PMQ Pizza October 2023

THE PIZZA PRINCESS

How Giuliana Calascibetta of Cam’s Pizzeria took Twitch by storm and reinvented pizza marketing for a new generation

THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELLING EVERYTHING YOU MAKE. AND SELLING OUT.

You Just Know.

Meet the Man Who Has Baked 4,500 Pizzas for People in Need

A war veteran struggling with PTSD, Brian Rock of Elevated Pie Co. finds healing by making free food for Americans who are facing life-altering disasters.

pmq.com/elevated-pie-co

For Tutta Bella, Nothing Gets Baked Until the Oven Gets Blessed

As the Washington State pizza company opened its new Culinary Innovation Hub, a minister was there to carry out a centuries-old Italian tradition. pmq.com/blessing-of-the-oven

The New Yorker Says This Might Be the City’s Best Slice Shop

A Black Latino-owned pizzeria on Orchard Street mills its own grains to craft a slice described by food writer Helen Rosner as “just this side of faultless.”

pmq.com/scars-pizza

Latino Pizzaioli Are the Stars of This FastGrowing Instagram Page

Sofia Arango, the Venezuela-born co-owner of Atlanta Pizza Truck, is shining a light on Latinos, who comprise more than 25% of the restaurant workforce.

pmq.com/latinos-en-pizza

ELEVATING THE BUSINESS OF PIZZA

CONTENT

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Rick Hynum rhynum@wtwhmedia.com

SENIOR EDITOR

Charlie Pogacar cpogacar@wtwhmedia.com

COPY EDITOR

Tracy Morin tmorin@wtwhmedia.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR/USPT COORDINATOR

Brian Hernandez bhernandez@wtwhmedia.com

VP, ASSOCIATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Allison Dean adean@wtwhmedia.com

VP, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Greg Sanders gsanders@wtwhmedia.com

ART & PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR Eric Summers esummers@wtwhmedia.com

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Tory Bartelt tbartelt@wtwhmedia.com

DIGITAL PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Blake Harris bharris@wtwhmedia.com

A Publication of WTWH Media, LLC

662-234-5481

Volume 27, Issue 8

October 2023

ISSN 1937-5263

BRANDED CONTENT STUDIO

DIRECTOR, BRANDED CONTENT Peggy Carouthers pcarouthers@wtwhmedia.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR, BRANDED CONTENT Kara Phelps kphelps@wtwhmedia.com

SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

PUBLISHER

Steve Green sgreen@wtwhmedia.com

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Linda Green lgreen@wtwhmedia.com

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Tom Boyles tboyles@wtwhmedia.com

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Ashley Cyprien acyprien@wtwhmedia.com

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jerry Moschella jmoschella@wtwhmedia.com

NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Eugene Drezner edrezner@wtwhmedia.com

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Brandy Pinion bpinion@wtwhmedia.com

PMQ PIZZA October 2023 Issue 8 (ISSN 1937-5263) is published 10 times per year by WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave #2600, Cleveland, OH 44114-2560.

Cost of U.S. subscription is $25 per year. International $35. Periodical postage pricing paid at Cleveland. Additional mailing offices at Bolingbrook, IL. Postmaster: Send address changes to PMQ Pizza, PO Box 9, Cedar Rapids, IA 54406-9953.

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

24 The Vegan Vault

Jazz up your pizzeria’s menu with these stellar vegan recipes from two leading chefs: Alex Koons of Hot Tongue Pizza and Fabrizio Cercatore of Hot Italian.

35 Loyalty They'll Love

A loyalty program is “table stakes” for pizzerias in 2023. Six marketing experts share their ideas for keeping customers engaged and coming back for more.

41 Fresh From the Machine

Alessio Lacco of Atlanta Pizza Truck has a plan to help pizzeria operators put vending machines to moneymaking use all over the United States.

52 Tips From the Pizza Team: Rick Wheeler, Mad Mushroom

Once a driver, the U.S. Pizza Team member is now co-owner of a Mad Mushroom store in West Lafayette, Indiana—and he’s developing talent for future locations as well.

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THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF ’ZA

BRANDON GRAY KNOWS HOW TO PICK A NICKNAME. Or even two. As if Brandoni Pepperoni—the name of his acclaimed pizza pop-up operation in Los Angeles—isn’t catchy enough, he has also branded himself as “L.A.’s wizard of ’za.” And when customers sample his artisan pies, they know they’re not in Kansas anymore. The city’s food writers keep piling on the praise as Gray, a former U.S. Navy cook, piles his pies with toppings like steamed lamb shoulder, Pacific shrimp, sugar snap

peas, and bacon and eggs. Even his menu, featured two nights a week at Bar + Garden in Culver City, California, has a vibe of its own, with every pie named after rap songs, like Lil Wayne’s “Steady Mobbin’” and DJ Quick’s “Way 2 Fonky.” And let’s not forget the edible flowers, like purple borage and squash blossoms. He’s an L.A. pizzaiolo through and through. “Everything I know is L.A.,” Gray told Bon Appétit. “L.A. is me, and food is the best representation of me.”

Brandon Gray went from cooking for his fellow sailors in the Navy to making what Los Angeles Magazine calls “some of L.A.’s most exciting pies.”

KING OF THE CHEESE PULL

As the self-described “king of the cheese pull,” Fernando Greco, a New York City pop-up pizzaiolo, wants you to know that it’s both an art and a science. And not just any cheese will do. “First, it has to be a whole-milk cheese,” he tells PMQ. “It also needs to not caramelize, or burn, so it stays gooey. And there has to be a lot of cheese—like a lot.” Greco might also be New York’s king of Argentinian pizza collaborations. Although his day job is working with special-needs kids in the public schools, the Buenos Aires native is a pop-up fixture at joints like Wheated in Brooklyn, Pizza D'Amore in Rockaway Beach and Beebe’s in Queens, where he introduces his country’s style of pizza—including a focaccia-like dough, minimal sauce and a mountain of toppings—to New Yorkers who think they’ve seen it all, pizza-wise. In August, he ventured south to Kissimmee, Florida, for a pizza-and-empanadas collab with The Italian Joint. Argentinian pizza, he says, is all about “more is more.” For 500 grams of dough, you’ll need at least 500 grams of cheese. In fact, he estimates that an 18” New York-style pizza uses less cheese than a typical 12" pizza in Argentina—that’s how decadent an Argentinian pie is. “Everything is abundant,” he says. And not just with pizza. “If you’re having a barbecue for two people in Argentina, you make enough food to feed six people.”

