Fifteen years ago, Don Bellis wanted to bring the concept of wood-fired pizza to the west coast. A little homework with other business owners told him that the new restaurant would be his life, and he’d likely spend more time at the restaurant than at home during the oncoming years.

So he decided to create a restaurant around a theme that appealed to him and his business partner, Jay Gigandet: classic rock.

Beginning with creating the menu for Rock Wood Fired Pizza around classic rock songs, they also embraced a décor that could probably best be described as industrial salvage chic. Think flames painted onto bathroom stalls. A crumbling brick wall in a dining room. Rusted steel beams overhead in the bar area. And, in some restaurants, vintage vehicles.

The theme is mostly a reflection of the owners’ sense of style. They’ve simply dreamed up features they’d like to see in restaurants and added in the elements as they built. It’s cost them –– but what it has brought them is local notoriety and, in the end, paying customers.

But, Bellis notes, any restaurant that embraces a theme needs to make sure it has the food to bring customers back. No one will eat bad food just to look at a cool room.

“Atmosphere and theme will only get you so far,” Bellis says. “If you don’t have quality food to back it up, you’ll never make it. We can get them in the door with our theme, but once they have the food, they’re hooked for life.”

Others agree. Randy White, CEO of White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, a restaurant consulting fi rm based in Kansas City, notes that food has to come first. “Everybody thinks a theme will create an experience, but it doesn’t really,” White says. “The downfall of the themed restaurant in the past was the themes raised the construction price and they had to raise the price.”

Themes can be as subtle as choosing colors and textures for the interior of a restaurant, White says. He points to Panera Bread as a successfully themed restaurant, mostly because it feels comfortable and brings patrons in with its mix of neutral colors and casual textures. It’s comfortable and homey, and customers feel they can sit and stay, which is what the restaurant operators want. “The truth of it is, with great theming, sometimes people don’t notice it,” White says.

To choose a theme, first choose your food, then decide the price point you’d like to hit. If you want to draw families with children, use bright colors and resilient furniture and finishes that can withstand tough traffic. If your restaurant is designed to draw a more high-dollar diner, consider dark wood, brass, marble finishes and more reserved colors.

One of the strongest elements that can help determine the theme and mood of the restaurant is lighting, as well as acoustics. White says these two pieces are neglected in many restaurant plans, and they might determine if a restaurant gets repeat business more than any other element. “There is an art to doing lighting appropriately,” White says. “Same for acoustics, and many restaurants totally ignore acoustics. Loud environments induce stress in people. I’ve been in restaurants where the wait person has to stoop down to hear you.”

Most themes these days tend towards casual, White says, as the American appetite is swinging towards affordability. “You don’t see as much high end,” White says. “The price points are more affordable, especially if you are targeting families.”

For Billy Lane, owner of Pizza Lane in Sumter, South Carolina, creating a theme was a way to distinguish his restaurant from all of the other pizza restaurants around. Lane was operating as a Pizza Inn franchise, and when he reached the 20-year anniversary with Pizza Inn, he decided against signing a new franchise agreement. He wanted to create a place that honored the local history of his town and capitalize on his own love of antiques. Over the past 15 years, he has added various elements to the restaurant that come from some of Sumter’s long-time businesses and remind patrons of years past. For the younger crowd, it can be an education in the history of their hometown.

“Everything in the restaurant, including the architectural pieces, and drug stores, service stations, barber shop, everything I could get that was legitimate memorabilia, I have it,” Lane says. “All of the people in this town love to come in and reminisce.”

The first room in the restaurant incorporates old teller windows from a bank. Two other rooms borrow their theme from local theaters that once operated in the town, while the last is styled as an old filling station.

“I think if I would have kept my same décor, which was run of the mill Pizza Inn décor, I don’t think I’d be in business today,” Lane says. “When you walk into our restaurant, it’s like coming into a carnival. It’s incredible. It changed everything. People want to come in because of it.” ❖

Tips for creating a themed dining room

It’s not as simple as scattering sports memorabilia around. A theme needs to consider every aspect of your restaurant. Here are some basic tips for successful theming from designer Randy White:
❖ Start with the food. The type of food should have a large part in setting the décor.
❖ Determine a price point. Remember, custom details cost, and can drive up the cost of construction and, ultimately, the price points on the menu. Be careful that your décor isn’t so expensive that it causes you to raise costs.
❖ Select casual details for family friendly, lower price points. Bright lighting is one element that can help set that mood.
❖ Select upscale materials for a high-end menu. Neutral colors, dark wood, brass and marble, as well as low lighting, signal a higher price point.

Robyn Davis Sekula is a freelance writer living in New Albany, Indiana.

Q: We’ve been using dressing packets forever for our salads, but I’ve thought about switching to buying gallons and portioning it. Is it worth the extra labor?

A: Let’s take it one step further. Not only do I want you to portion your own dressings, but I want you to start making your own. Dressings are one of the simplest things to make and so much better than a dressing that you could buy. It gives the customers a better feel for you as a culinary expert as well. If you make it to International Pizza Expo this month, I’ll be giving a demo on homemade dressings.

There are so many ways to advertise! How do I know which advertising opportunities are the best ones for my pizzeria?

It can be mind-boggling and frustrating to fi gure out which ones will suit you well. First, you need to create an advertising budget. Without one you will most certainly blow it. Then understand who your target audience is, meaning which demographic. Are you a high-end pizzeria going after middle to upper income or are you a simple pizza shop going after the high school or college students? Once you’ve determined who your best audience is, target them hard. Advertise on the stations they listen to or in the things they read.

I bought my shop two years ago and planned on renovating it to give it a fresh new look. The counters are very old and ugly. Money is tight. What can I do to give it an inexpensive makeover?

Obviously a couple of coats of fresh paint will do wonders, especially if you pick a different color. Instead of ripping out your countertops, an inexpensive alternative is to re-surface them with a new laminate. You can rough up the existing countertop with a rough sander, and resurface it to give it a brand new look. These two things along with some new art on the walls will make guests feel like they’re in a brand new place. Throw in stripping, waxing and buffing of the floors and you may not even recognize your own place!

In this economy, I want to offer a family value meal but don’t want to jeopardize our reputation of quality instead of the cheap food for cheap price mentality like so many others do. How do I achieve this?

It’s becoming more popular, because of its value, to create a meal for the family for a bargain. The Colonel has been doing this for many years with chicken. Take your menu items and bundle them together to create a nice variety for the family and take a few bucks off and promote it as a Family Meal night or whatever you’d like. No need to lower your quality. A large pizza, large salad, pasta, breadsticks and a two-liter of soda is a great example.

An epic chain reaction has seized the entire planet. This will most likely be the ugliest financial fall-out most people have ever seen. Today alone, 11 pizzerias will slam their doors shut forever. A shake-out like the one gripping the entire world right now will take the weak players first. But even good operators will be confronted with dwindling sales as recession-battered customers cut way back on discretionary spending. So, you can sit around waiting for a tornado to spin you and your dog to Oz, or you can deal yourself an ace.

Your first ace is a powerful USP. That’s because the best way of eliminating your competition is to separate yourself from them. And the proven way to accomplish this is to craft a “Unique Selling Proposition” (or USP, for short). A USP is that distinct and appealing statement that sets your pizzeria apart from every other “generic” pizza shop. A USP that resonates in your marketplace can be the difference between surviving and thriving.

Let’s look at a few from outside the pizza industry: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” Of course that’s Federal Express. Tylenol is “the pain reliever doctors use.” Volvo says: “Drive safely.”

Of course, other delivery businesses offered overnight service before Federal Express coined their famous phrase. Dozens of pain relievers contain the same stuff as Tylenol. Most cars have the same safety features as Volvo. So why have these companies taken ownership of a common feature in their industry? Because they grabbed it and ran with it — before their competitors did.

The big one in pizza is: “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.” You cannot think of the USP without linking it to its source, Papa John’s.

It’s a sad fact though that most pizzeria owners don’t have a USP. Only a “me-too” nondescript business that gets by solely on the momentum of the marketplace. They make no promise, they offer no benefit, they have no justifiable reason for anyone to choose them. So, it’s no surprise that most pizzerias, lacking any type of USP, merely get by. Failure rates are high because they offer no reason to choose them over their competitors.

Now think about it … why should someone switch from their current pizza shop to yours? Are you offering a compelling promise, unique feature or special service? I know what you’re thinking — “We make the best pizza in town.” (Yawn). Would you abandon your favorite steak house because another claimed “Best steaks in town?”

It’s foolish to expect a major surge in business when you’re blowing the same horn everybody else is blowing. You just simply will not stand out from the crowd.



There are three steps to a powerful USP:
❖ Unique benefit
❖ Guarantee
❖ Repetition

Simply boasting of the “best pizza in town” just puts you right smack-dab in the middle of the herd. Exactly where you don’t want to be. However –– what if you added some real “teeth” to that same phrase? Here is the USP I adopted for my shop: “The best pizza you’ve ever had, or your money back –– every penny.”

The guarantee does some very heavy lifting for us here because subconsciously it says that our pizza must be good or we couldn’t make that guarantee. I credit those twelve words with my own explosive sales growth.

Okay, let’s get to it. With paper and pen, write several one-paragraph statements that convey your big promise. A promise that resonates in your marketplace and a promise you can deliver on (no pun intended). Then, ruthlessly edit the best paragraph until you have a concise sentence that offers up the crispest, clearest Unique Selling Proposition your customer can seize upon.

So, what’s your USP? What do customers think about you when placing an order for pizza? Better yet, what do you want them to think? Why should they call you instead of someone else? What is so special about you?

Remember, “Best Pizza in Town” ain’t it. Your USP must say: “Buy my pizza –– get this specific benefit.” Is your USP low price? How low? Can you back it up? (We will beat the lowest price by $2 or you get it free). Are you putting out “high-end” pizza? Remember my USP? Not only did I claim “best,” I went further and backed it with a money-back guarantee.

Enforce your USP with an “Iron- Clad Guarantee.” A strong guarantee is what’s known in marketing as “risk reversal.” Instead of trying to persuade a potential prospect to fork over his hard earned money to try you out, you promise him that if he’s disappointed for any reason whatsoever you will refund his money with no hassles! To make my point, put yourself in the customers’ shoes and decide which pizzeria would get your money. They are identical in every way, except for what’s on their front doors.

Tom’s Pizza — No checks. No refunds.

Tom’s Pizza — Your complete satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back!

Which place would you choose?

Develop a high voltage Unique Selling Proposition that makes people think of you and you only. Live up to it. And, put it on everything: menus, fl yers, door hangers letters — everything!

A USP defines you to the world. After all, anybody can scream “Best Pizza in Town.” But guess what? Nobody can say “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.” except Papa John’s, because they have defined themselves and removed the guesswork.

A solid USP must be clear, concise, and forceful. It must sell your product, not just sound cool. Domino’s created urgency with its 30-minute guarantee in the 1980s. Papa John’s creates desire — after all, its claim of “better” implies other pizzas are inferior. ❖

Kamron Karington owned a highly successful independent pizzeria before becoming a consultant, speaker and author of The Black Book: Your Complete Guide to Creating Staggering Profits in Your Pizza Business. He is a monthly contributor to Pizza Today.

Travelers, whether they move to their destination by land, air or sea, often arrive at their hotels roadweary and hungry. And, more often than not, they ask their concierge for dining recommendations. Which means you need to cultivate a good relationship with the front desk staff members in your area.

For pizza delivery, William J. Callnin, chairman and managing director of Cayuga Hospitality Advisors, Inc., in Virginia Beach, Virginia, said, “I believe if the product is top-notch, it only ties the hotel guest closer to the hotel by offering it to guests.” According to Charles Dorn, CCM, managing director of The Dorn Group Ltd., a hospitality consulting firm in Rye, New York, targeting hot spots as well as building and maintaining a good relationship with a hotel, specifically the front desk staff, are keys to bringing out-of-town business to your restaurant’s door.

“It depends on the level of the hotel. It’s extremely difficult to have a huge presence in a five-star hotel,” Dorn said. “For example, hotels like the Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons can produce a product similar in caliber because they have the staff. They may not have a strong relationship with local restaurants. They don’t want a pizza box walking in through their lobby.”

Claire Belilos, owner of CHIC Hospitality Consulting Services in Vancouver, British Columbia, agreed that outside restaurants may not find an easy recommendation from a luxury hotel that has an in-house restaurant or kitchen staff.

“In the past, large hotels forbade their front office staff, including concierges, from recommending ‘outside’ restaurants and food services, but rather asked them to encourage guests to enjoy meals in the different restaurants of the hotel itself,” Belilos said, adding that most upscale hotels did not allow food to be brought in from the outside, due to food sanitation purposes.

In order to get hotel guests’ business, Dorn suggests looking into different markets. “Take out the luxury hotels, and there is a huge market for business,” Dorn said.

