SYNE New Year’s Eve feels like just another night for most parents of small children, so Mici Handcrafted Italian, with six locations in the Denver area, created a party just for them—no babysitter required. Mici hosted its annual Kids’ New Year’s Eve bash on December 31, with the childfriendly Bambini Menu, Italian cookies and locally made gelato. Every table received noisemakers and party favors, and children toasted the new year at “midnight” (actually 7 p.m.) with complimentary sparkling cider. The Bambini Menu features kid-sized pies, pasta, milk or chocolate milk, and a side of grapes or grape tomatoes. “We started doing a kids’ countdown to New Year’s as a way to do something fun for the families that dine with us all year long,” says Mici CEO Elliot Schiffer. “This is our third year celebrating it, and it’s a lot of fun—parents get to count down with the kids, and the kids get to enjoy all of the fun of New Year’s without the late bedtime.”

CAULIFLOWER’S RISE TO POWER Once the veggie that every kid turned up his nose at, cauliflower is having a culinary moment, thanks to rising demand for vegetarian and vegan options on restaurant menus. In Grubhub’s annual “Year in Food” report, the third-party online ordering/delivery company named cauliflower pizza—that is, pizza with a cauliflower crust—its Top Food of the Year for 2019. Grubhub analyzed tens of millions of orders placed by 21 million diners on its platform to identify the flavor profiles that rose in popularity last year. Cauliflower pizza’s popularity rose by 650%, the company found. “One thing is clear,” the report stated.

“Plant-based foods are here to stay, with a majority of 2019’s top foods comprised of vegetarian and vegan-friendly options.” Meanwhile, in its own food trends report, Yelp declared 2020 to be “the year of cauliflower.” Yelp scoured its online review data to compile “a list of words and phrases that were rising the fastest and most significantly between 2018 and 2019 in terms of percentage of users who were mentioning them.” Yelp singled out cauliflower as a “healthy-swap comfort food,” noting, “People are increasingly searching for healthy swaps for their favorite comfort foods. Cauliflower mashed potatoes and cauliflower pizza are just two of the creative dishes we’re seeing added to menus and searches.”

Both Grubhub and Yelp singled out cauliflower-crust pizzas as a hot food item for 2020.

16 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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THE CHEF’S CORNER

Bradley Corbin thinks creatively to make sure Sloopy’s Sports Café stands out from the pack of competitors.

BRADLEY CORBIN, SLOOPY’S SPORTS CAFÉ This Lakeside, Ohio, pizzaiolo didn’t grow up in a pizza family, but he has made his mark with artisanal, one-of-a-kind pies loaded with international flavors. BY BRIAN HERNANDEZ Lakeside, Ohio, is a little blip on the shore of Lake Erie, right across the Sandusky Bay from Cedar Point. But this waterfront hamlet has long been a secret getaway for the rich and famous, including Eric Clapton and Harry Drackett, the inventor of Windex. It’s also the home of Sloopy’s Sports Café, a local fixture since 1995. When U.S. Pizza Team (USPT) member Bradley Corbin bought Sloopy’s in 2010, he propelled it to the next level with great-tasting pies featuring unique topping combinations—and put Lakeside on the world pizza map. I paid Brad a visit to explore the mindset behind some of his unique, award-winning pizzas and to learn how thinking outside the box can help any pizzeria.

Hernandez: Tell me about your earliest pizza memory.

Corbin: I never grew up in a pizzeria, so my earliest memory would be how pizza brought our family together. We would have a weekly pizza night where we would all talk about our week and just be a family. Sometimes we would order in, or my mom would make a pizza. Back then, she used to make the pies. Now we make the pies. Pizza is just a great way to bring people together.

Hernandez: Since you weren’t from a pizza family, how did you get started in this business?

Corbin: In 2003, when I was 19, I was a broke college kid, and I started here [at Sloopy’s] as a delivery driver and dishwasher.

I graduated and went into a flooded IT market, so I kept working in the pizza industry, because it was good money. I told the owner if there was ever a way for me to buy into what he had here, I was all about it. Come 2010, we were able to make that happen, and I took over as owner. Sloopy’s has been my one and only pizza job ever.

Hernandez: Lake Erie is very much a seasonal destination.

What are some of the challenges of running a resort-area establishment?

Corbin: About 16 weeks a year, we’re jammin’. It’s mainly about being able to survive year-round. Our lease is for 12 months, but we really only make our bread and butter in those 16 weeks. I guess the biggest hurdle would be saving money.

Don’t go spending it all when your pockets are fat. You have to stash those nuts away for the winter like a squirrel so you can get through it. The best thing to do is to set up a lease structure

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Bradley Corbin took first place at a 2017 U.S. Pizza Team competition.

that allows you to pay more of your rent in the summer, when you’re making money, and less in the winter. It might take some negotiating, but landlords can be flexible about this if you show them it will benefit them.

Hernandez: Let’s jump over to your crazy pies. You’re in the Midwest, a very meat-and-potatoes kind of place. How do you get customers to order items like your Korean BBQ and Hibachi pizzas?

Corbin: We design these pizzas for new competitions that we go to. We compete annually in Las Vegas, Columbus and Cleveland and in many other places, including Italy. The best way to bring the customers on board is to just put it in their mouths. We’ll make a big one, cut it into small pieces and hand out free samples. We’ll say, “Here, try our Hibachi Pizza or our Korean BBQ. Tell us what you think. Does it wow you?” We really go for the wow factor. We like you to get a new flavor in each bite, and we try to hit all the classics on your palate—you know, savory, sweet, spicy, sometimes sour. We strive to do things that are outside the box. I don’t want to be like every other pizzeria. We put fresh fruit on pizza. We do Asian flavors, Mexican flavors. I want to be the guy that is doing everything that the guy down the street isn’t.

“I don’t want to be like every other pizzeria. We put fresh fruit on pizza.

We do Asian flavors, Mexican flavors.

I want to be the guy that is doing everything that the guy down the street isn’t.”

— BRADLEY CORBIN, SLOOPY’S SPORTS CAFÉ

Hernandez: Besides setting your pizzeria apart from competitors, what other benefits do these outside-the-box recipes offer?

Corbin: Definitely the word-of-mouth factor. We have people who will drive for hours to try our new award winners or even just to get their favorite pizzas. No one else does what we do on a pizza, so they really have no choice. But that’s good for us.