WHEN SIN IS GOOD

After a flood ravaged Montpelier, Vermont, in July, Woodbelly Pizza closed down for repairs, then reopened on a Monday night with a promotion offering 20% off to workers in the local service industry. Playfully dubbed SIN Night, the event brought comfort to troubled locals desperate for a return to normalcy. “We had so much fun,” co-owner Kes Marcel tells PMQ. “There was a line out the door—it was as busy as any Friday night gets, and this was on a Monday. People were coming through with their families….It was just great to come together in that way at a time when I think we all really needed it.” Even better, SIN Night is now a weekly thing, and Marcel says it has transformed Mondays into one of their busiest nights of the week. Maybe SIN Night would be a good idea for your pizzeria—after all, servers, cooks and bartenders know a thing or two about loyalty.

(Top to bottom) According to Fernando Greco, it’s not real Argentinian pizza if the cheese doesn’t ooze off the pie; Greco wants to take his Pizza La Imperial pop-up brand to other cities around the U.S.

SIN Night at Woodbelly Pizza brought the Montpelier community together after a devastating flood. Now it’s a weekly event.

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PIZZA THE

BY RICK HYNUM

GIULIANA CALASCIBETTA ISN’T JUST THE FACE OF HER FAMILY’S PIZZA BRAND, Cam’s Pizzeria, in Rochester, New York. With a dynamic and ever-growing presence on social media—from Twitch to TikTok and all major platforms in between—she’s a brand unto herself. She’s like the Taylor Swift of pizza—alluring yet down-to-earth, endlessly creative and eminently watchable. And, like Swift, no one in the business outworks her. Because even when she’s chatting with her 115,000-plus followers on Twitch—where she’s known as Pizza Princess G—Giuliana’s on the job, building pie after pie in Cam’s kitchen, waiting on customers, training new employees—and making it all look like the most fun job on the planet.

Photos by Bianca Calascibetta

Giuliana Calascibetta is more than the friendly face of Cam’s Pizzeria. Along with her sister, Bianca, she’s a pizza marketing disruptor who has turned Twitch into a potent branding tool.

“I would describe Giuliana as the glue of the company,” says Bianca Calascibetta, who has played a critical role in shaping and implementing every brand touchpoint over the past decade. While Bianca focuses on developing the brand’s larger vision, her younger sister, along with their operations director, Jason Benton, manages all six Cam’s locations. “G has her hands on everything—

An Audience With the Princess

In a web-exclusive Q&A, Giuliana and Bianca Calascibetta share more about growing up at Cam’s Pizzeria, creating a welcoming corporate culture, innovative digital marketing, and using Twitch to sell more pizza without trying to “sell” anything at all.

READ IT AT PMQ.COM/CAMS-PIZZERIA-Q&A

operations, marketing, promotions, even new product development.”

True enough. But at just 26, Giuliana, in partnership with her 32-year-old big sis, is also reinventing pizza marketing for Gen Z along the way. And while old-school operators can’t duplicate their style, they can learn a thing or two from it.

Creating the Cam’s Culture

Check out Cam’s videos on Instagram, and you know right away: This isn’t your father’s pizzeria, even though it was founded by the sisters’ dad, Cam Calascibetta, as a classic New York-style pizza joint in Geneva, New York, 43 years ago. Their brother, Carmelo, now operates the Rochester-area locations (with an uncle and others who oversee another six stores under the same name outside the area), but it’s the sisters who run the show. And under their leadership, it’s a whole different vibe: the home of

“For me personally, the way I gain respect in the company and from my employees is by working. If you don't work, no one's going to take you seriously.”

— Giuliana Calascibetta

the Crazy Slice—think pizza topped with wontons and duck sauce, or fish sticks and tartar sauce—and a culture that embraces innovation, merrymaking and youthful exuberance.

After all, “Giuliana” means “youthful” in Italian. And the younger Calascibetta sister—who mostly goes by G for short—lives up to the name. She’s the best friend you want to hang out with all summer long, dreaming up oddball pizza recipes—she’s the mad scientist behind those Crazy Slices—and shooting videos brimming with positive energy. Her brand is winsome charm and good humor. And talk to her for a while, and you’ll see it’s not an act. She is authentically herself on and off camera.

That also makes her the kind of boss you want to work for. That, and a work ethic no baby boomer can deny. Just watch her Twitch stream, which runs roughly 50 hours a week live from the Cam’s store that she manages every day. She was almost

certainly the first pizzeria operator to ever stream live from Twitch. But she’s never goofing off.

“I’m always at the restaurant,” she says. “It's funny because people tune into the stream and they're, like, ‘This isn't right. I've never seen a district

“If I have employees who come into the pizzeria to visit me or just hang out on their days off, I win, because I know they love it here. They feel safe.”

— Giuliana Calascibetta

Bianca Calascibetta (left) focuses on Cam’s overall branding and marketing vision, while her younger sister, Giuliana, is “the glue of the company,” Bianca says.

manager making the food. Usually they're telling other people what to do.’ But for me personally, the way I gain respect in the company and from my employees is by working. If you don't work, no one's going to take you seriously. And I don't want to be the big boss. I don't take pride in being the boss. I just want us to get the perfect pie out there. I don't care about the recognition. I want to work as a team, and that's what fulfills me.”

And when it’s hiring time, she looks for teammates who match her vibe. “I don't want to work or hang out with a bunch of people who don't have a good personality,” Giuliana says. “I want to find people I can be friends with. Because not only is it work, this is my life.”

When Giuliana first assumed the role of district manager for Cam’s, she headed to her alma mater, St. John Fisher University in Rochester, and staked out a spot in the library to find employees. “I'd have students come sit with me, and I would literally be like, ‘Are you cool? What do you like to do in your free time? What’s your favorite candy bar and why?’ I just cut to the nitty-gritty. I want to know your personality because—and this is something I learned from my father—you can train a person in a job, but you can’t train a good personality.”

From the Calascibetta sisters’ perspective, the harder you work, the cooler you are. But they’re keenly aware that hiring and retaining top-notch staff is more challenging than ever. That’s why creating a positive, uplifting culture at Cam’s Pizzeria is so important. “We've attracted great

team members through the culture and the high morale, and we have organized a lot of company outings and other things just to build on the culture,” Bianca notes. “We have attracted a lot of great people, including managers and shift runners, through that innovative approach.

“If I have employees who come into the pizzeria to visit me or just hang out on their days off, I win, because I know they love it here,” Giuliana adds. “They feel safe. And I’ve achieved that with all the locations, and I’ve never been more proud.”