According to Dorn, the number of orders an outside restaurant would receive from an upscale hotel is significantly lower than what you could get from other hotels in other markets. He recommends that operators look for hot spots like independently owned hotels; franchises where the operators will have more flexibility; new properties that are looking for relationships with local restaurants and properties that are somewhat isolated, such as large convention centers. He cautions that corporate-owned hotels may have strict rules about recommendations and a specific restaurant may have already cornered the market.

Once an operator has found the right establishment, developing a relationship is crucial. “Talk to the front desk manager, the general manager or the owner, depending on the size of the hotel,” Dorn said. “There must be a good working relationship between the restaurant and the hotel. The restaurant has to be able to work with the hotel and its rules. It can’t be a hands-off relationship. No two hotels are the same.

“There is no easy answer,” Dorn adds. “A local restaurant has to be aggressive. The bottom line is that the way to get to people is through their stomachs.” Dorn also said that a restaurant and a hotel can have a formal or informal relationship. He suggests that a way to establish an informal association is to offer the general managers or the owners a free meal for them or their staff, on specific occasions, like a staff meeting. “The hotel has to get something back,” Dorn says.

If the word-of-mouth recommendation is not possible, or even if it is, there is another way to get your restaurant noticed by guests at a hotel — paid advertising.

Belilos suggests operators contact management about advertising options in the hotel’s guest directory or magazine, which highlight places to visit in the city, as well as recommended establishments. Another advertising possibility is the in-house television channel that larger hotels use to advertise their own services and facilities, like the spa or shopping opportunities.

Dorn has even seen a menu or a table tent in the guest’s room as a promotional tool for a restaurant. “The F& B director would not appreciate the competition, of course. But in limited service hotels, I don’t see any problem if the products are simply advertised in guestrooms as an available service,” Callnin said.

All travelers deserve a good night’s sleep and a good meal. By discovering the right hotel to work with and establishing a profitable relationship, operators can start feeding weary travelers the second they ask the front desk staff, “Where can I get a good pizza around here?” ❖



Talk to the front desk manager, the general manager or the owner, depending on the size of the hotel. There must be a good working relationship between the restaurant and the hotel. The restaurant has to be able to work with the hotel and its rules. It can’t be a hands-off relationship. No two hotels are the same.

DeAnn Owens is a freelance journalist living in Indianapolis. She specializes in features and human interest stories.

2009 is an important year for International Pizza Expo — it’s the trade show’s 25th anniversary. Additionally, Pizza Today celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. I’m honored and proud to be a part of these two wonderful industry assets, and know that their quartercentury of helping pizzeria operators improve business is an achievement worthy of celebration. That’s exactly what we’ll do March 10-12 in Las Vegas. We’re giving away $25,000 cash to close the show, and we’re throwing another of our popular “Rockin’ ” parties on March 11. I hope you can make it. I know you’ll be glad you did.

Do me a favor when you’re at the show. Budget a few minutes to stop by the Pizza Today booth and say hello to our staff members. Meeting you and learning about your pizzerias is a yearly highlight for us.

In the meantime, I want to send out a most sincere “thank you” to those who support the Expo and Pizza Today each and every year. From our advertisers and exhibitors to our readers and attendees, you are the reason we exist. We value the lasting partnerships we’ve formed with you over the years and we’re eager to advance those relationships in 2009 and beyond.

Pizzeria owners everywhere know 2009 will be a tough year. But strides can be made and there is ground to gain if you put together a solid marketing and product plan and stick to it. We’ll continue to provide the industry’s best advice month in and month out, and I know our advertisers — those companies who provide the industry’s backbone — will continue seeking products that make your businesses more effi cient and more profi table.

Lastly, if you get a chance when you’re walking the show fl oor this month, seek out the companies that invest in your business by advertising in Pizza Today and thank them for their support of our great industry. They’ll be glad to hear from you, and they may even cut you a deal on a product or service!

Best,

Jeremy White, editor-in-chief
jwhite@pizzatoday.com

Climbing commodities, fewer diners, eroding economy: does it spell “d-o-o-m” for your pizzeria? Not if you take control of your crucial costs — those that we can control on a daily basis. The total of these controllable costs are termed “prime cost.” Simply put, prime cost equals the sum of your food and labor costs. These expenses need to be monitored with the vigilance of Scrooge McDuck. Prime cost is typically expressed as a percentage; ideally, 60 percent or lower. This percentage is found by adding our total food cost and labor cost together, then dividing that number by total gross sales.

Let’s start with food cost, which is the sum of all the ingredients used to create your product. Most operators include boxes and paper in this category. I like to advise my peers to manage from the front door, not the back. Cutting quality is a sure way to cut customer counts. That being said, how can you control food costs?

Begin by buying smart. Secure a prime vendor agreement instead of using your time and money to shop around for the best price. In this kind of agreement, the distributor seeks to obtain a high percentage (90 percent) of the operator’s purchasing in exchange for preferred pricing for key items. Industry Consultant Big Dave Ostrander espouses this benefit.

“I have monitored almost every client I assisted in negotiating their prime vendor agreement,” he says. “The majority of them see an instant five percent reduction. When the numbers are in at the end of the year, the clients realize more like an eight percent improvement in food purchases.”

You also should weigh the benefits of having an exclusive contract with minor vendors, such as your beverage or produce provider. This tactic is called “recession partnering.” For example, by exclusively carrying one particular soda company’s products, I can save dollars per case and benefit from rebates, signage and free point-of-sale materials. I not only lower my cost this way, but I also increase my sales — thus lowering my prime cost percentage. Additionally, it also allows me to lower my inventory.

Our next recommended step is to create recipe-costing cards for every item on your menu. Consultant David Scott Peters of TheRestaurantExpert. com says: “Include everything down to a single piece of lettuce. Making these cards and training everyone to religiously use them eliminates waste and over-portioning. Plus, it provides a great training too.”

Take a long, hard look at your menu. Run a few reports through your POS system. Combine your recipe costing cards with your POS reports. Examine closely to see what items are ordered most often and how much they cost you to make versus what your profit margin on them happens to be. You’ll see the poor performers on your menu. These are the ones that don’t sell or that lose you money. They need to go. You want popular, high-profit menu items only.

Once you identify these menu VIPs, highlight them. Encourage customers to purchase them. You may need to work with a professional menu-design company to achieve the best results, but it will be a worthwhile investment.

Next, let’s focus on labor. Cutting customer service is a sure way to cut traffic, it’s important to hire and effectively train the right people. Jim Laube, president of RestaurantOwner. com, recommends a series of interview questions that give insight. When you ask “Do you enjoy serving and taking care of other people?” your potential hire will likely answer in the affirmative. So follow up with this: “Describe one or two instances in which you served or cared for someone else and it was particularly gratifying.”

If the response is genuine, the applicant should be able to provide you with specifi cs. Listen for positive feelings created though the act of doing something special for others. Hiring people who love to take care of others helps create positive experiences and gives their guests another reason to come back again.

Since training an employee is estimated to cost upwards of $1,500, can we really afford turnover? For that reason, it’s important to train with an eye to developing key people who will stand out as superstars. Like grooming a child to eventually take over the business, we need to set clear guidelines and expectations for our key employees. While we don’t have to open up the books for them, we do need to explain how and why things are done as this has a direct effect on whether you have any cash in the bank to pay bills, make payroll and take home.

Is it possible to trim some payroll hours? Probably. What you need to do is measure productivity by comparing sales per hour versus the labor cost per hour. You need to do this for each day of the week, every hour of the day. This will allow you to manage the fl ow and not be understaffed or overstaffed.

Remember that your total labor cost is made up of all wages plus taxes, benefits and payroll insurances. While taxes and insurance are regulated, there are ways to lower your costs. Ohio Restaurant Association member Ann Reichle encourages operators to belong to trade communities. “It saves me over $1,000 annually on workers’ compensation alone,” she says.

Prime cost percentage is the one number every operator must pay attention to. Daily monitoring of costs will help you catch a problem before it turns into a major revenue loss. ❖

Scott Anthony is a Fox’s Pizza Den franchisee in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and a frequent contributor to Pizza Today and the Pizza Expo family of tradeshows.

Like other types of yeast leavened bread doughs, pizza doughs will benefit from fermenting for a period of time before using or baking. Fermentation provides dough conditioning, making the dough easier to shape. It also reduces the propensity of the dough to bubble during baking, and it does wonders for the flavor of the dough, too. Depending upon the temperature at which the dough is fermented, you can get different fermentation flavors. For example, if the dough is unusually soft, due to high absorption (added water), or if it is stored (fermented) in a cool environment, the yeast and bacteria present in the dough will tend to produce greater amounts of lactic acid, producing a flavor in the finished crust more along the lines of that of a sourdough. A dough that is made with a low absorption (50 percent or less), or which is allowed to ferment at room temperature, will tend to produce more acetic acid, resulting in a flavor more like that which we would associate with commercially produced white pan bread. This is one of the reasons why you see so many formulas/recipes for artisan bread that call for overnight refrigeration/ fermentation of the dough.

Fermentation itself is important to the performance of our pizza dough. The effects of fermentation combine to help mellow or weaken the gluten forming proteins, resulting in a finished dough that is more easily stretched to shape, and which doesn’t possess so much snap-back that it refuses to maintain its shape. The weakening effect upon the fl our proteins is also responsible for developing a more tender eating characteristic.



The main by-product of fermentation, carbon dioxide, works to leaven the dough both before and during baking. This leavening effect is what produces the desired lightness in the finished crust (which, in turn, is responsible to a great degree for the crispiness and crust color development of the finished crust).

Since so many good things come from the effects of fermentation, one might be inclined to think that more is better, but that isn’t necessarily the case — too much fermentation can result in a dough that is excessively gassy, or so weak that it is diffi cult to shape properly, not to mention the fact that it probably won’t rise very well either, and remember those acids that are formed as a by-product of fermentation? If your dough gets too acidic as a result of excessive fermentation, those acids will impede crust color development, making it difficult to get the desired color on the finished crust. Then, too, there is flavor –– an over fermented dough will have a very strong and pronounced “fermentation” smell. Some operators have likened this smell to that of a brewery, and they’re not too far off base, as the aromatics are both due to the by-products of yeast fermentation.

In some instances, we might see a dough that has not been given sufficient fermentation. Think of an emergency dough, where you came in to open the store early in the morning only to be met by the pungent smell of fermentation — and a mess in the cooler. Now you’re faced with the task of cleaning up the mess, tossing out the “blown” dough, and making an emergency dough to get you through the day. Since you will only have a few hours at most to get the emergency dough up and running, you can bet that it will be short on fermentation time.

Even though we double the yeast level in our emergency dough, the flavor will still be somewhat lacking. Because of the shorter fermentation time, the same level of acids won’t be developed, which can result in a dough that colors more quickly in the oven, possibly necessitating a slight reduction in bake time or temperature. And lastly, since the effect of the various acids and enzymes from the yeast haven’t had sufficient time to mellow, or soften the gluten forming proteins, the dough might feel a little stiffer or stronger, and exhibit more snap-back at forming than your regular doughs. To some extent, this can be compensated for through the addition of a small amount of L-cysteine/PZ-44 to the dough. Even at this, you will most likely find that the dough isn’t as light/ airy as your regular dough, and this can make the finished crust more chewy and less crispy.

As you can see, fermentation is a very important aspect of making a quality pizza/pizza crust. The main thing to keep in mind is that it isn’t so much a matter of how much fermentation you give the dough, but rather how well you control the fermentation.

Tom Lehmann is a director at the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kansas.

International Pizza Expo® is just around the corner. If you haven’t already registered, you’d better start making plans NOW! This year, we’re making a few changes in celebration of our 25th anniversary that are sure to make this year’s Expo the most informative, exciting and memorable show ever.

We’ve added several new speakers and topics that deal with today’s tough issues facing the pizza industry. Our team of experts will educate you on how to survive and prosper in today’s economy. You’ll also find out how to retain your core customers, attract new customers, improve customer service and create dynamic and meaningful marketing campaigns that really work. Our pizza-specific program of more than 60 seminars, workshops and demonstrations is unparalleled and second to none in the foodservice industry.

Are you looking for a few new menu ideas? If you are, then the International Pizza Challenge and Demonstration Area is the place to be. The International Pizza Challenge™ has become so popular we’ve decided to add a non-traditional category to the competition. This year, we’ll have approximately 140 competitors from across the globe competing in the “Pizza World Championships”. In addition, we’re also adding a new culinary contest to determine the “2009 World Champion Pizzaiolo”. What could be more exciting and spontaneous than watching four of the world’s best pizzaiolos competing head-to-head to see who’s the “best of the best”?