And they spread the word in their towns, and, before you know it, you have people asking you to ship them par-baked pies.

Hernandez: What advice would you give someone trying to think outside the box for recipes?

Corbin: Remember that pizza is a blank canvas. You need a good crust, and honestly, that’s it. If you are doing the everyday JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 | PMQ.COM

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Corbin’s Korean BBQ Pizza blends savory and sweet flavors with various textures and colors.

type of pizza, yes, you need a good sauce and cheese, too. But if you are trying to come up with something no one else has, start with the dough. You don’t need a red sauce for a pizza. Take flavors from other dishes that you like, even from other countries. Those will be the most exotic and unique flavors for pizza you will find. Throw a dart at a world map and come up with a pizza featuring a signature dish from wherever the dart lands. And know that not every pizza you try is going to be a winner. Some will be downright nasty! But don’t give up. Think of pizza as a vessel for flavor. The rest will fall into place. Finally, don’t be afraid of constructive criticism from people you trust, but also trust yourself and your own critiques.

You tend to be your own harshest critic.

Hernandez: Do you test your competition pies on your customers before the event?

Corbin: We’ll test our pizzas on the regulars and get their honest feedback. After the competition, we will start incorporating all the other customers into the trials, especially after we win. There is no better marketing tool than being able to put the words “awardwinning” on your menu, especially more than once. Our regulars trust us not to steer them wrong, especially after winning seven national awards. That’s one of the benefits of competing for a pizzeria, plus all the connections you make in the industry and ideas you can glean from other competitors, as well as the lifelong friendships you form.

Hernandez: For our Chef’s Corner recipe, you shared the Korean BBQ pie that you won a competition with in 2017. What’s going on with this pie?

Corbin: We start it with our housemade dough that has coldfermented for 48 hours. We put Galbani whole-milk mozzarella right on the dough, and then our seasoned and crumbled ground beef, which is flavored with some ginger, salt, pepper and garlic.

Then we add our fried rice. We bake that off. Then, after the bake, we add some crispy fried onions, fresh shredded carrots, diagonally sliced scallions, and fresh cilantro. Then we drizzle a spiral of our Korean barbecue sauce and finish it with sesame seeds.

Hernandez: I tasted the Korean BBQ Pizza at your place, and I loved the different textures. A cross-section of a slice reminded me of a 7-layer dip, only better. The fried rice gave it some chew with a little firmness, and the fresh veggies and sesame seeds on top had a lot of crunch and flavor. I liked the fact that they were cool while the pie itself was hot. And, of course, the star of the show was the Korean barbecue sauce.

Corbin: This can be done on any crust, really. The version we won with used a Detroit-style crust. You just have to play around with it in your pizzeria and see what works best for you.

Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s test chef.

20 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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THE CHEF’S CORNER

KOREAN BBQ PIZZA

INGREDIENTS: • 16-oz. dough ball (14” round) • 5 oz. Galbani Whole-Milk Mozzarella • 3-4 oz. crumbled ground beef, seasoned to taste with salt, pepper, garlic and ginger • 2-3 oz. fried rice, fried to taste with sesame oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, chopped onion, salt and pepper • 1 oz. fried onions • 1 oz. carrots, shredded • ½ oz. fresh scallions, diagonally chopped • ½ oz. fresh cilantro • Korean barbecue sauce, drizzled • Sprinkle of sesame seeds FRIED RICE: Cook the rice, preferably the day before, and refrigerate (cold, dry rice gets crispier in the skillet). If you don’t want to wait, spread cooked rice evenly on a baking sheet and place in the

freezer for about 10 minutes. Add sesame oil to a heated pan, then add rice and begin to fry. After 1-2 minutes, add oyster sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, chopped onion, salt and pepper, all to taste. Continue to fry until the mixture has reduced and the desired texture is achieved.

DIRECTIONS: Begin to brown your ground beef, then add salt, pepper, garlic (or garlic powder) and ginger to taste. Drain and set aside for later.

Stretch dough, then add mozzarella evenly. Add fried rice and ground beef, then bake at 525°F for about 7-10 minutes (for a deck oven). Once the dough is golden-brown and the cheese has melted, remove pizza from the oven and slice before adding the final toppings. Add fried onions, shredded carrots, sliced scallions and fresh cilantro. Drizzle Korean barbecue sauce over the pie, then sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Enjoy!

22 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

5-year Parts & Labor Warranty

“We are most concerned about what comes out of the end of the oven�

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

JAN/FEB RECIPE

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1 9x11” pre-baked pizza crust 3 oz. fiore di latte cream 3 oz. Nutella 1 c. chestnuts, cut into quarters ¼ c. hazelnut biscotti, crumbles

To prepare the fiore di latte cream: In a small bowl, add ¼ c. of cold milk and mix in powdered gelatin. Let sit for 5 minutes to form a sponge. Once the mix is spongy, melt to turn into a liquid. (You can do this in a microwave oven.) Set aside to cool down.

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FIORE DI LATTE CREAM INGREDIENTS: ¼ c. (2 oz.) milk 3 tsp. unflavored powdered gelatin 1 c. (8 oz.) milk, very cold Powdered sugar, optional

24 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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26 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

Harlem vibes By hiring the formerly incarcerated, Jeannie and Alper Uyanik hope to spur social change through the power of pizza in one of Manhattan’s most storied neighborhoods.

BY RICK HYNUM | PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS BY MARGARET PATTILLO

Harlem is famous for a lot of reasons. Once the stomping grounds of African American icons like Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and James Brown, this historic Manhattan neighborhood inspired the novels of Zora Neale Hurston and the poetry of Langston Hughes, not to mention the comedic stylings of Richard Pryor. Today, Jeannie and Alper Uyanik, founders of Harlem Pizza Co. and Sliced by Harlem Pizza Co., hope to jazz up the neighborhood yet again—this time through pizza.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 | PMQ.COM

27

Harlem Pizza Co. co-owner Alper Uyanik teaches oven skills to his kids, Sami, 13, and Alara, 10.

“I knew that if I wouldn’t want my own kids to eat what we’re making here, I wouldn’t feel comfortable selling it to my neighbors’ kids and the community’s kids. I have a clear conscience when they’re eating our food.”