Seizing Twitch by the Tail

Gen Z employees also want to feel part of something bigger than themselves, the sisters point out. And Cam’s Pizzeria offers that in spades, with Giuliana as the fun-loving face of the brand and Bianca working behind the scenes, essentially as CMO. First, there’s the Twitch account, @pizzaprincessg. Giuliana launched it during COVID-19, because most of her employees were staying home and she often found herself working alone.

“It was usually just me running the show, and, with the masks, I could barely even talk to the customers,” Giuliana recalls. “I’m very much a people person, so that really killed me. I missed seeing people smile…and it was just super lonely.”

One day, during a lull at the pizzeria, she downloaded the Twitch app on her phone. “I’d never watched a single stream,” she says. “I didn’t really know what was going on. But I just pressed ‘Go Live.’ I just did it. And people started showing up….

Equally comfortable in the pizza kitchen and in front of a global audience at TwitchCon, Giuliana is both charismatic spokesperson and tireless workhorse for Cam’s Pizzeria.

In the beginning, it was, like, three people. But after a week, I was getting up to, like, 300 to 500 viewers.”

Why would anyone just sit at a computer and watch a total stranger make pizza? Because it’s Giuliana, and she’s no stranger to anyone for long. When she’s not working, she’s joking with her followers, answering their questions, teaching them about pizza. If she’s having a bad day, she might break down and cry. Again, on or off camera, she’s always just Giuliana.

She even streams live on Twitch during health inspections. “My followers have seen it all,” she says. “I don’t hide anything.”

And they love her for it. Twitch fans now make pilgrimages from all over the region—and from as far away as Australia—to Cam’s Pizzeria, hoping to meet Giuliana. Many of them even pay to watch her livestream without ads.

Bianca says it’s difficult to quantify the Twitch stream’s impact on sales, but that’s not really the point. “Twitch helps showcase the brand’s personality, which comes from G, while making it more relatable and more accessible,” Bianca says. “In terms of perception, Twitch has really solidified our image as a cutting-edge and forward-thinking brand, especially in our marketplace. It’s signaling to others that we’re very adaptable to trends and we’re in tune with modern consumer habits.”

Of course, livestreaming on Twitch means Giuliana always has to be “on.” Not just as an entertaining presence, but as a pizza professional. “Not only am I working the job, but I also have an

THE NUMBERS

Pizza Princess G BY

As a popular Twitch personality, Giuliana Calascibetta ranks in the top 0.001% of streamers and has become one of the platform’s top 200 fastest-growing streamers, according to Cam’s Pizzeria.

Overall, as a pizza industry influencer and Cam’s brand spokesperson, she has amassed a personal fan base on social media totaling more than 240,000 followers, including:

115,000+ Twitch

111,000+ Instagram

13,000+ TikTok

4,503 Twitter

Additionally, the social media presence for Cam’s Pizzeria includes:

11,000+ Facebook

5,032 Instagram

Cam’s Pizzeria also reports that Giuliana:

• Trained five employees who became Cam’s Pizzeria store owners

• Oversees a corporate-wide average of 22% to 25% cost of goods sold (COGS) and labor costs with director of operations Jason Benton

• Maintains a healthy corporate culture, with a 23% employee turnover rate

audience of a thousand people watching my every move,” she says. “My pizzas need to look 10 times more perfect, because everybody's seeing them. When I speak to customers, I have to be that much better, because all these people are hearing me. But it’s also the right thing to do. It keeps me accountable. And, knowing myself, being held accountable is very good for me and my personal growth—and for the pizzeria, too.”

The Crazy Slice

Also good for the pizzeria: Giuliana’s vivacious video presence on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Which brings us to the Crazy Slice, a focal point of Cam’s marketing strategy. Every week, Giuliana, along with Benton, dreams up a new weird pizza, and every week Bianca edits and posts videos of her sister making the pie and sampling it on camera. The Instagram Reels alone earn anywhere between 21,000 and 66,000 plays organically; lately, 50,000 and up has been the norm.

Some Crazy Slices are crazier than others. A cheeseburger or taco slice might be followed by a slice topped with gummy candy shaped like anchovies. One featured Easter bunny Peeps with cheese. There was a Chicken Pot Pie slice, another loaded with Ritz crackers and peanut butter, even a Tuna Melt slice.

“From a marketing perspective,” Bianca explains, “I wanted to hit three main goals. One, I wanted to focus on strengthening brand awareness. Two, I wanted to focus on giving more life to the

brand. And third, I wanted to keep things fresh and exciting.”

The Crazy Slice livens up the work week for the staff, too. Each new slice is kept under wraps until Sunday night, when the managers get the word, along with detailed instructions on making the pizzas. Employees only find out on Monday morning. “They love the idea,” Giuliana says. “They get a free slice every shift. And we tell the employees to talk about it to customers—talk about the Crazy Slice with M&Ms. You can’t just let them walk past it, as if it speaks for itself. You need to talk about it. And if, in your heart, you don’t want to do that, let’s discuss the importance of it: It’s exciting, it’s never been done or seen before.”

Bianca adds, “The Crazy Slice allowed us to be, like, the unicorn in a zoo filled with lions and zebras. People are going to see the unicorn because it’s an unforgettable experience.”

No doubt the future holds more unforgettable experiences for Cam’s customers and staff, fans of the Pizza Princess and the company itself. But one thing will never change: Giuliana will always be a people person, and Cam’s Pizzeria will always be about people. “When I started managing the pizzerias, my father told me, ‘It’s not a pizza business. It’s a people business.’ And I was, like, what does that mean?” she recounts. “But as the years go by, you realize it really is all about the people. You’re only as good as the people you work with. And that has stuck with me to this day.”

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

“The Crazy Slice allowed us to be, like, the unicorn in a zoo filled with lions and zebras. People are going to see the unicorn, because it’s an unforgettable experience.”

— Bianca Calascibetta

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From specialty pies to must-have condiments, two top pizzeria owners and chefs share their standout vegan-friendly recipes.

BY TRACY MORIN

VEGAN NO LONGER EQUALS BORING, flavorless or unsatisfying. If anything, innovative chefs today are skyrocketing vegan foods beyond the level of traditional menus—perhaps to help quash those old, outdated expectations once and for all.

And today’s customers don’t need to be vegan to eat vegan—for omnivores, it’s now just another category of cuisine. Still, one thing hasn’t changed: Your vegan customers will still prove insanely loyal. Jazz up your own menu with some of these stellar vegan recipe ideas and see for yourself!