Do you want to party? Make plans to attend the World Pizza Games® Finals and Rockin’ Party. We’ve made a few changes to make sure this is the biggest and best party ever. The bottom line is, there will always be winners and losers, but only those pizzeria owners that arm themselves with industry knowledge and are willing to take action towards positive change will have the ability to position their business for future growth and success. Last but not least, remember that attending International Pizza Expo® is a tax-deductible working vacation.

It’s all Pizza and it’s all for YOU!

Best regards,
Bill Oakley Executive VP

Unexpected staffing shortages can make your life — and your employees’ — an unholy nightmare. If customers are negatively impacted by the reduced manpower, your bottom line can take a pretty horrifying hit as well. And yet, in this economy, where operators are focused on cost-cutting, encountering this problem has become likelier than ever.

While it’s true you don’t want to overstaff, it’s dangerous to run too lean; reducing labor to the bare-bones minimum will end up costing you more than you save, says Arjun Sen, president of Restaurant Marketing Group, a Centennial, Colorado-based consulting company.

“Restaurant operators need to ask themselves, is the guest paying less? Is the guest coming with lowered expectations? Of course the answer’s no,” Sen says. “So reducing labor means serving the customer with less while they’re paying the same, or more, for a reduced experience and hoping they won’t notice.”

But they will, Sen continues. Through their “Leaky Bucket” study on customer attrition, they discovered that a series of minor slips (slow greeting, late-to-table beverages, etc.) are viewed just as negatively by customers as one big mistake. In fact, the minor ones are often more detrimental because, unlike a major mess up, they typically pass unnoticed and unaddressed.

Sudden shortages happen, however, even if you’ve staffed properly (see sidebar). People call in sick, or fail to show up at all, and then you’ve got a problem.

Cross-training is one of your best contingency plans, Sen says. Jeff Miller, owner of three Extreme Pizza franchises in the San Francisco Bay area, cross-trains his drivers and cooks on the POS system so they can step in when cashiers go missing (managers are cross-trained on all stations).

Cashiers are usually his least reliable employees since they’re typically high school or college students, explains Miller. At the same time, because 60 percent of their business is delivery and the cashiers answer the phones, manning that position is essential.

Suzette Megyeri, co-owner of Bambino’s Italian Eatery in Colorado Springs, says at least half her staff is cross-trained. Employees look at learning new positions as advancement opportunities. Anyone interested in promoting to manager must be willing to cross-train on all positions.

Managers offer an important defense against shortages. Ron Inverso, owner of Ron’s Original Bar & Grill in Exton, Pennsylvania, normally has two managers per shift. If they’re down by two servers (one down generally isn’t an issue) a manager will wait tables. Since all managers have gone through a kitchen training program, they can fi ll in there as well.

And then there’s another resource — you, the owner. Seven years into the business, Miller is still making deliveries. Megyeri comes in on her days off. And Anthony Marku, owner of Anthony’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant, a three-site operation in Orlando, still busses tables. His only complaint? “Because our restaurants have (won local awards) people recognize me. The problem is, they know I’m the owner so they don’t tip me,” he laughs.

Being proactive rather than reactive can help you get the upper hand on shortages. A good move? Identify areas where shortages are likelier to happen and compensate accordingly, either with cross-training, beefing up the staffing for that position, or employing other strategies. Marku says it’s his morning shift that’s most vulnerable to no-shows. Consequently, he requires employees to arrive an hour earlier, giving his managers time to find replacements.

For especially busy times like holidays or special events consider implementing an on-call policy. Miller does this for certain things like Super Bowl, asking a couple of people in all positions to remain on standby until a specified time.

Hiring more part-time staff might give you a greater cushion against shortages, For example, Megyeri says that most of her 30 employees are parttime. Each shift generally requires ten employees. Consequently, on a typical day, she’ll have at least 10 people with the whole day off they can call if necessary.

Establishing firm policies can also give you better control. Inverso’s approach is typical. “Employees are responsible for covering their shifts,” he says. “If they don’t, or if they’re late, or if they don’t call ahead of time, we issue an incident report. Get two or three of these and they’re out. “You hate to fi re them because they’re kids,” he continues. “But you can’t set a precedent. You have to set the policy, make sure everyone knows it and follow it.”

But firings are rare because employees like coming to work, Inverso says. In fact, the operators appearing here say they focus on creating pleasant environments that emphasize teamwork and accountability as a deterrent to no-shows and shortages.

“You want to create a sense of being part of a team,” says Sen. “Define the goals (we want fewer than two percent customer complaints), have a daily report card in front of them, and celebrate when you reach that goal.”

And if faced with a serious shortage, fess up to customers, Sen says. “Tell them the problem and what you’re doing to rectify it,” he says. “Reward them for their patience by offering them something free. It’s better to let them know rather than hoping they won’t notice.” ❖

Calculating staffing requirements

Ron Inverso, owner of Ron’s Original Bar & Grill in Exton, Pennsylvania, doesn’t know how others calculate staffing requirements; he only knows that his system helps him keep his levels on target. Here’s how he figures it out:

First look at projected sales (A). Multiply this by your payroll budget percentage you want to meet (B) to determine the dollar amount you can spend on payroll (C). A x B = C.

Then, from your previous history (take a three-week average) determine what your average payroll cost is for the week (D). From this same period, take the average hours you spent (E). Dividing D by E gives you the average hourly rate (F). D/E = F.

Divide your payroll budget (C) by your average hourly rate (F). This is your hourly budget, the number of hours you can spend to meet your budget considering your projected sales. The hourly budget can be additionally broken out by FOH, production, delivery and management.

Pamela Mills-Senn is a freelancer specializing in writing on topics of interest to all manner of businesses. She is based in Long Beach, California.

Bear Silber co-owns Pizza Party, a one-store operation in Santa Clara, California. Once a Pizza Party customer, Silber, age 26, is in the process of buying the property from the couple that previously owned the pizzeria. At this point, they are equal partners in the business.



PT: What made you want to buy a pizzeria?

BS: I’ve always wanted to do something in the culinary field. I’ve done a lot of different jobs in the past: I’ve tutored; I’ve been a P.E. coach, a plumber, a carpenter. I’ve done marketing and Web design. I was at a point where I wanted to settle into a career. I’ve never been classically trained and it was getting a little late for me to go to culinary school, so I looked around at places I could get involved with without having that training. I looked at ice cream parlors, delis, doughnut shops and pizza parlors. I settled on pizza because it has a family atmosphere and you have people sitting around for a while and hanging out in your pizzeria. In an ice cream parlor, they stay maybe 15 minutes and then leave.

PT: Have you made any changes since buying in to Pizza Party last fall?

BS: I’ve made a lot of changes. I came in here and redid the Web site and logo. I wanted to change the name, but it was already changed a few years ago and you can’t continue to change the name all the time. But Pizza Party does represent what we do. I also redid the menu, both the items and the graphics.

PT: What items did you add or drop from the menu?

BS: I dropped very little, if anything. But we added wraps and they’re doing very well. We also added jalapeño poppers and root beer fl oats, and we’re going to add artisan pies soon. We have specialty pizzas, but I want to take a three-tiered approach and offer the regular sausage and pepperoni pizzas, the specialties like veggie or BBQ chicken, and then have the artisan pizzas. I’ve been taking baby steps and still have a ways to go, but every day I try to do a little something different.

PT: Why didn’t the poor economy deter you from getting involved in pizzeria ownership?

BS: I had no idea about that. I got to the point in my life where I didn’t have a career and I really wanted to make one for myself. It was the right time for me personally. I didn’t want to wait two years until the economy got better. Look at McDonald’s. They’re doing great right now. Even in this economy, someone is going to do well.

PT: You’re really into marketing through the social networking sites, aren’t you?

BS: Yes. I’m doing a lot with Yelp and Twitter. The day after the Super Bowl, I got on Twitter and offered a free mini pizza to the first person who came into the pizzeria wearing a Steelers jersey. I’ve put up trivia questions and given the first person to respond with the correct answer a small pizza –– things like that. It’s not quite driving in people yet. I think it will take some time to catch on. But, when you think about it, how many millions of people are there on Facebook? It’s slow to come around, but you’ll see people building on it more and more. It’s fun to get a dialogue started with your customers.

Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizza, an Indiana independent pizzeria that’s just over the border from Chicago, has a smart, eclectic wine list. There’s a rare Pinot Noir from northern Italy, a plush Amarone, a Spanish rosé. And then there’s a Riesling from — wait, Michigan?

That isn’t as strange as it might seem. Over the last decade, the United States has become a nation of winemakers. A state like Iowa, famous for corn, soybeans and hogs, now boasts a breathtaking 70 wineries. South Dakota and even North Dakota have wineries. Texas, a state where priests were planting grapes more than 300 years ago, produces renowned bottles from the hill country outside of Austin. In fact, there are now wineries in all 50 states –– yes, that includes Alaska –– and their ranks are growing rapidly. And compared to Alaska, Michigan seems like a perfect place to plant a few vineyards

At Stop 50, owner Chris Bardol isn’t stopping at a token Midwestern wine. In addition to Round Barn Winery’s riesling, which is made just a half-hour up the road, Bardol is adding a couple more Michigan wines and tasting bottles from Indiana and Ohio, too. “It’s at the beginning stages,” Bardol says of his local wine selection. It’s a natural project for him: Stop 50 prides itself on buying locally and not carrying mass-market brands. “We don’t do any large domestic breweries, so we wanted to carry that same thought process into the wine.”

And local wines aren’t languishing on the menu anymore, says Round Barn’s general manager, Chris Moersch. “It used to be like pulling teeth to get our wines into accounts,” he says. “That’s totally changed.” In fact, Round Barn’s wines are now in more than 150 restaurants. In part, as Moersch says, the shift is generational: “Twenty- and thirty-year-olds are much more open to local products. They like to make up their own mind.” But the way people think about wine has evolved, too, and as more Americans drink wine, the quality of regional wines has shot upwards.

At Pizzeria and Bar Bianco, a place that draws pizza cognoscenti from across the country, owner Chris Bianco stocks local Arizona wines. In fact, says Rod Keeling, president of the Arizona Wine Growers Association, Bianco’s such a believer in Arizona wine that he even testified before a legislative committee in support of local wineries.

“People will even try a wine or a beer because it is local,” says Bardol. “It’s actually an advantage.” The success of local beer –– craft beer from local breweries is now seen as a prestige product over beer from national breweries –– has made local wine seem less strange and more legitimate. And for pizzerias in tourist areas, local wines have an obvious selling point, Bardol says. “If they’re just in town for a little bit, where else are they going to see it?”

It’s tough to get more local than the half-dozen bottle list at Redwood Pizzeria in Felton, California, in the hills above Santa Cruz. Ask owner Evan Borthwick where his wines come from, and he says things like, “It’s up on the top of the ridge,” or “That’s literally a stone’s throw from the pizzeria.” All Redwood’s wines come from within a few miles of the pizzeria. That’s an extraordinary situation, but any pizzeria near a winemaking area would do well to emulate Borthwick’s model. He’s successfully cross-promoted Redwood through the local winery tasting rooms, winery associations and brochures. When the owner of a winery recommends Redwood for a pizza and a glass of his wine, that recommendation means actual business, Borthwick says. He’ll post flyers for special events at the wineries and they return the favor. It’s a deal that not only brings in customers, but reinforces Redwood’s brand as a local and organic business.

Getting wine is exceptionally easy for Borthwick. “I’ll call on a day’s notice when I’m down to the last bottle of Chardonnay, say,” he says, “and the wine maker will drop off the wine himself,” saving him shipping costs and cutting carbon emissions. That’s unusual, of course. But in many states, wineries can sell directly to restaurants instead of going through a distributor (which interstate sales typically require). That’s an opportunity to develop a relationship with a fledgling winery, which may cut its prices in order to get into a restaurant. Winter’s an especially good time to contact a local winery — that’s their slow season.

But if you go through a distributor, you may have to push to get access to local wines: distributors are used to selling mass-produced corporate wines. Also, Bardol says he typically pays a little more for local wines because he’s ordering in small quantities. “What I have to look at is how I’m going to price it to be competitive on the menu,” he says. Nevertheless, the Round Barn Riesling lands at the low end of the list, coming in at $5 a glass and under $20 a bottle. And even if he had to pay more, Bardol says, he’d do it, because that’s what customers expect from Stop 50: something surprising, local, and good. “It’s worth it to not have the big brand names,” he says. ❖



Think Local

Many American regional wineries grow standard European wine grapes like merlot or Chardonnay. But Midwestern or Southern wineries often grow less-familiar hybrid grapes like Chambourcin or Vidal because the European varieties don’t do well in extreme climates. Don’t dismiss them: they can be excellent. Here’s a primer on a few lesser-known winemaking states:

❖ New York. The North Fork, with its Bordeaux-like weather, is home to many stellar wineries, specializing in world-class Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
❖ Virginia. Thomas Jefferson once planted grapes at Monticello. Today he has many imitators. Look for lush Viognier or the local grape Norton.
❖ Michigan. Perhaps the most underrated wines in the country, Michigan’s best, especially its German-styled whites, can compete against almost any from the West Coast.
❖ Florida. Look for sweet wines from hotweather- loving hybridized grapes. And keep an eye out for dessert fruit wines, too.
❖ Idaho. Seriously. The cold nights here make for steely, high-quality white wines.