At first glance, the Uyaniks might seem unlikely candidates for such a mission. Jeannie was born in Cairo, while Alper hails from Niksar, Turkey, and both worked in the high-flying worlds of international finance and event management before opening Harlem Pizza Co. in late 2014. And they admit they still have a lot to learn about the pizza business. “It was never meant to be a full-time gig,” Alper says. “It was, like, let’s do something for the neighborhood—it’ll be fun.”

Turns out it hasn’t always been that much fun—at times, it has been heartbreaking (for reasons we’ll explain shortly). But from the quality of their food to building a brand that has been embraced by nearby Columbia University, the Uyaniks are doing many things right while also doing a lot of good for a community that still struggles with poverty, crime and a storied but troubled past.

— ALPER UYANIK, HARLEM PIZZA CO.

GOOD NEIGHBORS VIA FACEBOOK

One thing you’ll learn quickly in a chat with the Uyaniks is that they care deeply about Harlem, where they’ve lived since 2008. “When we started Harlem Pizza Co., it was for the neighborhood, by the neighbors,” Jeannie says. “Not necessarily neighbors that were reflective of all parts of Harlem, but neighbors who love this place and have called it home for years.”

Out for a walk one day in 2014, Alper noticed a shuttered storefront that had previously housed a pizzeria, complete with a wood-burning oven. The Uyaniks conferred with friends and neighbors about investing in a new restaurant; everyone agreed the neighborhood sorely needed a good pizza joint.

“At the time, I was working for Standard Bank, which had a joint venture with a Turkish entity,” Alper recalls. “Toward the end of 2014, they ended

28 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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that relationship and closed the desk down here in New York, and I said, ‘Maybe this is a sign.’ I packed up my box, brought it to the pizza place, and we opened.”

Alper had previously co-owned a Manhattan restaurant, Café Soleil, in the mid-1990s, so he wasn’t new to the business.

Jeannie also owns C&G New York, an international events management firm. Still, as seasoned hospitality industry veterans, they knew there was a lot they didn’t know. They needed to bring in a world-class chef, and after a couple of false starts, they found the perfect one: Jonathan Shepard, a former chef at Donatella Arpaia’s Neapolitan pizzeria, Donatella, among other acclaimed New York restaurants. “Jonathan’s background and training were in line with the kind of pizza I wanted to make and deliver,” Alper says.

And it just so happened that Shepard lived in Harlem, too.

“That was great, because it fit with our ‘in the neighborhood, for the neighborhood’ motto,” Jeannie adds.

As for the kind of pizza Alper wanted to offer, imagine a hybrid between Neapolitan and Roman styles. “Obviously, pizza, by nature, is a food item that’s often requested through delivery,” Alper says. “So I wanted a crust that would hold its integrity for at least a 10-block radius. The traditional Neapolitan has a very soft, more delicate dough, with the leoparding effect on the cornicione. It’s all very wet, and

“There has been as much heartbreak as great joy [in hiring the formerly incarcerated]. It’s hard, and it’s exhausting. But when I think we might have changed someone else’s life—that’s not quantifiable, but it’s what keeps us going.”

— JEANNIE UYANIK, HARLEM PIZZA CO. everything is sort of in the center. It’s delicious, but it’s meant to be consumed immediately after it comes out of the oven.

Roman-style pizza is on the completely opposite end—very dry and crackly—and I didn’t want that, either.”

The product they settled on, Alper says, is “not a true Neapolitan pizza, and it’s not a Roman-style pizza. It’s a superthin crust, and we push all of the ingredients and sauce out as close as possible to the edges so you’re getting more of a true pizza experience. We use Caputo ‘00’ flour—we switch from red to blue, depending on the season—with some semolina mixed in as well to give it that crispness.”

Harlem Pizza Co.’s patio offers outdoor seating in warm weather for customers who want to enjoy that famed Harlem vibe.

30 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

A FAST-GROWING BRAND

But pizza isn’t the only food the Uyaniks offer to their fellow Harlemites. Recognizing the need for a top-quality artisan hamburger in the neighborhood, they opened Harlem Burger Co. in June 2016. “I think this speaks to the fortuitous nature of the growth of this brand and the stars aligning just right,” Jeannie says. “We live in Harlem, and right across the street is Harlem Burger Co., while Harlem Pizza Co. is a little further east.”

After launching two different restaurants under the same brand in less than two years, the Uyaniks had plenty to keep them busy. But as their culinary fame spread, opportunity kept knocking. In the spring of 2018, they opened Sliced by Harlem Pizza Co. on Amsterdam Avenue—with some prodding by nearby Columbia University. The Ivy League school’s campus encompasses a huge chunk of New York real estate that includes numerous privately owned storefronts. “They approached us in 2017 about an available spot that had been a pizza place for the last 20 years, until the operator up and left all of a sudden,” Alper recalls. “They chose us over eight or more big names in New York to take over the space.”

Although the Uyaniks hadn’t been looking to expand, they couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Upon taking over that 800-square-foot store, they inherited its deck oven, which called for a different pizza making approach. Hence, Sliced by Harlem Pizza Co. offers New York-style slices and 18” pies.

The Uyaniks say they refuse to use any ingredients they wouldn’t serve to their own children.

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“It’s not a true Neapolitan pizza, and it’s not a Roman-style pizza. It’s a superthin crust, and we push all of the ingredients and sauce out as close as possible to the edges so you’re getting more of a true pizza experience.”

— ALPER UYANIK, HARLEM PIZZA CO. For the Sliced concept, they use minimally processed, nonbromated, unbleached flour from a New Jersey mill.

Organic, locally sourced ingredients aren’t a must in New York, Alper says, but high quality definitely is. “I figured we didn’t need to start out at 100. Why not start at 40 or 50 and then slowly go up the curve?” he says. They also opted for local cheese from 5th Cioffi Italian Cheese, a fifth-generation Italian cheesemaker founded in Brooklyn with a facility in New Jersey.

Meanwhile, they source sustainable, vegetarian-fed, humanely grown beef for Harlem Burger Co. from Niman Ranch in San Francisco and buy their buns from a local baker. “When we first started Harlem Pizza Co., I knew that if I wouldn’t want my own kids to eat what we’re making here, I wouldn’t feel comfortable selling it to my neighbors’ kids and the community’s kids,” Alper says. “I have a clear conscience when they’re eating our food.”