PHOTO BY MIRIAM BRUMMEL

Dry Ingredients:

• 321g vital wheat gluten

• 3g chili flakes

• 16g nutritional yeast

• 25g salt

• 15g onion powder

• 26g granulated garlic

• 23g fennel

• 6g oregano

• 14g paprika

Directions:

Wet Ingredients:

• 52g lemon juice

• 110g coconut aminos

• 49g apple cider vinegar

• 13g molasses

• 296g veggie broth

In a large bowl, weigh out the dry ingredients and whisk all of them together. Measure all wet ingredients in a pitcher or bowl and whisk them together. Pour wet ingredient mixture into the large bowl of dry ingredients and mix together by hand. Bring it all together into an almost dough-like mixture. There should be no dry pockets; knead together until all of the wet ingredients have been soaked up.

Weigh out 6- to 7-oz. logs and wrap them tightly into foil. (Twist both sides really tightly, like paper-wrapped caramel candies.) Cook in a steamer for 90 minutes. Do not unwrap. Cool on sheet racks until they are room temperature. Grind in a food processor to make ground sausage, or use however you would like!

Provided by Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza, Los Angeles, CA

Provided by Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza, Los Angeles, CA

Dry Ingredients:

• 11.5 oz. vital wheat gluten

• 40g nutritional yeast

• 7g cayenne (reduce if you don’t like too much heat)

• 2.8g chili flakes (reduce if you don’t like too much heat)

• 12g onion salt

• 8g brown sugar

• 6.5g anise

• 11g granulated garlic

Directions:

• 14g paprika

• 11g mustard powder

• 8g fennel

Wet Ingredients:

• 40g tomato paste

• ¼ c. liquid aminos (or soy sauce)

• 2¼ c. vegetable broth

• 1½ tbsp. Liquid Smoke

• ¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil

Mix dry spices in a bowl with the wheat gluten. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients with a whisk until the tomato paste is dissolved. Add the wet ingredients to a dry bowl and knead with your hands for 2 minutes. Make sure all of the dry ingredients are absorbed (but don’t overmix—you don’t want to overwork it). Let the mix rest for 5 minutes. Then, grabbing 10-oz. portions, roll the portions up in about 14” to 20” foil strips, tightening each end by twisting. Put in a steamer and let steam on low to medium heat for 80 minutes. (Check your steamer’s water level around halfway through to make sure you don’t burn your pans.) Unwrap, put in the freezer for 2 hours or until cold all the way through, then cut with a very sharp knife.

Drizzle a little olive oil on all of the pepperoni you are cooking with before putting your pizza in the oven. This will keep it from drying out during the bake and adds a little fat to the final flavor. Also, the thinner the cut, the better!

PROTIP:

Provided by Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza, Los Angeles, CA

Alex Koons’ specialty pizza combines a bold chipotle base, pickled red onions, pineapple, sliced jalapeños, roasted red peppers, vegan sausage (see recipe on page 26), and fresh cilantro. Here are some of the recipes he uses to start creating those layers of zingy flavor. Try them with his topping combo or incorporate them into your own menu items.

V Mayo:

• 1 c. soy milk

• 2 c. canola oil

• 4g salt

• 12g apple cider vinegar

• 5g lemon

• 12g Dijon mustard

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, combine the soy milk, salt and Dijon mustard. Blend until wellcombined. While the blender is running, slowly drizzle in the canola oil. This is a crucial step for emulsifying the mixture and achieving the creamy mayo consistency. Keep blending until the mixture thickens and resembles traditional mayonnaise. Once the mixture has emulsified, add the apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. Blend again until the flavors are well-incorporated and the mayo is smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. You can add more salt, lemon juice or Dijon mustard according to your preferences. Transfer the V Mayo to a clean, airtight container and refrigerate. It will thicken slightly as it chills. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Chipotle Aioli:

• V Mayo (recipe at left)

• 7g kosher salt

• 6g lime juice

• 47g Dijon mustard

• 20g fresh garlic

• 14g chipotle pepper (adjust to taste, depending on desired spiciness)

• ¾ c. agave (adjust to your preferred sweetness)

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, combine V Mayo, kosher salt, lime juice, Dijon mustard, fresh garlic, chipotle pepper and agave. Blend the mixture until smooth and well-combined. (Make sure the chipotle pepper is fully blended for an even distribution of spiciness.) Taste the chipotle sauce and adjust the seasoning to your liking. You can add more lime juice for tanginess, more agave for sweetness, or more chipotle pepper for extra heat. Transfer the finished chipotle sauce to an airtight container.

Pickled Red Onions:

• 2 large red onions, thinly sliced

• 1 c. apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

• ½ c. water

• ¼ c. granulated sugar

• 1½ tsp. kosher salt (or sea salt)

• 1 tsp. mustard seeds (optional, for extra flavor)

• 1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed (optional, for added depth)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine the apple cider vinegar, water, granulated sugar, kosher salt and crushed garlic. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Once the brine is ready, remove it from the heat. Layer the sliced red onions in the container and pour the hot brine over them, covering the onions completely. Let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, seal the container tightly with a lid and store in the refrigerator. The pickled red onions will be ready to use after at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. However, for the best flavor, allow them to pickle for at least 24 hours before using. They will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 3 weeks.

Provided by Fabrizio Cercatore, maestro pizzaiolo, founder/owner, Passione Brands and Hot Italian, Berkeley, CA

Toppings:

• 2 oz. tomato sauce

• 8 oz. grilled summer squash

Directions:

• 4 oz. cherry tomatoes

• 2 oz. vegan ricotta

• 2 oz. arugula

Roll out the pizza dough into a thin round shape on a floured surface. Transfer the dough to a pizza stone, cast iron pan, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the pizza dough, leaving a small border around the edges. Arrange the grilled summer squash and cherry tomatoes on top of the tomato sauce. Bake the pizza for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the crust is golden and crispy and the toppings are heated through. Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle the arugula on top. Drop small dollops of vegan ricotta over the vegetables. Slice and serve.

Toppings:

• 2 oz. tomato sauce

• 4 oz. vegan mozzarella

• 3 oz. artichoke hearts

• 3 oz. sun-dried tomatoes

Directions:

• 2 oz. Castelvetrano olives

• 2 oz. basil pesto

Roll out the pizza dough into a thin round shape on a floured surface. Transfer the dough to a pizza stone, cast iron pan, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the pizza dough, leaving a small border around the edges. Sprinkle the vegan mozzarella over the tomato sauce. Distribute the artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and Castelvetrano olives evenly on

top of the cheese. Bake the pizza for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the crust is golden and crispy and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove the pizza from the oven and drizzle the basil pesto over the top. Slice and serve.

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s copy editor.