Nicholas Day is a freelance writer who covers food and drink for a variety of publications. He resides in New Haven, Connecticut.

Every now and then, we come across a concept that just seems to be doing everything right. Was it born under a lucky star? Rarely, but with the right infusion of marketing, quality control and dedication, it somehow seems to flourish even in an ever-weakening economy.

Meet Sparks, Nevada-based Black Rock Pizza Co. Its creative menu, heavily involved ownership and emphasis on fresh ingredients has earned it annual sales of just over a million dollars. The concept –– based on its desert roots –– is the brainchild of owners Dave and Linda Winchester, Wyoming transplants who once owned a chain of convenience stores.



After 30 years in the convenience store industry, the couple found themselves burned out. Their stores had been known for their deli and roasted chicken as much as for the retail and gas side of the business, and the Winchesters began looking at other options. “We’ve always been food-oriented,” Dave Winchester says. “We’ve always been has a passion for food. Linda has always been a great cook and had a passion for cooking, especially baking.”



Before giving up the convenience business, Linda began taking culinary classes and refining her skills in the kitchen, and the couple loved dining out.

So they decided to open their restaurant, and with limited capital, settled on pizza. “Gourmet pizza was something that was not heavily done in this area,” Winchester says. “There had been some gourmet pizza places (but) most of them were quick-serve.”



The Winchesters based their concept on one of their own personal favorites, Montana-based MacKenzie River Pizza Company, located near their eldest son’s university. They wanted their own restaurant to be exciting and fresh. “I don’t want to just run a food business,” Winchester explains. “I always want to be in your memory after you come here. You can always remember the places you’ve been where you had the ‘best of” something.”



The early days were difficult, Winchester concedes. “At fi rst it was what you read and hear –– it was a lot rougher than we thought. Way rougher than a convenience store. You build a convenience store, most residents will give you a chance early on. Restaurants aren’t necessarily so. I figured if we had good food and worked on the service –– we didn’t know that much about service –– that people would come.”

They realized it would take more than great menu to succeed –– (“I can remember the $200 day. It was heartbreaking,” Winchester says.) so they hired a consultant and formed a game plan to step up marketing and tighten operations.



“If you invite people in, then it has to be good,” he adds, “and our food is good. I don’t say that because we say it’s good – you’re always talking to and getting a feel from the customers. Otherwise, you can delude yourself … you only have the best pizza if the customer says so.”

Sales began to climb steadily and the Winchesters added more staff to handle their 25 tables.

Today, marketing plays a heavy hand in Black Rock’s success, thanks in part to the Winchesters’ creativity at designing promotions that foster repeat business. They created a database and a rewards program (boasting 3,300 members) and market directly to those customers. Past promotions include a “no peek” envelope in which customers won a prize by returning with the envelope during the month of January. That boasted a return of 49 percent.



They also handed out pieces to a 1,000-piece puzzle and put one together themselves, pulling out a few pieces. The customers who matched their piece to a hole in the puzzle won a prize. Recently, Black Rock has added a large, branded catering truck able to pump out 180 pizzas an hour using a rotating oven versus the more traditional 90 an hour with impingers. They’re hoping to step up site-based catering which will expose more people to its offerings.

The company doesn’t offer delivery, and Winchester said that while it is “almost a must for some types of pizzas, gourmet pizza doesn’t hold up as well. In gourmet, reputation is everything. … Another thing is –– and I’m not a control freak –– but we still work this restaurant. We’re here 60 to 80 hours a week. Once that thing hits the door, it’s out of your control and you’re talking about losing that ability to satisfy the customer. That’s a real issue.”

Black Rock’s menu includes appetizers, salads, gourmet pizzas, sandwiches, pasta and desserts, and everything –– including the mouth-watering cakes and pies –– is made in-house save for a raspberry vinagrette and a Basque chorizo they import and smoke themselves. The top seller is The Smoke Creek, featuring fresh turkey sausage, shredded pepperoni (a major point of differentiation from its competitors), crumbled bacon, smoked red onion, smoked Roma tomatoes, and green bell peppers topped with Romano cheese. The diversity in the menu –– 30 signature pizzas on two types of crusts and seven different sauces –– ensures that repeat customers can always find something different. The relatively small sizes of the pizzas (an 8-inch single and a 12-inch double) encourage sharing.

“We cut everything small so that every bite has every ingredient in it,” Winchester says. “I think that is so important that when you take a bite of pizza, all those flavors and all of that freshness comes out.”

Black Rock uses specialty cheeses on all the pizzas, fi lling ingredients to the very edge of the dough –– Winchester says he hates to see plates of uneaten crusts coming back into the kitchen. Pizza accounts for 50 percent of Black Rock’s sales. All of the meats are smoked in-house, including tri-tip beef and pork shoulder, and “it’s one of the things that makes us unique in a Western way,” Winchester adds. “We want to be Navatan. We’ve always live in the west and we want to be Western.” Aside from the meat, many of the menu items take their names from the western culture, such as Rattlesnakes” –– thin strips of sirloin steak, marinated in buttermilk, drizzled with chipotle sauce and served with ranch dressing on the appetizer menu and the “Wagon Tire BBQ” –– garlic studded tri-tip steak, mushrooms, sauteéd onions, provolone and the company’s own barbecue sauce a multigrain roll).

Now that Black Rock has established a name for itself, are there any plans for growth? Winchester said he’s looked at opening another store, “but the catering will have to be successful for us to be able to afford to. One of the things we learned in the convenience store business is when you open up another location, you lose control unless you’ve got a heck of a system and are able to hire super people. It takes years to develop people. I don’t know if I have the years left in me.” Instead, if the catering takes off, he’d rather put his attention and focus there. “I love this concept of being able to go out and handle a thousand people. I know it’s going to be a heck of a job, but I’m excited about being able to roll in there, kick out those pizzas, pack up and go and know that everybody’s happy.” ❖

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is managing editor at Pizza Today.

In 1975, Joe Spina and his brother, Vinnie, were running a construction business in New York. Their parents, Joe Sr. and Eleanor, had recently retired and were moving from Long Island to Tucson. It didn’t take long for the Spina children — which includes daughter Kathryn — to decide they needed to move West, too. When you’re Italian, family matters. And this was a family that wanted to stay together.



Ironically, Joe and Vinnie decided to switch careers when they relocated. Rather than run their construction business in the desert, they instead opted to operate a pizzeria. It may seem like a strange move, but it’s one that paid off. “It was just going to be too much of a hassle,” Joe says when asked why the brothers didn’t move their construction business with them. “There were different requirements and licenses and so on. So my brother, Vinnie, came up with the idea of opening up a pizza shop.”



The Spinas enlisted the help of a pizza veteran — “an Italian guy in New York,” as Joe says — to show them the ropes. They launched a small establishment in West Hempstead in 1980 and learned how to make dough and pizza and how to run a restaurant on the fl y. Then they sold the store, as well as the construction business, and joined their parents in Tucson, where they opened Mama’s Famous Pizza & Heros in 1981 near the University of Arizona.



Today, there are four Mama’s stores in operation, and Joe says he and Vinnie (who couldn’t be present when Pizza Today visited Tucson last fall) are considering more. With their children and children-in-law involved in the day-to-day operations, the Spinas are seeking ways to grow the organization to secure a prosperous future for the younger generation. No firm decisions have been made, though they have spoken with franchise specialists just to feel out the process.

“I don’t know what will happen,” says Joe. “Franchising is something we’re thinking about and tossing around, but there’s so much involved and so much to consider that it gets overwhelming.” One thing is certain: the Spinas will take their time in an effort to get it right. They went five years between opening their first and second stores in Tucson. With large units (3,500 square feet, plus patio seating) — which naturally translate into high overhead — they can’t afford to get it wrong. That’s why they make nearly everything in-house, from the dough to the dessert.



“Our cheesecake is out of this world,” says Joe. “When we decided to open a pizzeria, one of the first things my brother said is, ‘We need to have the best cheesecake around.’ He knew that people associated New York not just with pizza, but also with cheesecake. He wanted to have a really impressive, homemade cheesecake that people would find memorable.” Mama’s makes roughly 16 cheesecakes per week, each one cut into 12 slices. It’s priced at $4.95 per slice or $36.95 for a whole cake.

But the star of the show at Mama’s remains the pizza. The original location sells 200 to 300 pies on an average night (around 15 percent less at the other three stores). Two different styles are offered. They’re listed as “Neapolitan” and “Sicilian” on the menu, though the descriptors aren’t authentically accurate. The “Neapolitan” is round and hand-stretched, while the Sicilian is square and baked in a deepdish pan. The pies are available in three sizes: 12, 16 and 24 inches. They call the 24-incher a “family size”, and it would feed a big family — it has 24 ounces of sauce and seven cups of cheese and is actually more than twice the size of the 16-inch pizza (452.19 square inches compared to 200.96 square inches for the 16-incher).



Believe it or not, that’s not the biggest pizza in the house, though. Mama’s sells slices for $4.75 each. At first glance, that appears to be a high price point for a slice. Do the math, though, and you’ll find that a Mama’s slice is roughly the same size as a 10-inch pizza. The company uses a 28- inch pizza (thanks to a custom-designed peel) cut into eight wedges. “When you come here you’re going to be full and get a good meal at the right price,” Joe Spina says.

“Everything is big,” says Liz Biocca, Joe’s daughter. Like other family members, Liz works each day in the kitchen and back offi ce. “My uncle Vinnie, he says when you make a sandwich he wants to see the meat hanging over the edge. Our family-size calzones are so big they can feed five or six people.”



Which explains why they’re priced at $26.95. Joe says the calzones carry a higher food cost (20 percent) than the pizza (15 percent). “But our appetizers and sandwiches have the highest food costs,” he says. “Some of them are up at 35 or 40 percent. But overall we have a good, low food cost.”

One of the company’s objectives for the short term is to grow catering sales. Biocca is in charge of that and says Mama’s caters to schools and businesses alike. Not surprisingly, some of her largest catering clients in the past have been pharmaceutical reps.

“When we first got into catering we had a lot of those types of accounts,” she says. “But the next year it was like night and day. A lot of those dried up due to cutbacks, or the accounts would be calling with much smaller budgets and asking what we could do with that amount.”

Catering comprises 10 to 15 percent of sales, says Biocca. “We sell lunch programs to schools where we make pizza fresh that day and deliver it to them,” she says. “And we do a lot of fundraisers with the schools.”

Other marketing efforts center on radio. Though Mama’s doesn’t use it heavily, it does take advantage of the medium seasonally by using Joe’s authentic New York accent to keep Mama’s top of mind with Tucson residents.

“Our advertising is very instinctive,” explains Biocca. “It’s lighthearted and it’s something people remember and talk about when they come in.”

In the end, though, Joe says Mama’s isn’t in the advertising business and that word of mouth is always a restaurant’s best form of marketing.

“We’re here to make great food,” he says. “If you do that and serve your customers with a smile, treat them good while they’re here, then the other things take care of themselves.”

Jeremy White is editor-in-chief at Pizza Today.

Often, restaurants go overboard when it comes to menu planning. From a laundry list of tired appetizers to a plethora of pizza styles and desserts fresh from the freezer, some menus can stretch into several pages. But is it really necessary? And can a pizzeria subsist on just a handful of favorites? If Sparks, Nevadabased Pizza Plus is the example by which operators should consider, then yes. Here you’ll find a list of tried and true pizza staples, ever-popular wings and a handful of appetizers designed to enhance the overall meal –– not just to increase check totals.



Owned by Dan Blake who originally partnered with his then in-laws, the first store opened in 1981. His in-laws had been looking for an investment and Blake had experience working at a Shakey’s Pizza franchise when he was a teen. “We kind of jumped in not really knowing what was going on,” Blake admits. It was a “very slow beginning. It took several years to get going.

“One of the worst things is that we were under capitalized, so we really had no advertising but word-of-mouth. That’s a very slow advertising. It takes time. It took us probably three to fi ve years to build up a strong core business. We discounted things we shouldn’t have discounted. It was just a learning experience.”



Being a primarily family-run business, Blake brought on board Dennis Cain as director of operations in the company’s infancy to strengthen its center, and sales soon started to rise. Today, the company sits at about $5 million with four stores in the Reno area.

Blake credits some of his initial success to partnering and sponsoring local sports teams. “Then they would come in after the games,” Blake says. “That was one of our building blocks.”