AS MUCH HEARTBREAK AS JOY

Having a clear conscience is a pretty big deal to the Uyaniks.

As dedicated Harlemites, they weren’t out to make a quick buck. Almost from the start, they committed to working with several area nonprofits, such as the Doe Fund, Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO) and the Women’s Prison Association (WPA), to provide jobs for formerly incarcerated locals. “I’ve

always believed we should give back,” Jeannie says. “It should be as simple as brushing your teeth in the morning. Helping someone in need should be an item on your daily checklist.”

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple, as Jeannie admits.

Gentrification has certainly changed Harlem in recent years, and the neighborhood is no longer predominantly African American. “You have so many subsets of this vibrant area of New York, people who have been here for generations, recent West African immigrants and the European community, who embraced Harlem as it was transitioning to its current state,” Jeannie says. “There’s a lot of diversity in culture and feeling, but it also feels like a neighborhood.”

Yet prosperity has left many pockets of Harlem untouched.

Its poverty rate still exceeds 20%, and crime remains a serious problem. “It has been eye-opening to see the challenges that people and their families go through with incarceration and the toll it takes,” Jeannie says. “When it’s the male in the family who has been incarcerated, most of the women don’t have transportation of their own and lose their jobs while trying to support the family. Then they might feel they have to resort to things that are not exactly above-aboard [to bring in money], so the cycle is perpetuated.”

The lack of employment opportunities for ex-offenders makes a return to crime seem like their only recourse. But

32 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

Artisanal pies draw a diverse clientele to Harlem Pizza Co. and Sliced by Harlem Pizza Co.

A PARTNER FOR EXPANSION VIA FACEBOOK

organizations like the WPA teach formerly incarcerated women job skills that can lead to future employment in foodservice.

“A lot of people see [restaurant work] as a stepping stone, but the female candidates from WPA are looking to create careers,” Jeannie says. “There are so few pizzaiolas. Can you imagine if we could do that for women, if they can leave us and get better jobs? That would be unbelievable!”

But hiring ex-offenders brings its share of woes—employee theft, chronic no-shows, recidivism. “It’s hard to create positive change when they’ve experienced so much hurt and pain and loss,” Jeannie says. “We’ve had some great success stories, but for every two, we’ve had 10 go awry. We had one employee who stole a lot even while we were loaning him money. He was a great line cook. If he put half the energy into bettering his life as he devoted to stealing, he would have been great.”

The Uyaniks know they can only do so much to break the cycle.

“There has been as much heartbreak as great joy,” Jeannie adds.

“It’s hard, and it’s exhausting. But when I think we might have changed someone else’s life—that’s not quantifiable, but it’s what keeps us going. And I think we’ve made some small progress.”

With three stores running full-blast, the Uyaniks have pressed the pause button on further expansion—for now. “My favorite saying is, man makes plans, and God laughs,” Jeannie says.

“There is no good Chinese restaurant in this neighborhood. If we were kamikaze-crazy, we would absolutely open Harlem Chinese Co. But our learning curve has been steep.”

Opportunity keeps knocking, however, even though their star chef, Shepard, has moved on to another job. “Alper has had a lot of offers…to take the concepts to Asia,” Jeannie says.

“It sounds exciting, but what’s the point of opening Harlem Burger Co. in Malaysia or Singapore if our restaurants don’t do well here because we’re off gallivanting? There is so much we can do right here.”

And there is still so much to learn. “If we got to that point [of opening another restaurant], we would want more of an active partner,” Jeannie says. “We’d need to have cohesiveness between all three existing restaurants and the fourth, and bring in someone who knows more about marketing and branding. We’re not salespeople—we just make good food. For all the possibilities, right now we want to make sure Sliced is optimized. That takes a while. Pizza Co. and Burger Co. have their following, but Sliced still needs some loving care, and we’re working on that. And then we can go from there.”

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor-in-chief.

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MARKETING IN A

DIGITAL WORLD From voice-activated searches to ever-increasing automation for business owners, marketing gurus share the hottest digital marketing techniques for 2020 and beyond.

BY TRACY MORIN

We’ve said it before: The future is here. As customer habits and technology progress at lightning-fast speeds, it can be difficult for pizzeria owners to keep up. The good news?

Today’s technology is designed to help you work smarter, not harder—taking some of the burden off your shoulders while allowing for better tracking of customer habits to ramp up your sales and success. We tapped marketing gurus nationwide to outline the most important digital marketing innovations as we sit at the dawn of a new decade.

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Experts agree voiceactivated devices and searches are the way of the future.

“The most critical trend that pizzeria owners need to keep in mind is the rise in voice search. Some studies suggest that 2020 will see a record 50% of internet searches being completed via voice search.”

RAISING VOICES

Clearly, consumers can barely be bothered to type anymore— experts agree that voice-activated devices and searches are the way of the future. “The most critical trend that pizzeria owners need to keep in mind is the rise in voice search,” stresses Natalia Wulfe, co-owner and CMO of Effective Spend, a digital marketing agency in Austin, Texas. “Some studies suggest that 2020 will see a record 50% of internet searches being completed via voice search.”

Mike Gunderson, founder and CEO of Respond Fast in Hayward, California, agrees that voice-activated devices are an emerging technology that should not be ignored. After all, smart speaker growth has soared, with presence in more than 51 million American homes. “This tech is ripe with opportunity, and business owners are starting to take advantage of Voice Activated Calls to Action (VACTA), which allow consumers to easily request nutrition information or coupons, and rate restaurants on taste, service and value,” Gunderson says. “A VACTA can easily be printed on pizza boxes, napkins or receipts.”

And with voice on the rise, adds Georgia Mountford, digital strategist and founder of GEMO Creative in Brisbane, Australia, it won’t be long before people are “reading” your content by chatting with a bot—possibly not even yours! “The digital marketing trend I’m watching like a hawk is voice-first content—not just audio or video, but any content that people can consume with voice-based services, like Siri or Alexa,” Mountford says. “Can screen readers and bots interpret your website, blogs, videos or podcasts with meaning? If your ideal customer verbally asked his phone for exactly what you offer, would he find you?” She believes hiring a web accessibility

— NATALIA WULFE, EFFECTIVE SPEND expert will be worth the investment for any business looking to be found online, as winning businesses in 2020 and beyond will be those who make their content more accessible in a technical sense.