Provided by Fabrizio Cercatore, maestro pizzaiolo, founder/owner, Passione Brands and Hot Italian, Berkeley, CA

• Savings up to $7,000 monthly per store

• Makes 100-300 pizzas per hour

• Supported pizza sizes: 8”–16”

• Makes a 16” pepperoni pie in under 50 seconds

• 15-minute installation

• No-pain training

• Quick, easy setup and cleaning

• Food-grade materials

LOYALTY THEY’LL LOVE

Use your POS system and smart marketing to create and conduct a loyalty program that’s a win-win for both your business and your customers.

BY TRACY MORIN

LOYALTY PROGRAMS WERE ONCE A NOVELTY, but for many businesses, including restaurants, they’re now a necessity. “A loyalty program is table stakes—everyone out there is doing it, and guests expect it,” notes Hope Meiman, chief marketing officer at Tillster in Los Angeles. “It’s a great opportunity to stay connected to guests, track their data, and use that data to bring them back.” Here, bright minds in the business offer up creative loyalty ideas to make your program a success.

GETTY IMAGES/MILLANN

Isaiah Melendez, Director of Business Development, Pizza Patrón, San Antonio, TX

Back in 2016, we were probably using a small fraction of our Revel POS’s capabilities—it was like a glorified cash register. When Charles Loflin and Chris Partyka bought the company [in 2016], we started bringing in some data analysts to help configure and take advantage of the open API (application programming interfaces). We’re acquiring and taking advantage of data straight from the API, learning how to acquire the data and what to do with it. We brought the raw data over through Revel Data Connector recently. In doing that, we’ve been able to make ad hoc reports and get very granular in what we want to see.

Rob Elliott, executive vice president of marketing, Hungry Howie’s, Madison Heights, MI

We’re heading into the seventh year of our loyalty program. We started it because of the 80-20 rule, which says that 80% of your sales are coming from 20% of your most loyal customers. Before we launched, we looked at competitors and at our customers. We keep it super simple and very easy to understand: Each visit of $10 or more earns a slice (so to speak) of a six-slice pizza, so after six visits you get a free medium two-topping pizza.

The customer can redeem points in-store or online. We have a very visual app, so they can go on and look anytime at how close they are to their next reward. They can even bank pizzas for later, but most customers redeem them as they’re ready. We send a dynamic code with the immediate opportunity to order or to use for their next visit. At the store level, the rewards will pop up for our employees to see as well. It’s been really successful, and we watch the metrics closely: what rewards are

sent, how many are redeemed, etc. We can check those stats every day or every week.

We get great data in the pizza category, and as long as customers leave the privacy policy box checked (it is pre-checked when they register, and they have the option to uncheck), we can market to them through email, SMS or MMS (multimedia messaging service) texts, as well as through digital platforms like paid search and social media. With our POS company, HungerRush, loyalty is an add-on application, and we pay a monthly subscription fee. The POS, app and loyalty program are all tied together.

We believe it’s important to celebrate that 20% of loyal customers, to communicate with them, and offer a program for them to stay passionate about our brand—because there can be a lot of brand-switching with pizza. I know some of our own staff members don’t go to pizza or fast-casual restaurants that don’t offer a loyalty option.

Stefan

Campbell, owner, The Small Business Blog, Phoenix, AZ

Gamification is a great way to make your brand unique in terms of customer experience and provide tailored benefits that make you stand out. Gaming is fun, and everyone loves a good friend to play games with— make your restaurant one of those good friends!

Implement gamification elements into the loyalty program through the POS system. From mobile app integration to website-exclusive games and even in-person experiences, find unique and interactive elements that can make your loyalty program more engaging and fun for customers. Rather than earning simple points in the way that most other restaurants do, consider something more exciting, like

“Integrate the loyalty program with online orders….Not doing so might have the opposite of the desired effect: disappointing your customers.”

—Nick Mirev, BlueCart

Many pizza brands add visual elements to their website, app and online ordering—as well as their loyalty program—to further engage customers.

GODFATHER'S PIZZA

leveling up, unlocking achievements or participating in challenges; find a niche approach specific to your brand.

It’s essential for restaurants to regularly analyze data provided by their POS system and make informed decisions to improve their loyalty program over time. If you implement a gamification strategy, regularly provide new styles of game play and challenges, keeping the experience fresh. Whether it’s weekly or monthly new games or different styles of gaming for different types of rewards, adjust the experience according to customers’ feedback and expectations.

Nick Mirev, content marketing specialist, BlueCart, Shingle Springs, CA

Here are my top tips for a winning loyalty program:

1. Choose a POS solution with built-in loyalty functionality. This will allow you to manage the loyalty program rules more easily.

2. Define the loyalty program’s structure. How can customers earn loyalty points? How can they redeem them? If you were a customer, would that loyalty program look interesting to you?

3. Configuration: The rules of the loyalty program need to be integrated with the POS system. Then it’s much easier to monitor and analyze customer data. This can determine future seasonal promotions or optimize the loyalty program.

4. Integrate the loyalty program with online orders. With the rise of online ordering, this is a must. Not doing so might have the opposite of the desired effect: disappointing your customers.

5. There’s no point in having a loyalty program if you don’t promote it. Promote via online channels such as social media, email and website. Additionally, members of the team, such as waiters and bartenders, should know all details regarding the loyalty program in order to promote it to customers.

Jon Morgan, CEO, Venture Smarter, Cincinnati, OH

With the data collected through the POS system, restaurants can analyze customers’ buying patterns and preferences to offer tailored rewards. For example, provide discounts or free items on the customer’s favorite dish or beverage. By making the rewards relevant and meaningful to individual customers, restaurants can build a strong bond and increase the likelihood of repeat visits. Another approach is to introduce elements of gamification, such as points, levels or badges, to make the loyalty experience more engaging and fun. They can create challenges or contests where customers can earn bonus points or exclusive rewards. This interactive approach not only encourages repeat visits but also generates a sense of excitement and

“We believe it’s important to celebrate that 20% of loyal customers…because there can be a lot of brandswitching with pizza.”

—Rob Elliott, Hungry Howie’s

competition among customers, fostering a deeper connection with the restaurant.

Integrating mobile applications or loyalty apps with the POS system allows customers to conveniently track their rewards, receive personalized offers, and easily redeem them. This seamless and user-friendly experience will not only make customers feel valued but also provide them with a hassle-free way to participate.

Hope Meiman, chief marketing officer, Tillster, Los Angeles, CA

Some POS systems can do loyalty programs, and some are not equipped to, in which case loyalty is attached as an extra service. Some have APIs to make that seamless.

We handle the Godfather’s Pizza loyalty program, and customer data allows us to segment populations. For example, you might want to reach out to customers who haven’t visited in a while. Or, if they order a small pizza every time, you can market a medium to them. You want a mix of offers—for things they always order and things that they don’t. In the old days, people often chose to market something very different, but if you do that too much, guests think you don’t understand them. Yet you want to upsell and cross-sell—like if they order meat pizzas and you have a new bacon topping, that’s a great opportunity.