As the company’s business began to pick up, Blake and his team decided to take a hard look at Pizza Plus’ menu, adding a set list of combos designed to feed crowds. For example, one of the most popular –– and the one Cain credits for a sharp rise in sales in the late 1980s and early 1990s –– is a large two-topping pizza, two and a half pounds of chicken wings, steak-cut fries, carrots, celery and dip for only $29.99 (the order feeds four to six people). Combos comprise about 65 percent of sales and more than 7,000 pounds of wings are sold in the four restaurants every week.

“We really combined pizza and wings,” Blake says. “That’s our jingle –– ‘It’s Our Thing … Pizza & Wings!’ and we really wanted to brand that. We really wanted people, when they think of pizza and wings, they think of Pizza Plus.”

Aside from the combos, Pizza Plus offers a short list of specialty pizzas ranging in price from $12.99 for a 10-inch small to $24.99 for an 18-inch “mondo.”

Dough is made daily at one store and shipped to the three other locations and the rest of the prep, including grating the cheese and making sauce, is done in-house.

Beer and wine are available and used to make up as much as eight to nine percent of sales; in recent years, however, thanks in part to the increase and success of sports bars, alcohol sales account for only one percent of sales. “Over the years, pizza parlors were the places to go after games and sporting events,” Blake says. “I think the national awareness of groups like M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and the public awareness probably (also) have something to do with it.”



As a result, Pizza Plus targets kids’ sports teams, families and groups and leaves the major alcohol sales to the casinos and bars in and around Reno.

Pizza Plus added delivery in the mid 1980s, which also helped to increase (and now comprises roughly 25 percent of) sales. “Slowly but surely we grew to the point where we had to open another store,” Blake says, and in 1993 they opened the second Pizza Plus store. Since then, two more stores have been added.

Recently, the operators began to take a harder look at how to weather –– and conquer –– the slumping economy. “



At the end of 2007, we began to see signs of what was happening –– that the bubble was about to burst,” Blake says. “Early in the year we got hit with the wheat price increases –– we went from $10 a bag to $25 overnight.”

They attended a seminar on recession-proofing a business held at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. “Before that, all I was hearing was hunker down, cut expenses, just try to ride out the storm,” Blake says. During the seminar, he realized that it is up to operators to increase business rather than simply relying on the status quo.

“You have to stand out (and) learn how to be a zebra in a crowd of regular horses,” he says. “You’ve got to be the one that stands out. What do your customers know you for? What are you famous for?”

After the seminar, Blake came to understand that Pizza Plus didn’t exactly have a brand, so they created an icon of a pizza guy and began using it in the marketing and on their menus. People then began identifying the icon with the company.

A further new addition was the creation of a customer loyalty program to encourage repeat business. Customers have a card that is swiped, and they get e-mails and newsletters once a month with special offers. The VIP program “gives us a format to kind of reach out,” Blake says.

The positive results of the branding and the addition of the loyalty program created a rise in sales last year even as Pizza Plus’s competitors have begun shuttering some doors. “I like to think that’s certainly because of the efforts we put into the customer service part of it and the marketing program,” Blake adds. “We’ve changed completely what we were doing.”

With four stores in the Reno area, is franchising in the company’s future? Blake has considered it, but believes it is a step he needs to learn more about before taking the leap. “It would possibly be a great way to grow,” he says, “but in this economy right now we need to stay focused on profit margin and making sure when this thing turns around, we’re in a good position. I think anybody left standing is going to be in a fairly good position.” He cites at least eight pizza shops that have closed in his area recently as part of the reason for holding right now.

Instead, the company took over the concession stand during the Pop Warner football season last year at the Golden Eagle Regional Park, a multiple use sports park that brings in more than one million visitors a year. The move correlates with Pizza Plus’ emphasis on working with teams.

“We always sponsor a lot of teams, but this year we sponsored more,” Blake says. “It’s a good community give-back and tie-in program. There’s been a lot of recognition and response.” ❖

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is managing editor at Pizza Today.

What’s the deal with stuffed crust pizza anyway? Should you or shouldn’t you consider adding it to your list of pizza choices? If you are already offering stuffed crust, how is it selling? What about the added food cost with a stuffed crust pizza, considering all the extra cheese (or other ingredients) required? What about the added work necessary to put together a stuffed crust pizza that has some panache? Will your customers understand and enjoy the extras that go into a stuffed crust pizza? Ah, the devil is in the details.

There are a few negatives in the questions I just posed, but don’t let that sway your thoughts, because the possibility of putting out a fine-tasting stuffed crust pizza –– even if it becomes only a daily or weekly special –– has merit (your competition loves to revive stuffing a crust on a regular basis).

There are several ways to approach the stuffed crust idea, and it isn’t always about cheese. And it isn’t always about simply folding cheese into the crust around the raised edge of the pizza. The Italian name for the raised edge or border of a pizza is “il cornicione” — or “large frame.” Keep that in mind as we explore one aspect of stuffed crust pizza. Also, keep in mind that the crust is the crust. So we will look into not only using some kind of stuffing in the raised edge, but in the rest of the crust as well.

How do we do that? I could be glib here and say “very carefully.” But it really does have to do with using care and an understanding of your dough to make a stuffed crust pizza worth the trouble. Otherwise forget it.

The most basic and simplest way to make a stuffed crust pizza is to lay long pieces of string cheese (mozzarella string cheese or similar) just inside the edge of the crust all around, then fold the crust edge over the cheese and pinch the dough to seal. Or you can use any type of shredded cheese –– mozzarella, a blend of mozzarella and provolone –– and follow the same procedure. Once you have done that, the rest goes the same as any other pizza –– tomatoes, more cheese, selected toppings.

That’s how you stuff a crust for a round, thin-crust pizza; however, that simple approach is, to me, well, kind of boring. So let’s push the edge of the dough (so to speak) just a bit. If you are going to introduce a stuffed crust pizza, why not change the shape? Instead of round, how about rectangular? In other words, a Sicilian Stuffed Crust Pizza: rectangular thick-crust pizza in which, say, the cheese is folded into the raised edge or border?

Another very important aspect is to consider the flavor combinations. Here are some to consider:

❖ If the pizza has chicken as a topping, we could blend crumbles of bleu cheese with shredded mozzarella and use that combination in stuffing the raised border.
❖ If the pizza has chicken as a topping, we can blend a prepared pesto sauce with, say, shredded mozzarella or provolone. How about brushing the string cheese with olive oil and rolling the “logs” into a blend of herbs (such as oregano and basil).
❖ Consider a buffalo chicken stuffed crust pizza where we dip the cheese “logs” or sticks in buffalo chicken sauce.
❖ If you already have cheese sticks on your menu as an appetizer, use those to stuff the crust.
❖ Want to create a Mexican stuffed crust pizza? Use a combination of shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses to stuff the border. Top the rest of the crust with salsa, black beans, chorizo and more Monterey Jack and cheddar. Top the cheese with finely chopped cilantro.
❖ Consider combining ricotta cheese with shredded mozzarella (or a mozzarella and provolone blend) to stuff the crust.
❖ Instead of stuffing the border of a round pizza, stuff the whole pizza. Roll out two thin sheets of dough (any size you wish). Sprinkle shredded cheese over the bottom crust up to one-inch of the edge. Lay a second sheet of pizza dough over the cheese. Fold and roll the crust edge (like for a pie). Now add your sauce and other toppings. Presto! A whole stuffed pizza, not just stuffed crust pizza.
❖ Create a “Choke and Cheese” pizza (adapted from Digger’s Restaurant in Fish Creek, Wisconsin). Stuff the crust edge with artichoke hearts that have been tossed in olive oil and oregano. Spread a thin layer of ricotta cheese over the crust. Lay thin slices of fresh tomato over the ricotta. Sprinkle crumbles of feta cheese over the tomatoes. Make it happen, jazz it up, or fugetaboutit! ❖



Cheddar and BBQ Chicken Stuffed Crust Pizza
Yield: one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

8 ounces cooked chunks of chicken
1 cup barbecue sauce
½ cup red onion strings (poach thinly sliced rounds of red onion in water for 2 minutes, drain, pat dry and separate into “strings”)
2 cups shredded cheddar or shredded smoked mozzarella
1 14-inch pizza shell

In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken with the barbecue sauce and onion strings. Use half the shredded cheddar for the crust stuffing. Lay the cheese just inside the edge of the crust. Fold the crust over the cheese and pinch the edges to seal. Spread the chicken mixture evenly over the crust up to the sealed edge. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar evenly over the chicken and barbecue sauce. Bake.

Pat Bruno is Pizza Today’s resident chef and a regular contributor. He is the former owner and operator of a prominent Italian cooking school in Chicago and is a food critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Nobody ever wants to have to file for bankruptcy, but in these tough economic times, more and more pizzeria owners are being forced to do so. “Pizza used to be a bulletproof business,” says attorney Marvin Wolf, the New Jersey State chair of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. “This economy is different.” Wolf has noticed that a couple of local pizzerias have closed in his own New Jersey neighborhood. “It used to be that people skipped expensive dinners in tough economic times and went out for pizza. Now they are eating at home it seems.”

He is right. Around the country, small pizzerias are shuttering their doors for good. And those that are not closing are at least feeling the pinch. Even the big pizza companies are not immune. Midland Food Services, a Pizza Hut franchisee based in Ohio, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in August.

Pat Steen, the director of marketing for Midland declined to talk, but did say that anyone filing for bankruptcy ought to “consult their own attorney” and described their process as more of a “reorganization” than an ending.

According to Wolf, “hiring a qualified and knowledgeable attorney,” is the first step towards a less painful process.

Many wait too long, says attorney Mark Zuckerberg of Indianapolis, Indiana. “There is this public perception that people have run up all this debt on purpose,” he says. “That is just not true. So often when people come to me they have been throwing good money after bad for such a long time they are in more trouble than they would have been had they just come when the trouble began.”

Zuckerberg sees small business clients who have been digging into their employee withholding taxes in an effort to save a failing business. “Everybody is hopeful, they put their blood into this business,” he says. But many times this will not work and then people are also in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.

According to Wolf, there are two major signs that it is time to consider filing. The first is an inability to pay suppliers —“are your liabilities greater than your assets?” he asks. The second is an inability to pay debts. “If it is taking you more than 180 days to pay your debts, that is when you are in trouble,” Wolf says.

“Generally, a petition is filed with the Bankruptcy Court setting for the debtor’s identifying information and financial circumstances,” says attorney Patricia Glover of Roswell, Georgia. “The petition is in a very specific format and should not be attempted without an attorney.”

A good lawyer is also important in terms of determining first, whether a case is a bankruptcy and second, what kind of bankruptcy needs to be filed. Because they are a corporation, Midland fi led for Chapter 11, the most oft-cited form of bankruptcy. But it is not the only one. Most smaller pizzerias are likely to file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.

In a Chapter 7, all assets are liquidated and sold to repay creditors. In a Chapter 13, funds are rearranged so that debts can be repaid, but the business remains open. In a Chapter 13, creditors must be repaid more than they would in a liquidation to make it worth their while.

Once it is determined what type of bankruptcy is to be filed, the owner must gather all relevant information and documents, a painstaking process, which can be extremely time-consuming, says Wolf. Once the paperwork is completed, it is time for the hearing in which a trustee of the court examines the petition.

“Creditors are also notified of the hearing date and may appear in order to question the debtor,” Glover says. “From that point, the process to get a debtor a discharge varies depending upon the type of petition filed and the complexity of the case.”

Bankruptcy laws are federal laws, but each state governs what property may be retained in a bankruptcy different. For many smaller owners, the process is made even trickier by the amount of personal assets invested in the business. In a corporation, like Midland, there are no second mortgages or personal assets as collateral, but for a smaller company, a business failure can leave the individual proprietor open to personal lawsuits as well.

In this case, more often than not, the individual will also have to file a personal bankruptcy. As in the business bankruptcy, the owner must prove that he or she cannot pay creditors and is, “an honest but unfortunate debtor,” says Wolf.

For many, the decision to fi le for bankruptcy is the best decision they have ever made, says Wolf who claims to have a drawer full of letter from clients grateful for the opportunity to start fresh. On the other hand, he also has a drawer full of the opposite. “It is all in what you make of it,” he says.

Glover agrees. “The positives of fi ling a bankruptcy are relief from otherwise insurmountable financial obligations and a fresh start. The negatives are generally confined to poor credit immediately after the discharge and the possible loss of assets under a liquidation scenario,” she says.