VISUAL LEARNERS

Like typing, reading is so last century—marketing experts say video is now the way to promote your brand. “Current trends suggest video marketing will be the preferred method of content in the near future,” says Aiden Angeli, founder and senior marketing consultant with Ripe Marketing in Los Angeles. “For social media marketing, start including video in your digital marketing strategies now—that includes live streaming, behind-the-scenes footage, video recipes and how-to videos. Show personality and always create value for your clients.” Angeli’s final tip: Include keywords several times throughout the video; this will tell Google what your video is about and increase your chances of getting your video ranked in the organic search results (video ranks more easily and quickly than written formats).

36 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

Find your Ispirazione Italiana

What's my Italian Inspiration? It’s introducing new audiences to

an artisanal approach. When we set out to evolve from the traditional southern pizzeria into Rotolo’s Craft & Crust, there were more than a few doubters. But we took a brand that was doing well and turned it into a brand that’s doing double.

Galbani® cheese is important to the success of our new concept because they offer the products, the programs, the recipes, and the support we need to keep growing for the future.

—MITCH ROTOLO JR, VP OF OPERATIONS, ROTOLO’S CRAFT & CRUST

Find more Italian Inspiration and Mitch’s s videos at GalbaniPro.com. ©2019 Lactalis American Group, Inc., Buffalo, NY 14220. Galbani is a ® of Egidio Galbani S.r.l. All Rights Reserved.

“Take advantage of all live-video forms of social media to allow for pop-up notifications in real time on your customers’ phones. You’ll stay top-of-mind and keep them updated about current promotions,” agrees Stacy Caprio, founder of Chicagobased Growth Marketing. “One way to take your live video game to the next level: Offer coupons to everyone who follows you on Instagram, then do live videos and stories each week to keep your followers updated and always thinking about your restaurant.”

INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION

With good employees increasingly difficult to find, many solutions for business owners aim to streamline operations through increased automation. “The biggest marketing innovation of 2019, which will continue to grow during the following year, is automation—the automation of crucial steps in digital marketing, from creating ads to repurposing content,” says Jakub Kliszczak, marketing specialist for CrazyCall in San Francisco. “There are many companies and tools serving this space. For example, FAM fully automates email marketing,

while Felix takes your content and turns it into other types (think blog posts into video). Automation will grow as companies look for viable solutions to reduce the workforce and eliminate redundancy.”

You can even use automation to monitor your online presence, according to Ryan Christiansen, co-founder and

“One way to take your live video game to the next level: Offer coupons to everyone who follows you on Instagram, then do live videos and stories each week to keep your followers updated and always thinking about your restaurant.”

— STACY CAPRIO, GROWTH MARKETING

DIGITAL BRANDING

Danny Coello, CEO of DS&P, a Chicago-based digital marketing organization, notes that digital branding differs from digital marketing in its goals and objectives—and both are crucial. “Digital branding is more long-term and primarily focused on providing value, increasing recognition and inspiring brand loyalty,” Coello explains. “Digital marketing, on the other hand, is often more short-term and focuses on finding new customers and generating sales.” He shares some tips for optimal digital branding: • • • • • •

Be authentic and trustworthy.

Optimize your brand’s landing page for mobile.

Select social media accounts wisely to reach your target audience.

Build a community of followers, allowing them to interact and share experiences, ideas and tips.

Create videos to reach younger consumers.

Set up a chat box (with chatbot technology) to “humanize” your website and answer questions on the spot.

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“For social media marketing, start including video in your digital marketing strategies now—that includes live streaming, behind-thescenes footage, video recipes and how-to videos. Show personality and always create value for your clients.”

— AIDEN ANGELI, RIPE MARKETING

CEO of Ntooitive Digital, a digital advertising and technology company in Las Vegas. Pizzeria operators can tap automated email-review technology to screen for useful, quality reviews and help quell angry online rants that can skew your ratings. “Brand marketers can cost-effectively implement this sophisticated software to evaluate several objective data points, building a pipeline for positive reviews to be uploaded instantly to your website or manually submitted to review sites like Yelp, OpenTable or TripAdvisor,” Christiansen says. “For negative reviews from unhappy customers, this software gives

operators the chance to come up with a resolution plan and remedy the situation before everyone else hears about it!”

Finally, automation can help grow your business and eliminate repetitive tasks such as data entry, according to Amber Dehn, CEO of Bang Marketing in Denver. “Automation lightens the load and can touch many parts of your business: email marketing, goal setting, social media publishing and task management,” Dehn explains. “Having a solid foundation in automation boosts productivity and frees up you and your team—saving up to 20 hours weekly in admin tasks so you can focus on your strategies, creativity and customers.”

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“With geoconquesting, you can find mobile devices down to the address level, so you could find the mobile phones that have visited your store to later serve them ads and encourage repeat visits. Or you might serve ads to mobile devices that have visited competing pizzerias.”

— BOB BENTZ, PURPLEGATOR TARGETED MARKETING

Bob Bentz, president of Purplegator in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, heralds geoconquesting as the “holy grail of mobile advertising for pizza restaurants.” “With today’s improved technology, we can provide a look back of up to six months to find mobile devices that have been at a specific location,” Bentz says. “Then we can take that highly targeted database and serve ads to those mobile devices. With geoconquesting, you can find mobile devices down to the address level, so you could find the mobile phones that have visited your store to later serve them ads and encourage repeat visits. Or you might choose to serve ads to mobile devices that have visited other local restaurants or competing pizzerias.”

Consumers, Bentz explains, will see these ads when they’re on social media sites, viewing apps, or browsing a mobile or desktop website.

Speaking of online ads, Dan Bejmuk, co-founder and CEO of Dreambox Creations in Diamond Bar, California, notes that restaurant-focused ad platforms (specifically, Yelp and Facebook) have upped their game for true one-to-one ROI measurement for paid campaigns. “Yelp has rolled out its Yelp Store Visits metric, and Facebook works with external WiFi partners to better define offline measurement, so brands are

now much better able to gauge effectiveness of ad spend and the cost to acquire new guests,” Bejmuk notes. “The era of thinking, ‘Half of my marketing works—I just don’t know which half ’ is coming to an end, thankfully.”