Try to make a loyalty offer that’s achievable but still expanding. Let’s say one group never spends more than $15; send an offer to spend $17.50 or more. For $25 spenders, $28. You don’t want to give a $17.50 offer to a $25-or-more group. Or if a guest comes in once quarterly, give them a bounce-back offer to return the next month. You might get them in one more time per year.

Build your loyalty program with “extra currency.” Say you need guests to return 10 times; make the redemption goal 12 purchases. That way, after the third or fourth visit, you can say, “Your next visit will count as two.” It gamifies the program and builds

loyalty, because people have that FOMO—fear of missing out.

Make sure to capture emails, though you can also market through text or push notifications. You don’t need to offer just discounts; maybe you have a new LTO and you offer them to come in and try it first. They feel special, which builds an affinity to your brand. Let them know you appreciate them. When they place an order, don’t just say thanks; say, “You’re X closer to your next reward!”

Finally, many use loyalty to give back: “Vote for your favorite local school/charity/sports team and we’ll donate 50 cents per order to them when you purchase.” It changes how people feel when they think they’re helping—especially among younger consumers.

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s copy editor.

“A loyalty program is table stakes—everyone out there is doing it, and guests expect it.”

—Hope Meiman, Tillster

Hungry Howie's encourages loyalty program signups with free bonus points and an easy-to-use system for customers to track their rewards. HUNGRY HOWIE'S

FRESH FROM THE MACHINE

Old-World techniques meet modern-day robotics for these Atlanta-based Neapolitan-style pizza truck owners, who are now devising a vending machine empire.

BY TRACY MORIN

ALESSIO LACCO, CO-OWNER OF THE ATLANTA

PIZZA TRUCK with his wife, Sofia Arango, came by his budding pizza empire honestly—that is, by starting at the bottom. As a student in Naples, Italy, he attended school in the morning and worked at night making pizza, gelato and coffee. It was an art form already in the family, as his uncle ran a restaurant in southern Italy. “But pizza was the one that stayed with me,” Lacco recounts. “I certified myself with the AVPN in 2012, in Naples. The year after, I came to the U.S.”

ATLANTA PIZZA TRUCK

For those unfamiliar, the AVPN is the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, an organization that offers certification for “pizzerias who meet strict requirements that respect the tradition of the art of Neapolitan pizza making.” In the United States, Lacco worked with wannabe AVPN-certified pizzerias all over the country, including Cane Rosso in Dallas. His Neapolitan pizza consulting work also took him to far-flung locales, like Thailand and Norway, and initiated relationships with major manufacturers, from oven makers to flour producers. But it wasn’t until everything fell apart— thanks to the pandemic—that everything started to come together for Lacco and Arango.

The Pandemic Pivot

Shifting business focus as a result of the pandemic is nothing unusual, but what’s less common is the amount of success this couple has been able to generate since 2020, when they both found themselves basically unemployed. “We started the Atlanta Pizza Truck in March 2020, during and because of the pandemic,” Lacco says. “I was the manager of a pizza restaurant in Atlanta and by now had been doing consulting and working in the industry in the United States for years. My wife was a server at the restaurant, too. But because of the pandemic, we were both without jobs.”

The pair decided to sell Neapolitan pizza in neighborhoods and at festivals, parties, weddings and corporate events. Their mobile operation was built around a distinctive-looking 1982 Piaggio Ape, a three-wheeler that was restored and outfitted with a wood-burning oven, sink and refrigerator. Although Lacco can craft other pizza styles—like Roman, Chicago and New York— it’s the Old-World type that claims his heart. It quickly claimed a lot of other hearts in Atlanta, too.

As the director and founder of the Atlantabased outpost of the AVPN school, where aspiring pizzaioli are trained in the art of Neapolitan pizza, Lacco also set out to educate customers on the AVPN, which helped distinguish himself from the competition. “When we first started with Neapolitan pizza, not everyone knew about the certification, or how dedicated we have to be to get it, so I always explain what it

he notes. “Right now in the U.S., I’m the only mobile business certified by the AVPN, and it definitely helps us in selling more pizza. We can justify a little higher price.”

is,”

“We want to be one of the first, so we’re starting with a couple of [vending] machines this fall….We want to franchise our model by partnering with other pizzerias in the U.S. and in other countries.”

—Alessio Lacco, Atlanta Pizza Truck

Alessio Lacco believes that pizza vending machines are a perfect addition to a variety of venues, from airports and hospitals to sports stadiums.

ATLANTA PIZZA TRUCK

Some customers, of course, have bigger budgets to begin with: As Atlanta has become a hot spot for filming, Lacco and Arango have even found themselves firing up the oven for casts, crews and stars on multiple movie and television sets.

The Vending Venture

Just because Lacco works with strict Neapolitan techniques and ingredients that have been perfected over centuries doesn’t mean he’s afraid to try new approaches. “From when I started in the business, I’m always trying to find something different and looking to the future,” he says. And his next business idea feels fittingly visionary: pizza vending machines.

we want to franchise our model by partnering with other pizzerias in the United States and in other countries. We can work with them to create their own recipe for the vending machines, or they can use our recipe.” So far, he says he’s had inquiries from operators in Texas, Connecticut and South America.

After all, it’s not just any pizza that can be sold in the vending machines—the recipe must be tweaked accordingly, such as being par-baked to be held in the refrigerated section of the machine until it’s ordered and cooked on the spot. Lacco requested a model that holds 90 pizzas at a 9” size, and it offers the option of freezing the pies to prolong their shelf life.

The machines also provide additional revenue possibilities through LCD screens on the front, enabling pizzerias to sell advertisements that play while customers wait two to three minutes for their pies to bake. The machine will also alert Lacco when pies are running low, and how long each has been in the fridge.

That’s important because, even in a vending machine format, quality and freshness remain paramount to Lacco. “It’s a little challenging to ensure it’s fresh for a few days,” he admits. “We don’t want the customer to feel like it’s coming from a machine. But we’re working closely with a flour company on a recipe. Cheese companies, too—all of these relationships I’ve built through the years are coming together now.”

For Lacco, it’s a question of logistics. He has noticed firsthand, in his own mobile operation, how difficult it can be to find employees who want to work the unusual hours and in the grueling conditions that events in the outdoors can create. At the same time, someone who wants to open a traditional brick-and-mortar location is going to be faced with skyrocketing costs. He feels that pizza vending machines are the answer, allowing him to sell his pizzas with much less expense and hassle. In fact, he notes that such machines are already very popular in Europe, and he wants to be part of the movement that makes them just as popular in the U.S.