Despite it’s obvious drawbacks, Wolf says bankruptcy is one of the beautiful things about doing business in the United States. “America is designed so you can fail.” ❖

The 5 Different Kinds of Bankruptcy

The kind of bankruptcy that a business files is not always the same and will require consultation with legal counsel to determine which filing makes the most sense. The five types of bankruptcy are:

❖ Chapter 7. This applies to an individual, a couple or business partners. A trustee is put in charge of identifying which assets will be exempted from bankruptcy. The rest of the assets are then sold and distributed among creditors. ❖ Chapter 9. This type of bankruptcy proceeding particularly deals with municipalities.
❖ Chapter 11. Usually only applies to business corporations. It usually involves restructuring, debt consolidation and other means of reorganization.
❖ Chapter 12. This type of bankruptcy is exclusively for family farmers and fishermen. All debts are paid out of future earnings.
❖ Chapter 13. A bit like Chapter 11, but for an individual. The filer is allowed to retain his property and pay off his credits out of his future salary.

Sasha Brown-Worsham is a freelance writer in Somerville, Massachusetts. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications.

Professional tennis star Andre Agassi used the catch phrase, “image is everything” when appearing in television spots for Canon.

The same can be said for certain investments made by restaurateurs, such as upgrading a restaurant’s lobby area. While it can be difficult to gauge the return on investment, a lobby upgrade can be effectively done for a minimal cost — and it can go a long way toward further improving the restaurant’s brand.

Lobby upgrades are generally made for two reasons. The first is to provide customers with a more comfortable or interesting environment when they are picking up food or waiting for a table. The second is to create a different brand, one that often may resonate with a more upscale clientele.

The value of upgrading a restaurant’s lobby depends largely on customer demographics, says Michelle Bushey, partner and creative director of Vision360, an architectural and design firm in Dallas that specializes in designing interiors for restaurants internationally.

In the last 12 to 18 months, as the country’s recession has begun to take hold, the restaurant industry has witnessed two significant trends: a scaling down of consumer dining habits, and more emphasis for families on eating meals together, Bushey claims. As a result, the redesign of many lobby interiors has included a “fast, but casual” atmosphere that includes more comfortable seating and a “lounge” setting.

For restaurants with dine-in seating, Bushey recommends having a “to-go” area that targets takeout customers and allows them to receive and pay for their orders in a more efficient, timely fashion. That separate podium or designated “to go” area can help cut down on the number of customers waiting in the lobby area, reducing the need for additional seating.

However, Bushey does recommend that dine-in restaurants include at least four to six seats for customers who are waiting for a table or take-out order. For many customers, the key may be quality over quantity when it comes to such seating.

“It is always going to be hard to quantify the value of a more comfortable and inviting lounge area, but those restaurants that incorporate comfortable seats or sofas rather than hard benches may see an increase in customer satisfaction for those customers who do have to wait,” Bushey said. “It can make a wait seem not as long.”

Vitello’s Italian Restaurant in Studio City, California, may not have a large lobby area, but ownership has made a concerted effort to make the lobby an attraction in its own right. On the left-hand side of the lobby is a colorful wall plastered with nearly 500 autographed celebrity photographs. This wall invariably draws a crowd, even in the midst of Los Angeles’ Hollywood area, says Vitello’s Manager Craig Warner.

On the right side of the lobby is an impressive array of wine racks that hold hundreds of bottles of wine and contain information about some of the restaurant’s unique selections. And when customers fi rst enter they are greeted by a suspended, life-size wax figure of a “thinner” Marlon Brando that was purchased at a local auction several years ago.

“We’re trying to bring a Hollywood feel to our restaurant and when customers fi rst walk through our doors they get the feeling that this is a place where many stars have eaten over the years,” Warner said.

While Pronto Pizza in the New York City market may not have a “Hollywood” feel to its lobby area, owner John Porcello did invest in some structural and non-structural upgrades within the last two years to his Broadway location. These investments have given the pizzeria more of an upscale feel. Porcello feels that these upgrades make sense because many of his customers are upper class executives from some of the best-known employers in the Big Apple. Many of them stop in for a quick lunch, just a short walk from their Manhattan offices.

“It’s obviously important to have a clean atmosphere but we wanted to give our customers something different,” he says.

That “difference” includes smoked mirrors, brass lighting and more white light, new tile and brighter colors on the walls. It also included some artwork of pizza and Italian food. These lobby upgrades “weren’t too expensive” according to Porcello, but they did achieve their intended impact — getting rid of sterile lobby seating and replacing it with some warmth.

As part of the upgrades, Porcello also added a full-size glass window where onlookers from the busy sidewalk can watch pizzas and other menu items being made.

Best of all, Porcello says his Broadway location achieved higher sales of a few percentage points after the lobby upgrades were completed in 2007. For him, the image is one of a more upscale pizzeria that attracts customers of all demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“It’s the little things that make a difference,” Porcello says. “We wanted to add some class given the area where (that location) is.”

Showing off an impressive lounge area can increase customer loyalty, something that Old Town Pizza in downtown Portland, Oregon, can attest to. For over two decades, the sit-down and take-out restaurant has given its customers a uniquely antique or vintage environment, one that is emphasized in its lobby area with plush vintage chairs, couches, coffee tables and artwork.

Since many employees at Old Town Pizza are local artists and musicians, their work is often displayed or publicized in the restaurant’s lounge. The entire restaurant also mimics this environment with original pieces of art and antique chairs scattered throughout the establishment.

Such an atmosphere, combined with a menu comprised of organic meals made from Oregon-grown products, has made Old Town Pizza a “must see” for local residents and out-of-town guests. But the brand of the restaurant is first emphasized from when the customer enters the lobby said General Manager Simon Carrillo.

“Customers often first come to see the atmosphere in the restaurant, but ultimately they’ll come back for the food,” he says.

The floors in Old Town’s Pizza lobby have been redone to include dark marble, while other areas of the restaurant are hardwood floors. Regular customer surveys prove that the restaurant’s environment is why the majority of its customers prefer to dine-in when possible. Such an environment is also why the restaurant has been featured in several local and regional publications.

“We offer our customers something different and the way our lobby is arranged has worked for us for many years,” Carrillo said. “We want to make coming to Old Town more than a meal, but an experience they want to have again.” ❖

Mike Scott is a Michigan-based freelance writer who covers a variety of business-related topics.

Diners often come to restaurants as part of a romantic evening, but is there romance behind the scene as well? According to Vault.com’s 2007 Office Romance Survey, 47 percent of U.S. employees (across a variety of industries) have had an office romance, while 20 percent say they ended up marrying or engaging in a long-term relationship with a co-worker.

Now, think outside the cubicle. Restaurant staffs are predominantly young and single and work in an atmosphere that encourages intermingling. “Employees work in close quarters under sometimes-stressful circumstances. Employees typically work the same or like schedules and talk about life when business is slower. Over time, employees build relationships and like spending time together outside of the restaurant as well,” says Kathy Johnson, senior vice president at Godfather’s Pizza, adding that romance, therefore, is “very common.”

While work may seem like a good place to meet a potential spouse, there are a myriad of problems that can develop starting with neglected duties and ending with sexual harassment lawsuits. So what is a restaurant to do when love blossoms?

“You certainly can’t outlaw it. People are people,” says restaurant consultant Bill Martin. “As soon as it starts to affect their work or other workers, that is a function of what kind of relationship you have with your staff and whether you are talking with people all the time,” Martin adds.

At Zachary’s Pizza in Tucson, Arizona, owner David Ellis agrees with this type of approach. “I expect my employees, because they are adults, to behave in an appropriate manner at work. I would be inclined to give guidance if I thought something was inappropriate.” In fact, Ellis recently dealt with two servers who tended to lapse into starry-eyed conversations with one another while they were supposed to be working. “They would start talking and forget where they were. Things would be going on around them and they wouldn’t be aware. It was a little bit aggravating to some people. We would have to use their names and snap them out of it,” Ellis says. When he discussed the matter with his head waitress, she pleaded the lovebirds’ case, reminding Ellis that her spouse once was Zachary’s assistant manager.

Ellis remembered that back when this head waitress and assistant manager were dating, he hadn’t even been aware of the relationship until the gentleman came for advice about “real love.” “He had been seeing her for a while and I hadn’t even been aware she was the one. Usually, that is not something that is shared (with owners). I’m not invited to parties and usually am outside the realm of knowledge,” Ellis says.

Some would say Ellis was lucky that he didn’t experience any problems when his head waitress and assistant manager became involved. A supervisor dating at work can lead to problems more serious than neglected duties.

“You have at least the perception of favored treatment. Either the person will get a better deal than the average or a worse deal than the average,” Martin says. To combat this some restaurants have strict policies against supervisor/ employee relationships.

“We do not have any sort of rules for subordinate employees other than the workplace is not the place for affection to be shown. We don’t allow the intermingling of managers,” says Matthew Boyd, co-owner of Buffalo Brothers Pizza and Wing Company. This policy is made clear to managers upon being hired.

Restaurants “have to build camaraderie and this tends to be defeated if you allow managers to pick and choose who they want to be with,” Boyd says. There is no warning or reprimand. “It is a one strike and you are out kind of thing.”

Godfather’s has what it calls a “nepotism” policy, forbidding employees to date or live with a subordinate. “We approach supervisors if we suspect nepotism. If they admit interest, we offer a transfer to a new location. We never approach the subordinate employee,” Johnson says.

“The best situations are when the employee approaches us and asks for help solving the problem. They know our company doesn’t allow these types of relationships in the workplace, but they want to continue dating. We’re eager to help both individuals because we don’t want to lose quality employees. If a person denies there’s a relationship and is dishonest, he or she will be terminated when it’s revealed,” Johnson adds.

Although Martin is pretty anti-Big Brother when it comes to relationships, he does believe restaurants should have a written policy against sexual harassment. “The only way to protect yourself is to have a very strong, clear, religiously enforced sexual harassment policy that says don’t do it,” he says.

This is the approach that Hungry Howie’s Pizza has taken. “Our stated policies are to protect all employees from any form of discrimination, including sexual harassment,” says President Steve Jackson.

“If (employees) feel any unwelcome pressure to become involved with any official, manager, supervisor, employee agent, or non-employee of the company with whom (they) interact in the courts of performing (their) work responsibilities we urge (them) to use the complaint procedure,” adds Al Newman, Hungry Howie’s director of training. ❖

Sexual Harassment

Policies dealing with employee relationships and sexual harassment are becoming “more common” amongst larger restaurants, but they are not “standard” for smaller companies even though a “best practice for policy” should be a “best practice no matter what type of operation or ownership structure,” says William Bender of W.H. Bender & Associates.

A quick search on the web shows that sexual harassment suits can be costly, with estimates for average settlements ranging from $88,000 to even $1 million.

According to an article written for FindLaw by Duff, White and Turner, LLC, “an employer can avoid or reduce automatic liability if it can show both (a) that it exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any harassing behavior and (b) that the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any complaint procedure.”

In the article, the firm recommends that companies not only have sexual harassment policies, but also make sure employees understand them, perhaps by annual reviews and signed acknowledgments. Bill Martin, the Restaurant Doctor, agrees. “Make the policy something you talk about so it is not just, ‘Read this and follow the rules.’ Make sure everyone understands what it means,” Martin says.

Monta Monaco Hernon is a freelance business, technology and features writer based in La Grange Park, Illinois.

Risk. From the French word “risqué,” meaning “naughty.” Do me a favor and take a look at your ring finger. Is it longer than your index finger? By how much?

A recent study by Cambridge University discovered that men with longer ring fingers, compared to their index fingers, tended to be more successful stock traders. Why? They take more risks.

The 20-month study found that traders with longer ring finger ratios raked in 11 times more money than those with the shortest ratio. The study also revealed that the most experienced traders made nine times as much money as the least experienced traders. This indicates that risk-takers, on average, out-perform those with decades of experience.

And when you look at the most experienced traders only (those with the longer ring finger ratio), they made five times more than those with a shorter ring-finger ratio.

Now this same ring-to-index finger ratio has also been documented in sports performance. Athletes bearing the longer ring-to-index finger ratio tend to perform a lot better on the field of play.

The length of these two fingers are determined in the womb by the exposure to the male hormone, androgen. Previous research has discovered that this exposure can lead to increased confi dence, persistence, heightened vigilance, quick reaction times and a taste for risk.

Do you have the magic ring finger ratio? Are you doomed without it? Doubtful. The fact that you’ve opened your own business already puts you in a very rare category. You took a risk most will never take. Beware, though, there are two very different kinds of risk: reckless risk and calculated risk.

Betting it all on red is reckless. Saying “hit me” when you’re sporting two fives at the blackjack table is calculated. Likewise, signing a lease on a building that’s had six different restaurants come and go in the last five years, just because it “feels right,” would be pretty reckless. Taking over a pizzeria in a good location that failed because the previous owner was incompetent — that’s calculated.

So, in this time of economic uncertainty, is it wise to hunker down and weather the storm? Or is it the perfect time to take some calculated risk? Remember, risk is all about taking decisive action while others hesitate. Will a risk and decisiveness move you higher? Generate more success? Create increased momentum? What’s the alternative? Play it safe; don’t rock the boat; hope things fix themselves?