Finally, the digital marketing revolution can also help owners monitor customer satisfaction and narrow down data to the extreme, enabling customized communication and driving business back to your pizzeria. Zack Oates, founder and CEO of Ovation in Provo, Utah, explains that in-store iPads can ask a simple question—“How was your experience today?”—and then tailor automated follow-up text messages: Satisfied customers can be encouraged to leave online reviews, while dissatisfied ones are put in direct contact with management. Meanwhile, segmented marketing allows for automatic texts to share special offers that will entice more frequent visits and convert customers—say, from weekday visitors to weekend, or lunchtime guests to dinner. “At the baseline, you must collect customer data and measure satisfaction,” Oates says. “Next, you have to understand what that means for your business. And third, you have to take action on it. Building that relationship with customers—that’s what it’ll take to succeed in 2020 and beyond.”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.

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WOULD YOU PARTICIPATE IN THIS NATIONAL PROMOTION?

Take the survey at PizzaMarketing.org A lifelong lover of Slim Jims, veteran food photographer David Fischer produced this photo to inspire collaborative thinking among pizza industry channel partners that support American independents.

Boston’s Pizza Restaurant and Sports Bar uses diced, boneless white meat on its Chicken Carbonara Pizza.

Bird is the Word From deep-fried to juicy thighs, chicken’s clicking with customers nationwide.

BY CALLIE DANIELS

Chicken might not be as sexy as prosciutto or cupand-char pepperoni, but the humble meat outranks them both in consumer popularity. According to research presented at the National Chicken Council’s Marketing Summit in July 2019, many consumers prefer chicken over other proteins because of its versatility, value for price, taste and convenience, among other factors. Just last year, more than 9 billion chickens were raised in the United States alone, resulting in 42.1 billion pounds of chicken products marketed on a ready-to-cook basis. A estimated that consumers ate a record-breaking 93 pounds of chicken per person in 2018.

BOSTON’S PIZZA

report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 | PMQ.COM

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NOV E L L A ' S P I Z Z A

Roasted chicken thighs are the featured protein on Novella’s Pizza’s Michigan Cherry Pizza.

And there’s another compelling reason to feature this wonder bird more prominently on your pizzeria’s menu.

The International Poultry Council predicted last April that the total worldwide production of pork would decline by at least 14% in 2019 due to African swine fever taking its toll on pig herds in 15 countries and three continents. This could leave a huge gap, increasing the demand for chicken and making it the most popular protein in the coming year.

In fact, the USDA predicts that per-capita consumption of chicken in the United States will rise to 95.8 pounds in 2020.

Finally, to hammer this point home: Research firm Technomic’s 2018 College and University Consumer Trend Report found that 46% of Generation Z (any person born after 1997) prefers chicken for dinner over other proteins. It also found that 23% of these “Zoomers” like to build a meal out of appetizers, like chicken nuggets or wings.

“Chicken is an approachable protein,” says Nimesh Patel, culinary director for the Dallas-based Boston’s Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar chain. “We’re definitely seeing more interest in it as a topping, as it’s perceived to be healthier and lighter than some of its more indulgent or greasy counterparts. It’s like pineapple on pizza, though— people love it or hate it!”

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE THIGHS

Chicken nuggets and wings are pure, finger-licking goodness for pizza fans accustomed to eating with their hands. “You can turn any appetizer or entrée into pizza—all you have to do is deconstruct it, play around, and put it on a pie,” says Brandon Davis, owner of Novella’s Pizza in New Hudson, Michigan.

Davis’ personal favorite is roasted chicken thigh as a pizza topping. “We roast the thigh, cool it and shred it,” Davis says. “Everybody thinks they want chicken breast on their pizza, or anything else, but we all really want the chicken thigh—better flavor, juicy, white in color, but still delicious.”

Davis had roasted thighs in mind when he concocted the restaurant’s beloved Michigan Cherry Pizza, which also features mozzarella, provolone, toasted pecans, Traverse City cherries, goat cheese and arugula, all topped with a balsamic glaze. Roasted thighs are also the featured protein on his Novella Hero, along with roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella and housemade basil pesto. The secret, Davis adds, is always using quality chicken thighs, cooking them until crisp, and adding a tasty dry rub.

Patel, meanwhile, prefers diced, boneless white meat— always precooked. “When looking for texture, bite and

44 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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PA RK E R HI LT ON

The chicken vodka wrap wows customers at Lupo’s Pizzeria.

adaptability, the chicken breast is king,” he says. “Diced chicken-breast chunks will provide uniformity that will hold up against that 500-plus-degree oven. Creamy and savory sauces tend to pair well with chicken, which is why our Chicken Carbonara Pizza is so delicious—think white cream sauce and Fontina, or basil pesto and feta cheese. Another great sauce to use is barbecue sauce, due to its versatility.

Barbecue sauce can be paired with either mozzarella or cheddar cheeses, which results in a creamy yet smoky flavor.”

Andrew Datre, owner of Lupo’s Pizzeria in Fair Haven, New Jersey, agrees that quality meat is key. “Small- to medium-size birds are the best-tasting ones,” he says. “And always use a fresh product, never frozen.” He takes pride in his popular chickentopped pies, the Buffalo Chicken Pizza and the Chicken Vodka Pizza. For both, he sautées fried or grilled chicken chunks in housemade Buffalo or vodka sauce, then scoops the meat straight from the pan onto the pizza. He covers the pie with mozzarella and drizzles on more sauce before baking it in the oven.

But Datre’s Chicken Vodka Wrap has become even more popular than its pizza counterpart, he says. “We have been making this wrap for 20 years, and I’d like to take credit for inventing it,” he says. “This has been a staple menu item in Gianni’s [a five-store New Jersey chain owned by Datre’s family] and, funnily enough, it came to be by talking with a

WINGS: BIGGER IS BETTER

What’s the secret to making great chicken wings? At the Dallas-based Boston’s Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar, it starts with good, clean chicken meat. “We source a premium antibiotic-free and natural chicken wing,” says culinary director Nimesh Patel. “And let’s be honest: Size does matter. We source only wings that meet our size requirements. Wings shouldn’t be as big as a chicken leg, but they must have a healthy meat-to-bone ratio.”