“We want to be one of the first, so we’re starting with a couple of machines this fall,” Lacco says. “We’re establishing relationships in Atlanta, and

While the vending machine company is called Quikza, Lacco’s machines will also sport the name of the Atlanta Pizza Truck, to take advantage of (and grow) his positive local reputation. In other locales, he wants pizzerias to brand themselves on his machines, too. Lacco spent his summer finalizing terms with two universities. He’s also in talks with a night school and a hospital, and he hopes to land in airports and stadiums in the future. The first machine is scheduled for an October placement.

“As soon as we place the first couple of machines, that will help to showcase the look and taste and how they work,” Lacco says. “It’s great for pizzerias who already have a brand name in their area but want to be in a high-traffic location—without the expense of opening a full-service restaurant.”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s copy editor.

ATLANTA PIZZA TRUCK

Beyond The Dough

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

About Eric Bam:

Eric is the VP of Sales & Marketing for Perfect Crust Pizza Liners and Incrediblebags.com. Eric is a goal driven optimist that uses his positive attitude to lift up those around him. He’s a father to Nycholas, Alayna and Ruby. He’s a public speaker and show host. You can find him on all social media @TheEricBam.

Two Marketing Ideas Right Now for the Holiday Season

Get gift cards and calendar magnets into customers’ hands now.

IF YOU ARE LIKE MOST BUSY PIZZERIA

owners and operators who already have too much on their plate, it’s likely you find it difficult to consistently execute the right marketing at the right time.

As we head closer to the holidays and the new year rapidly approaches, you can buck that trend. Right now is the perfect time to capitalize on the season and execute the right marketing, using two very specific direct-mail marketing pieces and tactics.

It’s the perfect timing with the upcoming holidays— whether your prospective customers celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or any other holiday—to send them a gift in the mail in the form of a gift card to your restaurant. This is one of the most effective forms of marketing you can execute right now. Gift cards offer tremendous value and will be greatly appreciated by your new prospective customers.  This is easily executed by using direct-mailed plastic postcards that contain one, two or up to four pop-out gift cards. Get creative based on what your specific pizzeria offers. For example, to drive larger orders, consider offering a gift card for catering and another one for dine-in, takeout and/or online ordering.

As we look toward the new year, one of the most effective marketing strategies is to utilize direct-mailed postcard magnets that specifically contain a 2024 calendar. With the combination of the relevant calendar along with the magnet, your prospective customers will intuitively put them on their fridge. The key is timing and getting the calendar magnets to your prospective customers before a competitor does.

Once you put your plan in place to capitalize on the holiday season, it’s critical that you begin looking forward and planning for 2024. The crucial piece of your 2024 marketing is planning and putting your marketing on a calendar. If your marketing plan is not on a calendar, you will only be marginally successful—if successful at all—trying to do it on the fly. Act now and plan your 2024 marketing now. Remember, marketing is your investment in future sales and growth.

To learn more about how Mail Shark can help your pizzeria get more customers and increased sales with their unique line of direct-mail products and their weekly direct-mail marketing strategy, call 610-463-0508 or visit TheMailShark.com/PMQ

GET MORE CUSTOMERS & INCREASE SALES with WEEKLY DIRECT MAIL MARKETING

Mail Weekly – Pay Weekly – No Money Up Front

WEEKLY DIRECT MAIL Brings you more customers while giving your restaurant the flexibility to customize the exact direct mail marketing and payment schedule that aligns with your restaurant’s goals and budget.

We’ll take your total quantity of direct mail marketing pieces and spread your mailings and the cost of the mailings out evenly over the number of weeks that you choose.

Just like this 8-week mailing example below:

How to Add $2,000 in Orders to Next Week’s Revenue

MOST RESTAURANT OWNERS have an invaluable tool at their fingertips that they don’t even know about: the wealth of data sitting in their point-of-sale system. How is this of any value, you ask? The data captured in a restaurant's POS system can

your POS data to deliver targeted text messages and drive more orders, reviews and revenue without you having to lift a finger. Additionally, partnering with Boostly means you don't have to worry about texting compliance laws and regulations—leave that part to Boostly.

So what kind of messages can restaurant owners send?

to their tastes. You can even collect reviews automatically via text through your Boostly marketing platform. Plus, your

LloydPans

You can make heart-shaped pizzas for any occasion with LloydPans’ Quik-Disks. Dough can be laid over the QuikDisk and trimmed to shape. Then add toppings and launch the pizzas into the oven with ease. Hard coat anodized Quik-Disks require no seasoning and are ready to go out of the box. The durable, permanent finish is easy to clean and maintain and will not chip, bake, flake or peel off.

509-468-8691, LloydPans.com/heart-pizza

AM Manufacturing

The Atwood Scale O Matic revolutionizes pizzeria efficiency through precise dough division and rounding. It offers uniform dough portions across size variations, minimizing waste and expenses. Its seamless dual function ensures consistent, high-quality results, optimizing operations and enabling pizzerias to concentrate on creativity. Flexible customization caters to individual pizzeria requirements. 219-293-4924, ammfg.com

Perfect Crust Pizza Liners

What does a Perfect Crust Pizza Liner do? It keeps your pizza crispy! It lifts the pizza and allows the air to circulate. It absorbs grease and moisture. It’s also PFAS-free, biodegradable and compostable. You want to do all you can to protect the integrity of your pizza. It starts with a Perfect Crust Pizza Liner. It takes 12 seconds to get a sample at perfectcrust.com

Portion PadL

Just in time for Sweetest Day, October 21, Portion PadL introduces the first patented dual-purpose cutting board for the perfect heart-shaped pizza. The Heart Shape Portion PadL solves two problems: consistently shaping the dough into a perfectly shaped heart and cutting the pizza after the oven. Use the heart-shaped groove to trim the fresh dough, then use the horizontal and vertical grooves to cut the pizza. 330-608-5928, portionpadl.com

RICK WHEELER: MOVING UP AT MAD MUSHROOM

BY BRIAN HERNANDEZ

U.S. PIZZA TEAM MEMBER RICK WHEELER, co-owner of the newest Mad Mushroom location in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the company's area adviser, never had pizza ambitions. He took a job there while working his way through college, with other aspirations in mind. But something about pizza took hold of Wheeler and drew him into the deep end of our industry. Here, he talks about his humble pizza beginnings, his new path, and how Mad Mushroom attracts and retains employees.

Brian Hernandez: Tell us about yourself and Mad Mushroom.