Listen, it was the confident, fearless, fire-breathing entrepreneur in you that signed a lease, bought equipment and hired employees. That same bold, confident beast will serve you even now, in this economy, as you do what others fear to do.

Here’s your short list:
❖ Attend International Pizza Expo this month and fill your mind with new knowledge.
❖ Explore and adopt the amazing new technologies that are revolutionizing pizza marketing (do you know what they are?).
❖ Step up your marketing as others pull back. Fortunes are made in times like these. This is the time to be bold, the time to zig while others zag.

Kamron Karington owned a highly successful independent pizzeria before becoming a consultant, speaker and author of The Black Book: Your Complete Guide to Creating Staggering Profits in Your Pizza Business. He is a monthly contributor to Pizza Today.

Manicotti gets a bad wrap. Often misunderstood as being labor and time intensive, in reality it’s an easy-to-prepare, versatile dish that appeals to many discerning palates.

The term “manicotti” actually refers to a large, tubular pasta shape. The traditional manicotti entrée stuffs a ricotta and cheese mixture into those pasta tubes or wraps pasta sheets around. It’s then covered with tomato sauce and baked.

Mark Sciortino, chef/owner of Marco’s Italian Restaurant in Buffalo, New York, grew up eating his grandma’s manicotti. “Every Sunday we’d go to her house, and she’d make it,” he says.

When Sciortino opened his restaurant 20 years ago he transplanted grandma’s recipe –– and grandma –– to the kitchen. “My grandmother made the batter, shells and put it together. We baked it,” he says. “When she passed away, my mom took over. She’s a grandmother now, so it truly is a grandmother’s recipe.”

For the dish, fresh pasta shells encase a ricotta, Romano, garlic, basil, parsley, eggs and pepper mixture. The rolled crepes bake seam side down between layers of tomato sauce.

“It’s not a hard recipe,” says Sciortino. “Although, if you don’t have the right touch, the shells can come out too thick. You want a thin crepe that’s nice and airy. Think of it like a pancake, and roll the batter all the way around the sauté pan. The further the batter spreads out on the pan’s edge the thinner your crepe will be.”

It’s easy to bake large amounts of manicotti at one time. “Just layer it in a baking pan like you’re preparing lasagna. Put tomato sauce between each layer,” recommends Sciortino. Food cost-wise Sciortino admits that increased dairy prices have raised his food cost to 17 to 19 percent. “It’s not outrageous,” he says. “You make money with it. It’s also more cost effective than, say, lasagna because you don’t have meat, and manicotti appeals to vegetarian diners.”

What Sciortino really saves is labor. “The prep is so simple. We make the shells ahead of time. Then stack it in Tupperware until service,” he says.

Manicotti has no limits. Consider stuffing it with a blend of cheeses including mozzarella, Parmesan, Asiago, goat or bleu. Pack manicotti with sausage, ground beef, grilled chicken or roasted vegetables. It also pairs well with tomato cream, marinara, Alfredo or white sauce.

Rob Evans, owner of Romio’s Pizza & Pasta in Moorpark, California, (Romio’s is a 15-unit franchise with operations in California, Oregon and Washington) takes a Greek approach to this Italian dish. Spinach manicotti is filled with spinach, ricotta, crushed red pepper and feta. Evans covers pasta rolls with shredded mozzarella and housemade marinara and bakes in a conveyer belt oven at 550 F for about six minutes.

“The feta adds a distinct taste. You get the buttery velvetiness of mozzarella with the feta’s tart saltiness,” he says.

Evans estimates a 35 percent food cost for the dish, but says that’s comparable to other baked pastas on the menu. “Because we use expensive ingredients it does have a higher food cost,” he says. “We just increased our menu prices $2 to compensate for increase costs in dairy, flour and gas surcharges.”

He’s contemplating adding shrimp to manicotti this summer and pairing it with a garlic cream lemon sauce.

Salvatore’s Pizza and Pasta, in Hoover and Inverness, Alabama, successfully takes creative liberties with its basic manicotti parmigiana (two shells stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella, covered in tomato sauce and mozzarella). In addition to manicotti parmigiana, Salvatore’s menus manicotti with spinach, mushroom marinara parmigiana; manicotti with mushroom Alfredo (manicotti covered with mushrooms and housemade Alfredo); and manicotti chicken pesto marinara (manicotti covered with grilled chicken, pesto and marinara sauces and mozzarella).

Walter Caron, Salvatore’s manager, likes pairing manicotti with different sauces since sauces are already on-hand, and it lets guests sample different flavor profiles.

“The marinara/pesto manicotti is fabulous,” says Caron. “Some people find pesto overbearing. This way the marinara cuts the pesto taste, and the pesto cuts the marinara taste. It’s an awesome combination.”

At Mexi-Italia, inside Circus Circus Hotel in Las Vegas, executive chef Bob O’Brien builds manicotti with a mixture of ricotta, shredded mozzarella, Parmesan, salt, garlic, white pepper, chopped fresh spinach and egg. Each roll is baked in a 375 F oven for ten minutes and is covered top-to-bottom with fresh marinara and topped with shredded mozzarella.

“We used to make the pasta fresh, but now we use Barilla,” he says. “When we started pushing 1,200 covers a day, it was too hard to keep the pasta consistent.” O’Brien admits some guests aren’t familiar with the dish. After trying it, they become fans. “It’s very affordable and good for the price,” he says.❖

Marco’s Gramma’s Manicotti
Courtesy of Mark Sciortino, chef/owner, Marco’s Italian Restaurant Yield: 15 servings

Batter
8 eggs
1 stick butter
4 cups milk
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Filling
5 pounds ricotta
1 cup Romano cheese
1 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
1 tablespoon fresh chopped curly parsley
3 eggs 1 teaspoon black pepper
12 ounces tomato sauce parsley for garnish
1 ounce of shredded mozzarella In a large bowl, beat eggs until fluffy.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until fluffy. Melt butter and add 2 cups of milk. Add butter/milk mixture to eggs. Using a mixer, add flour and remaining 2 cups of milk and salt. Mix until creamy. Add more milk if mixture becomes too thick. Create a crepe by pouring a 2-ounce ladle of batter into a 10- inch non-stick pan. Flip only once. Cool finished crepes on wax paper. Mix all filling ingredients in a large bowl. Scoop 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling mixture into each crepe. Place 6 ounces of tomato sauce on a baking pan. Place filled and rolled shells seam side down and cover with 6 ounces of tomato sauce. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350F. At service, top with parsley and shredded mozzarella.

Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman is a freelance writer in Louisville, Kentucky. She covers food, business and lifestyle trends.

This is such an easy dish to put together. The various components –– chicken, pesto sauce and toasted pine nuts –– can be prepped ahead. Making the pesto sauce takes a bit of time, but there are several very good ready-to-go pesto sauces that work just great should you wish to take that route.

The secret to the goodness of this dish is to not overcook the chicken. I prefer poaching the chicken breasts as opposed to grilling — it allows the essential moisture (hence, flavor) of the chicken to not fl y out the window. However, should you choose to go with the grilling, it does make for a nicer presentation. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil before and after grilling. Cut the breast into strips and place these on top of the pasta. After you have tossed the pasta with the pesto sauce, garnish with some extra toasted pine nuts. This is a dish that tastes as good as it looks.

Fusilli with Chicken and Pesto
4 to 6 servings (scale up in direct proportion)

1 pound fusilli pasta
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped fine
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6-8 ounces each), grilled or poached, cut into bite-size pieces (or use pre-cooked chicken chunks)
1 cup pesto sauce (see recipe below)
½ cup toasted pine nuts grated Parmesan

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain, reserve and keep warm.

In a large skillet or sauté pan set over medium-high heat, warm the oil for 1 minute. Add the garlic, cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the chicken to the pan and cook until just heated through. In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta with the chicken. Add the prepared pesto sauce and toss to combine.

Portion the pasta into heated pasta bowls. Top each portion with some of the pine nuts and grated Parmesan. Serve at once.

Pesto Sauce
Makes 1½ to 2 cups
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
1⁄4 cup pine nuts
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Put the basil, garlic, cheeses, and pine nuts in a food processor. Pulse the machine a number of times until the ingredients are thoroughly combined. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil. Process until smooth (it will be a bit on the thick side, but do not add any more oil). Turn the sauce out into a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Use some or all of the reserved pasta water to thin out the pesto until it is creamy (the starch from the pasta water is the secret to a smooth and creamy pesto sauce).

Pat Bruno is Pizza Today’s resident chef and a regular contributor. He is the former owner and operator of a prominent Italian cooking school in Chicago and is a food critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Peperoncino (singular — peperoncini is the plural) is an Italian chile pepper. Over the years it has been listed and used as a condiment, medicine and aphrodisiac. Peperoncino has been a highly prized spice since ancient times. The spice first arrived in Europe with Christopher Columbus’ return journey from America; however, even before that date, the plant had spread across Asia and Africa.

Peperoncino varieties can be green or red, round or long and more or less hot. Today, they are found and used widely all over the world, maintaining an especially notable presence in the south of Italy. There they have helped to shape regional Italian cuisine, particularly in Calabria (where there is a peperoncini festival every year in the town of Diamante), and the Abruzzo, where humble ingredients get fired up and made more inviting with the help of peperoncini.

The most popular Italian peperoncino is the capsicum annuum: a plant bearing very hot and finely tapered long red peppers. Cayenne and chili are two species included in this variety (and can be used interchangeably in the recipes below). In one fashion or another, those small jars on pizzeria tables across America that are filled with crushed red pepper flakes are a close relative of peperoncini.

Fresh or dried, peperoncini peppers can add character to a variety of dishes, soups, pickled items, sauces and marinades. When dried, the spice keeps for long periods of time. It can be preserved whole, fi nely chopped, ground or placed in a jar and then covered with oil. In Italy, the peppers are often threaded on a string by their stalks, and hung. This practice is known as “diavolicchio” a term taken from the Abbruzzese dialect, and refers to the heat associated with the devil in popular folklore.

In terms of flavor, peperoncini falls into three broad categories: sweet, spicy, and extra spicy. In general, the smaller the pepper, the more intense the heat. When handling and cleaning peperoncini, do not touch your eyes or nose. When cooking with peperoncini (or any spicy or peppery ingredient), balance and moderation are key.

I have used this hot (as in trendy, too) pepper in any number of ways: in an antipasto salad (Italian cold cuts, cubes of mozzarella or provolone, olives). In a chef’s salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, artichoke hearts), in soups –– the classic Italian pasta and bean soup (pasta e fagioli) cries out for some heat, so I will use finely diced peperoncini or crushed red pepper.

In linguine aglio e olio (garlic and oil), I use cooked and drained linguine and toss with crushed garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, Italian parsley, and peperoncini.

Bucatini All’ Amatriciana

This classic pasta dish takes its name for the small town of Amatrice in the Abruzzo region of Italy. I have had versions of this dish all over Italy; some have been mild, and some were so hot my eyeballs were sweating. Adjust the heat accordingly.

Yield: 4 servings as a pasta course (scale up in direct proportion)

¾ pound bucatini pasta or spaghetti
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, sliced and cut into strips
1 1-inch dried peperoncino (¼ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper)
½ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese or Parmesan cheese

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until it is al dente. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water. Drain. Keep warm.

In a large sauté pan set over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the pancetta and sauté until crisp. Transfer the pancetta to a paper-towel-lined-plate to drain.

Add the remaining oil to the same sauté pan, set over medium heat. Add garlic and peperoncino; sauté until peperoncino darkens, about 2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add the drained pasta to the sauté pan. Toss to coat with the oil. Add the reserved pasta water. Add the grated cheese. Toss to coat.

BEANS & GREENS PIZZA

When I was a teenager, my mother occasionally made a dish with fresh spinach or escarole, white beans, garlic and cubes of day old bread. My brothers and I dubbed the humble, rustic dish “concrete” because of its appearance. With a bit of modification I’ve turned a hearty and simple dish into a great-tasting pizza. If you have been looking for a tasty vegetarian pizza to add to your menu, this should do it. If you prefer, escarole can be used in place of the spinach

Yield: one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)
1 pound fresh spinach, washed and thicker stems removed
¼ cup water ¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 teaspoon (or to taste) finely diced peperoncini or hot red pepper flakes
2 cups cannellini beans (or 1 19-ounce can, drained, rinsed)
1 14-inch pizza crust
¾ pound shredded mozzarella

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, wilt the spinach in the water, covered, for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain excess water from the pan and put the pan back on the heat, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Tossing the spinach to evaporate any remaining water.

Add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the garlic and onion to the spinach. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add the salt and pepper, peperoncini and beans and cook over medium heat, stirring to combine. Set aside (mixture can be made ahead and refrigerated).