Seasoning is important, too. “A good chicken wing should be able to stand on its own, with no sauce,” Patel adds. “But if you’re like me, bring on the flavor! With 13 wing sauces and dry rubs, from dry rub ranch to Korean BBQ to Nashville Hot, we have a flavor for everyone without overcomplicating it.”

46 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

customer. It starts with a fried chicken cutlet sautéed with vodka sauce and mozzarella, rolled up in a wrap to enjoy.”

Datre, who’s keeping quiet about the details of his vodka sauce, says talking with customers can help with brainstorming chicken dishes. “I feel that listening to them is very important, because what they want is what will sell,” he says. “I do tend to look on social media and read publications as well. Also, I turn to my staff, especially Ian Rivera, who spends a lot of time in the market looking at products to see what sells best.”

GETTING FRIED

From fried Boneless Buffalo Bites to wings and several signature pizzas, chicken is all over the menu at Karvelas Pizza Company, with locations in Hogansville and LaGrange, Georgia. Owner Joey Karvelas says he uses fresh chicken tenders exclusively. “I’ve seen an increased demand for chicken on pizza,” he says. “However, our chicken bites are growing out of control. I added these to my menu as a test run five years ago, and now they’re almost as popular as the pizza. We Southerners love our fried chicken. I think everyone else is catching on, and chicken is viewed as a healthier option. That’s why it’s gaining more popularity.”

The trick with chicken, Karvelas notes, is to “season it well, as it can be a very flavorless topping,” and to place the meat on the pizza before adding cheese to avoid drying out the chicken. “This adds a layer of moisture to protect your juicy chicken,” he says.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 | PMQ.COM

47

KARVELAS PIZZA COMPANY

Karvelas Pizza Company’s Flying Buffalo Pie features a blue cheese dip with fried chicken bites tossed in a buttery Buffalo sauce.

Karvelas also vouches for creating housemade sauces that can double as pizza sauces or dipping sauces for chicken. His bestsellers include Joey’s Tennessee Whiskey, which is made with Jack Daniels; Copperhead Road, featuring sweet, tangy Buffalo sauce; and the extra-spicy Hotlanta, a garlicky Buffalo sauce that he also features on a pizza.

“I will say I’ve always had a special bond with the Flying Buffalo Pie on my menu,” Karvelas adds. “I first ate this combination at Dazzo’s Pizzeria in Knoxville, Tennessee, over a decade ago. It was so delicious and unique that I created my own version of it. The base is my housemade blue cheese dip, topped with our fried chicken bites tossed in a buttery, garlicky Buffalo sauce, whole-milk mozzarella, and finished with Parmigiana and a swirl of more Buffalo sauce. It’s definitely something you will crave after you try it.”

Even as restaurant diners clamor for more vegetarian and vegan dishes, it’s safe to say that chicken—perceived as a healthier meat—won’t be flying the coop anytime soon. From wings and nuggets to wraps and chicken Parmigiana, it’s easy to find both classic and innovative applications for this versatile barnyard bird.

Callie Daniels is PMQ’s associate editor.

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48 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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BEST SHOW O

PMQ’s staff reviews the best and most unique products from the annual AnaCapri Foods Show.

5 STAGIONI

5 Stagioni, an Italian flour company, has been used by pizzaioli around the globe. I was pleased to get a chance to sample the oven-fired pizza made

by Chef Gregorio Fierro using this high-quality flour. Fierro is a native of Naples, and yet he speaks fluent New York. "There's nothing better than a piping-hot pizza made with 5 Stagioni with a view of Manhattan," Fierro says.

AnaCapri now carries 5 Stagioni’s 5 Seasons flour. le5stagioni.it

SLICE

Slice takes the tech tools that big chains use and designs them for small pizza shops. From online ordering to marketing expertise, Slice’s team helps independent shops grow—and they do it at the lowest rates in the industry. slicelife.com

UNIFIED OFFICE

Unified Office Total Connect Now, with its patented Visual Performance Suite (VPS), is a powerful “business class” communications managed service and analytics software that helps franchise owners and store managers drive revenue capture, increase operational effectiveness and create a winning store culture. unifiedoffice.com

50 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

NEXT SHOW: MAY 4, 2020

STEVE’S PICKS —Steve Green, Publisher

PMQ

attended the 2019 AnaCapri Foods Show, held May 6 in Jersey City, New Jersey, and uncovered a wide variety of amazing products and services that can help you make more money and sell more pizza in 2020. This year’s event featured dough-throwing, point-of-sales demos and giveaways (including tickets to New York Giants and New York Jets football games). Best of all, more than 75 leading industry vendors were on hand to showcase highquality imported and domestic foods and equipment, marketing services, new technologies and more. Here’s our take on some of the top products on display at this one-of-a-kind industry event.

—Chris Green, PizzaTV Reporter

CHRIS’S PICKS

ROSINA FOOD PRODUCTS

There are some iconic pizzerias out there that only serve pizza—not that there’s anything wrong with that. But Rosina Food Products and I know you’re leaving a lot of money on the table. Rosina has been helping pizza places complete their menus since 1963. Rosina is a leading, innovative frozen specialty-food products manufacturer centered around Italian fare serving pizzerias, supermarkets and supercenters around the world. rosina.com

AUNT BUTCHIE’S

When adding a dessert option to your menu, there are a few factors to consider: How does it taste, and how easy is it to incorporate into the menu?