Rick Wheeler: I have been with Mad Mushroom now for 17 years. We’re currently at the newest location, on Sagamore Parkway in West Lafayette. We have two other locations in Indiana—one

residential location and one right in the middle of all the bars on the Purdue campus. We also have locations in Kentucky. I came to Purdue to study to become a technology teacher and just got a parttime job to pay the bills while I was in college. I started as a driver and slowly fell in love with the company over the years. They offered me a GM position, at which point I promptly left school and began GMing the Underwood Street location in Lafayette, then eventually the campus store, and now we’re here.

Hernandez: What has been the biggest change in your viewpoint from employee to owner?

Wheeler: Paying attention to all the little details. Waking up and checking sales, oven times and delivery times, checking reviews. That’s probably

Rick Wheeler turned a parttime job at Mad Mushroom into a career.

MAD MUSHROOM

From driver to GM to co-owner, Wheeler is now cultivating the next generation of pizza making talent in West Lafayette, Indiana.

one of the biggest things: making sure the customers are happy and, if they are not, making them happy. As an employee, even as a manager, I didn’t do all of these things to the extent I do now. And we have grown this education process so that all our great managers can become better managers. Now we have scorecards with oven, delivery and cook times and are constantly grading at each location so we can help these managers become better operators. Make sure you put in the time to build your team and always keep trying to make it better.

Hernandez: How do you attract quality employees?

Wheeler: Right now, we have flexible schedules. Especially nowadays, that is key. We also have employee programs like Piece of the Pie. We developed this program during COVID-19 to help our employees. Basically, 1% to 2% of the profit earned that day is split between all the employees who worked that day. After three months you get a 1% share, but after a year it doubles to 2%. This can also help with keeping employees long-term. We also have a Pizza of the Month (PotM) program, where a pizza developed by a team member is chosen to be the PotM, and a percentage of the sales from that pie goes to that team member.

Also, anyone who comes into the company to be a part of our team, we let them know that one day they could be a manager, GM, even a co-owner….We look at any manager here as a future Mad Mushroom owner. But it also trickles down. We give our managers great attention once they reach that level. They, in turn, give that special attention to employees in their shop, creating new potential managers.

In an extended website Q&A, Rick Wheeler talks about his career path and how U.S. Pizza Team involvement has made Mad Mushroom an even better pizza company. Read it at PMQ.com/Rick-Wheeler

Michael Payton, co-owner of the Sagamore location, builds some Mad Mushroom staples.

Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s associate editor, test chef and U.S. Pizza Team coordinator.

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Near the University of

in

the

Tavern has been a beloved college hangout for decades—and many of its key features are being preserved by a modern-day brand.

NORTHLAKE TAVERN & PIZZA HOUSE/ BIG MARIO’S NEW YORK STYLE PIZZA

BY TRACY MORIN

ONLY ONE YEAR AFTER ITS 1953 OPENING, Herb and Evelyn Friedman wisely relocated their Northlake Tavern near Seattle’s University of Washington campus. Hungry college kids embraced the pizza they added to the menu six years later, and by 1974 the Friedmans touted their pies as the “best darn pizza anywhere” while adding “& Pizza House” to the business name. After decades of success, Cheryl BerkovichWinzenread and her husband took over in the 1980s, then passed the baton to the man known only as Abdullah, who’d worked at the restaurant since 1981, until he decided to retire in early 2023.

Fortunately, a brand that has been steadily growing since its 2010 debut (with three additional locations in Seattle, plus another coming this fall) was ready to step in and continue the pizzeria’s legacy. Jason Lajeunesse, founder and CEO of Daydream State, which owns and operates the Big Mario’s New York Style Pizza brand, spent six weeks with Abdullah—a crash course in operating this historic spot. The process cemented his mission of restoring and rehabbing the pizzeria, infusing new energy and a fresh approach rather than seeing its doors closed forever.

The new owners initially anticipated a two-month break for cleaning and kitchen work, but the project turned out to be a seven-month-long, full-blown restoration project. Workers put painstaking care into rebuilding and refurbishing the original bar, booths and stools. Much of the memorabilia was carefully preserved, including a collection of cartoons by Seattle’s Pulitzer Prize-winning David Horsey, which are being rehung throughout the building.

Additional updates abound, including the addition of Big Mario’s New York-style whole pies and slices, full bar, games, takeout window, all-ages seating, retail takeout section (with beer, wine, slices and snacks), and a private event space. In homage to the former business, Big Mario’s will offer two of Northlake’s most cherished specialty pie topping combinations, plus the Northlake Lager, created in partnership with Fremont Brewing Co. “Northlake Tavern was a favorite destination for Seattle, including UW students, alumni and their families, over many years,” Lajeunesse explains. “It was important to us to keep the core tenets of Northlake intact.”

With a new look, name and ownership, a 70-year-old pizzeria continues on in spirit, further cementing its Seattle pizza legacy for future generations.

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s copy editor.

Washington

Seattle,

Northlake

Learn more about Big Mario’s New York-Style Pizza in our webexclusive Q&A with Jason Lajeunesse.

Read it at PMQ.com/ big-marios-Q&A.

Expanded programs, competitions & demonstrations – all this November!

Register today to join your fellow pizza operators, franchise owners, and pizzaiolos from across the Eastern United States at the second annual Pizza Tomorrow Summit. Here you’ll have two full days to explore hundreds of exhibitors with a wide range of products, plus:

• Two days of competitions with the U.S. Pizza Team and the Galbani Cup.

• 30 Hours of Complimentary Education across 3 on-the-floor learning theaters

• Center Stage Culinary Demonstration Theater featuring renowned chefs

• Rapid-Fire Single Skillet Culinary Competition with a $1,000 prize to the winning chef

• Hip Sip Battle of the Bartender Competition sponsored by Savage & Cooke Whiskey

• Restaurant 201 ½ day workshop presented by Darren Dennington

And with our co-location with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Show, you’ll be sure to find everything you are looking for this November!

Joey Todaro, III, Wing King

INSIDE:

HERE’S HOW YOUR MENU LOOKS BETTER WITH

FRESH MOZZARELLA

PIZZA PRINCESS

How Giuliana Calascibetta of Cam’s Pizzeria took Twitch by storm and reinvented pizza marketing for a new generation

PAGE 14

OUR FRESH MOZZARELLA IS THE CHERRY ON TOP OF YOUR SALAD

We offer a selection of fine Italian cheeses for restaurants, and our Cigliegini are the perfect addition to any summer dish. Create an exquisite salad or cold antipasto with our fresh mozzarella bites. Drizzle them in sweet balsamic or enjoy them on their own.

Learn more about Caputo’s unique cheese solutions at CaputoCheese.com. Call to request your free sample at (708) 450-0074.

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