I didn’t know this dessert option existed, but I’m glad I found out. Aunt Butchie’s almond cheesecake cones check all the boxes—they’re amazingly delicious, keep well frozen and can be served frozen. auntbutchies.com

PLATINUM CHOICE BANCARD

I agree with Platinum Choice Bancard that if you’re not accepting credit cards in your pizzeria, you are alienating half of your potential customers—plus it’s just silly. Platinum Choice Bancard has been setting pizza places up for success for a long time. They stand behind their service so steadfastly that, if you already accept credit cards, they guarantee you $500 that they can beat your current rate! pcbancard.com

TOSCANA

I had a chance to sample Toscana’s Buffalo-flavored mozzarella, and it was apparent they had put a lot of thought into it. This delicious product is unique to the market. The harmonious blend of culture straight from Italy and domestic milk creates an exquisite flavor profile. Toscana offers premiumquality European-style cheeses, from fresh mozzarella, curd and ricotta to naturally smoked cheeses and flavored mozzarella. toscanacheese.com

TOWER ISLES

I was intrigued by the quality and exciting flavors that Tower Isles provides with their signature Jamaican-Style patties. They’ve perfected the art for over 50 years. They provide grade-A USDA beef with fresh island spices, certifiedhalal beef, chunky white chicken breasts and even a cheese and pepperoni option to integrate deliciously into your pizza menu. towerislespatties.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 | PMQ.COM

51

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

GRANDE SLICED WHOLE MILK MOZZARELLA

Grande Sliced Whole Milk Mozzarella has a rich buttery flavor and creamy texture and is made from all-natural ingredients that are free of artificial colors, fillers and preservatives. Sliced Whole Milk Mozzarella provides you exactly the right size, shape and weight every time, for every dish, without the wasted cheese and staff time of slicing your own. Save cheese and time by letting Grande do the slicing. 800-847-2633, GRANDECHEESE.COM

RITUAL

Ritual is a mobile pickup app that connects restaurants with customers to offer a simple, time-saving tool to get the food and beverages they want—without the wait. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Startups for 2019, Ritual pioneered Piggyback, a social ordering feature linking teammates and streamlining orders for restaurants. Founded in 2014, Ritual currently works with restaurants in 50-plus cities around the world. RITUAL.CO

Q WATER

Q Water’s four-stage filtration system filters restaurants’ tap water, eliminating the need to purchase bottled water and increasing profit margins. Q Water also provides equipment to make still and sparkling water on tap. With Q Water’s eco-friendly, easy-to use system and custom-design options, you’ll never have to worry about purchasing, stocking, refrigerating or recycling bottled waters again. QWATER.CA

FIDALGO COFFEE ROASTERS

Headquartered in Burlington, Washington, Fidalgo offers a distinct, sustainable collection of blended coffees and single-origin coffees, sourced only with the top Arabica beans from around the world and roasted in small batches with artisan care. Fidalgo offers barista training and repair services and will even guide you to the best commercial espresso equipment. 360-757-8818, FIDALGOCOFFEE.COM

BURKE

As more people turn to protein substitutes, it’s time for a plant-based ingredient that’s as savory as it is versatile. Burke’s new plant-based alternatives have you covered from sides to center-of-the-plate with fully cooked crumbles and uncooked ground. It’s their way of exceeding the standards of those who choose greener fare.

ALTERNATIVES.BURKECORP.COM/PLANT-BASED

NEW YORK BRICK OVEN CO.

New York Brick Oven Company’s Inferno series of revolving wood- and gas-fired brick ovens are a new trend in breweries and pubs. Many non-pizza establishments have started adding pizza as a way to keep customers in their seats. Paired with training from the Goodfella’s Pizza School of New York, this pizza oven offers ease of use, speed and reliability.

BRICKOVENSFORSALE.COM

52 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

54 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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www.messageonholdservice.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 | PMQ.COM

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE

ACCOUNTING

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56 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE

COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 | PMQ.COM

57

THE PIZZA EXCHANGE FOOD DISTRIBUTORS

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pmq.com/Recipe-Bank/ 58 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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60 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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THE PIZZA EXCHANGE PIZZA OVENS

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pmq.com/Recipe-Bank/ 62 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

PIZZA INDUSTRY RESOURCE GUIDE PIZZA DOUGH BOX LINERS

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 | PMQ.COM

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PIZZA HALL OF FAME (Clockwise from top right) Felicia Netti mixes dough and handles dish duties in the early 2000s; the original Yetty’s offered limited seating in the 1960s; the Yetty’s Pizza sign has operated since the 1950s; Felicia (center) poses with her mom and sister in the pizzeria in 1981.

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

YETTY’S PIZZA & PASTA At just 21 years old, a sole female proprietor boldly earned her nickname as the “pizza queen” of the Mohawk Valley, transforming a six-table hangout into a thriving two-story empire. By Tracy Morin Felicia Netti, owner of Yetty’s Pizza & Pasta in Herkimer, New York, isn’t 100% sure when the business opened—though some old timers estimate 1952, the earliest mention she can find in a local phone book is from 1957. The original owner, Paul Yetty, has passed away, but his memory looms large in the business, partially via its mascot, a towering yeti-like figure lovingly named Paul (Felicia’s brother in costume, who sometimes emerges to entertain kids).

Paul was a much-loved local, hosting cigar smoke-filled card games in the cellar, doling out pocket money to local youngsters, and hanging his biggest fishing catch on the wall as decor. “The place was well-known because of Paul, but it wasn’t a packed house,” Felicia recalls. “Paul was a great man, but he had a tiny menu and six tables—that was it. It sometimes stayed open until 5 a.m.”

After Paul passed away, his sister took over the business for a two-year stretch but soon looked to sell and approached the Netti family. Felicia’s brother took it on and hired Felicia, who bought the store from him in 1981, when she was only 21 years old. “When I started, everything was baffling to me,” she admits. “I was totally self-taught. And being a girl in business was challenging. People don’t take you seriously—plus I was a kid! Male sales reps would always say, ‘Let me speak to the owner.’”

Luckily, Felicia was a lightning-fast learner. In 1998, she bought the building next door, turning a tiny pizzeria into its modern incarnation: a dual-story full-service restaurant with a six-page menu, dozens of employees, seating for 90, delivery, catering and a full bar. She even opened two additional locations, while doting on two young children as a single mother, before scaling back to only the original, for fear of spreading herself too thin. Today, Felicia trains her 25-year-old daughter in operations and hopes her son, now in The Culinary Institute of America, will later join the team—but she has no plans of retiring. “I don’t need to,” she says. “I’ll be doing this ’til I croak!”

Felicia lights up the screen with local half-hour TV spots four times yearly, where she whips up her homemade delicacies at the restaurant in her singular no-nonsense style. She even taps social media to host live streams from live-music Tuesdays at Yetty’s. But the focus remains on her community. “I always put money back into the restaurant and never say no to giving back,” Felicia notes. “If I want customers to come back, I have to care. And I may sign the paychecks, but I can’t do it without my employees. Yetty’s has been part of my life forever—and I can’t imagine life without it.”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.

66 PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE | THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON PIZZA

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