Brush the pizza crust lightly with olive oil. Spread half of the mozzarella over the crust. Spread the spinach and beans mixture evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. 

Pat Bruno is Pizza Today’s resident chef and a regular contributor. He is the former owner and operator of a prominent Italian cooking school in Chicago and is a food critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Just because everyone has a phone doesn’t mean they know how to answer it, especially when it comes to business.

Pizzeria operators know how important the telephone is to the success of their business because a larger percentage of sales is generated from phone-in orders. So, having the right person answer the phone can be crucial to a day’s bottom line. But, what qualities should that “right” person have? How do you keep customers calling in again and again? When a customer calls in to order a large pepperoni pizza on a busy Friday night, who do you want answering that call? How do you want your business to be represented?

Harris Eckstut, founder and principal of Eckstut Restaurant/Small Business Coaching and Consulting Services in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said that “although it isn’t essential to have one sole employee to answer the phone, it is essential — even critical — that the person (or people) permitted to answer the phone should have a great phone personality with a clear voice that is easily understood.

“By phone personality, I mean a fun person who is bubbly/ enthusiastic/ enjoyable to speak with; which, by defi nition, will promote higher check averages. Which is what good salespersonship, and the raison d’etre for being in business, are all about.”

Juanita Ecker, president of Professional Image Management in Troy, New York, said it’s definitely more professional to have someone whose main job is to answer the phone, but added that most companies simply aren’t able to do that.



According to Ecker, the ideal phone person is “someone who can give their undivided attention to the caller.” She also said acting rushed, even if the employee is busy, is not the way to handle calls — it sends out a negative message.

“It comes across to the caller as ‘you’re not important,’ ” Ecker said. Bill Stephens of Bill Stephens Associates in San Antonio, Texas, advises that the employee responsible for answering the phone be pleasant, interested, concerned and intelligent.

“They are not getting paid to speed talk –– they are communicators, so they must speak intelligibly and be easily understood,” Stephens says, adding that good telephone equipment should be used by the employee. He also cautions that a wireless phone and additional production duties assigned to the phone person can be disastrous.

“Give them back-up jobs, not timedriven, so they can stop and give their complete attention to the incoming calls,” Stephens said. “They should be naturally sales-oriented. You can force them to upsell, but if it comes naturally, the results will be very rewarding. Give them a specific item/items to sell and a commission on their sales. This could bring parity to the production and sales persons and the tipped delivery people.”

Ecker agrees that the phone person is the perfect person to upsell customers by suggesting options such as extra cheese, a liter of pop, or an order of garlic bread because the customer may not be aware of these menu offerings.

To find the ideal phone person, Nancy Friedman, president and founder of The Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training of St. Louis, Missouri, recommends interviewing the candidate by phone first. “That is how you can tell if they have a good telephone voice,” Friedman said. During an interview, she adds, a candidate should act out exactly what duties he or she will be performing on the job.

Friedman also said that it is extremely important, mandatory in fact, for the phone person to confirm orders. “Don’t just say, ‘yeah, I got it,’ ” Friedman says. Also, Friedman stresses the importance of a big smile.

“You can hear a smile,” Friedman insists. Putting people on hold should always be handled with consideration, according to Friedman. She suggests saying something like, “I’m going to check on your order, can I put you on hold?” Friedman said that the phone person should always tell the caller why he or she is being put on hold before it happens.

Ecker agrees that putting customers on hold should be done with kindness. “If you have to put someone on hold, don’t just say ‘I’m going to have to put you on hold, click.’ Ask, ‘is it okay if I put you on hold?’ It’s more courteous,” Ecker said. “And when you come back, always say ‘thank you for holding.’ Don’t keep a person on hold for too long, like 15 minutes, because you have a long line of customers. Help one or two customers and get back to the person on hold and let the customers in line know you’ll be right with them as soon as you help the caller. People hate to be put on hold because they think no one will get back to them.”

The ideal phone person may be out there ready to go, but more than likely he or she will have to learn a few things before the first official “hello, may I take your order?”

According to Friedman, the success or failure of the employee who is responsible for answering the phone comes down to training.

“The major problem is that young kids are not getting trained. Young kids, high school and college kids, want to be good. It has to be up to the pizzeria owner who says, ‘If you’re going to work at my store, you’re going to get a week’s worth of training, and not on-the-job training,’ ” Friedman said. “People think it is common sense and it’s not.”

So, the next time your phone rings with an order, be sure the person answering it is ready for the challenge. The great personality of an employee plus good training provided by the operator can result in the right phone person for a business who will keep customers calling again and again. ❖

DeAnn Owens is a freelance journalist living in Indianapolis. She specializes in features and human interest stories.

While seafood and pizza may seem an unlikely pairing, many pizzeria operators swear it can lead to a happy pizza marriage. One crustacean with solid marriage potential is shrimp. According to the Washington, D.C.-based National Fisheries Institute, shrimp is the most consumed seafood in the United States. Shrimp are surprisingly healthy — high in protein, low in saturated fats, rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, and high in selenium and tryptophan (proven cancer-fighting compounds). Not to mention, shrimp taste good. It’s almost foolish not to consider a pie featuring such a beloved shellfish.

“Shrimp are the perfect texture for pizza toppings because they are juicy but not wet, meaty, tender and succulent,” says Craig Priebe, author, Grilled Pizzas and Piadinas and executive chef at Henry Crown & Company in Chicago.

He fi rst experimented with shrimp pizza back in 1998 when he entered — and won — the International Pizza Expo competition with his Gamberian Grilled Pizza. The Gamberian is adorned with sautéed jumbo shrimp, basil pecan pesto, tomato basil sauce, sundried tomatoes, capers, garlic, red onions, mozzarella and Parmesan. “I wanted to win that trophy. I thought shrimp was an exotic topping that was readily available, delicious and different,” he says.

Priebe is not the only one with a crowd pleasing shrimp pizza. Many pizzeria operators have found success with shrimp pizzas. Ed Martino, owner of Carminuccio’s Pizza in Newtown, Connecticut, created his shrimp pizza specifically with seafood lovers in mind. For the pizza, he sprinkles shrimp, mozzarella and Romano cheeses across dough covered with white sauce and estimates an $8.50 food cost for a large pizza. “The combination of the mozzarella and Parmesan, and the saltiness of the Parmesan really brings out the flavor of the shrimp,” Martino says.

At The Cove Trattoria in Scottsdale, Arizona, a 13-inch shrimp pizza displays mozzarella, pesto and vodka cream sauce with butterfly-style cut and chopped shrimp. “After the raw shrimp is thinly diced, it cooks with the pizza instead of beforehand. This ensures it is not overcooked. Placing the shrimp on top of the other ingredients last also prevents its fl avor from getting lost,” says Matthew Davin, chef de cuisine. Davin estimates the pizza has a $3 food cost.

Garlic shrimp pizza means pizza topped with shrimp, sautéed mushrooms, sliced red bell peppers, onions and roasted garlic sauce at Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza based in La Jolla, California. Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza is part of the Ladeki Restaurant Group. There are 16 units throughout California and Las Vegas. “It sells very well,” says Jeff Moogk, executive chef, who estimates a 24 percent food cost for the pizza.

Before diving in, explore the different varieties and styles of shrimp available from your purveyors — from fresh to freshfrozen, cooked or par-cooked. Fresh shrimp is available during spring and summer, but is costly and does not carry a very long shelf life. Most shrimp are fl ash frozen on boats or near the docks where they are caught. Individually quick frozen (IQF) shrimp are loose shrimp pieces that come bagged. Operators can thaw only as much as needed. Whereas block-frozen shrimp provides more shrimp than IQF, but the entire block must thaw before usage, taking much longer than IQF. Another economical option is purchasing “broken shrimp.” These are generally random pieces of shrimp not suitable for other shrimp preparations.

Priebe cautions not to buy shrimp that are too small. “They are cheaper but will disappear on the pizza,” he says. “People who order a shrimp pizza want to see the shrimp. If you do decide to use whole shrimp it is cheaper and easier to buy peeled and deveined shrimp instead of paying for the labor to clean them, which is also time consuming.

Shrimp are sold buy a count size of how many received in a pound. Medium size shrimp range from a 13-15 count. Davin uses 13-15 count fresh-frozen, cleaned and deveined tiger prawns on his pizza. Moogk uses 26-30 count frozen shrimp that he marinates in garlic, tarragon and olive oil. Martino uses raw, frozen 21- to 25-count shrimp. He does not prepare the shrimp beforehand. “They go on raw, and the flavor comes from the sauce and cheese combo,” he says.

Priebe sautés shrimp before adding it to his pizza. “As the shrimp cooks it gives up some water, which makes a pizza soggy,” he says. “Whether you bake them quickly in an oven, poach them in a little water or wine or sauté them tender in oil, don’t overcook them or they will be tougher and dry by the time they get to a pizza. If you don’t want to cook them fi rst, buy a steamed product that is lightly cooked and tender.”

Shrimp lends itself to an assortment of sauces and ingredients. Priebe suggests taking an Asian approach with a teriyaki or hoisin sauce shrimp pizza. “A spicy coconut sauce or a Thai red curry and peanut pizza works amazing with shrimp,” he says.

“Many sauces pair nicely with shrimp including pesto, cream and garlic and olive oil. Marinara can pair nicely as long as it is not too heavy,” adds Davin.

Martino believes white sauce couples with shrimp best. “White sauce allows the shrimp’s flavor to speak for itself,” he says.

Shrimp can store for up to six months in a freezer. Keep in mind that shrimp spoils quickly once thawed. “If you question if it’s still good, it’s not,” says Martino.

Upscale and healthy — shrimp are perfectly suited for pizza. “Your customers will absolutely love your shrimp pizzas. People respond very enthusiastically to seeing nice fat shrimp on pizza,” says Priebe.❖



The Gamberian
Yield: One pizza

1 grilled pizza crust or pizza dough
2 tablespoons herbed grill oil or extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
½ pound jumbo shrimp, shelled and deveined
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded mozzarella
½ cup chunky tomato basil sauce
½ cup basil pecan pesto (pesto or extra virgin olive oil)
¼ cup thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes
½ cup thinly sliced red onions
2 teaspoons capers
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons fresh basil leaves, torn
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

Brush pizza crust with 1 tablespoon of oil. Dust with Parmesan.

Heat remaining oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté shrimp until opaque and pink, about 1½ minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Top crust with mozzarella. Spoon tomato basil sauce and basil pecan pesto on top, creating alternating patterns of red and green. Add sun-dried tomatoes, shrimp, onions, capers and garlic. Cook. (Pizza oven 500 F for 12 to 15 minutes; coal-fired oven 700 F for 4 to 5 minutes, conveyor oven 450 F for 12 to 15 minutes, grill 450 F for 5 to 7 minutes, or griddle 450 F for10 to 12 minutes).

Garnish with basil and cracked black pepper and serve.

Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman is a freelance writer in Louisville, Kentucky. She covers food, business and lifestyle trends

Bob Marshall, owner and chef of Biga Pizza in Missoula, Montana, can just about tell you where everything you’re eating at his restaurant comes from and how it was treated in its short life. For the most part, the food is organic, and whenever possible, it comes from within a few hundred miles of his restaurant.

For Marshall, it’s the best thing possible. His pizza and other dishes are fresh, pesticide free and perceived to be better for his customers. And it conjures creativity.

When a farmer shows up with food he wasn’t anticipating, if he wants to buy it, he has to find a way to make something his customers will happily pay for. Last winter, he got a great buy on organic cherries at $100 for a five-gallon bucket. He made chutney with the cherries and used it all winter as the sauce on a pizza topped with homemade sausage and smoked gouda. When he ran out of cherries, he took it off the menu –– and received a host of threatening e-mails. “I think that most people love our food because it’s delicious,” Marshall says. “The fact that we’re organic makes it only more delicious.”

Organic food appears to be more than a trend. It’s growing by leaps and bounds every year, with no signs of stopping. The industry grew by 21 percent to reach $17.7 billion in consumer sales in 2006, the latest numbers available from the Greenfield, Massachusetts-based Organic Trade Association (OTA).

It stands to reason that as Americans are examining more closely what they’re buying at the grocery store, and where it comes from, that they’d be thinking about the food they eat at restaurants, too. Organic foods are finding their way onto restaurant menus across the country, says Barbara Houmann, press secretary for the OTA.

At one time, the movement was concentrated on the east and west coasts. But now, it seems relatively universal, Houmann says. She gets calls from reporters in various locations all over the country who have interviewed organic farmers or retailers and want to know more about what it means to be organic. “It’s a combination of health, awareness and being exposed to products where they shop that has spurred the industry,” Houmann says of the increased interest in organic food.

The biggest challenge for organic pizza restaurants interviewed for this story appears to be sourcing certain ingredients. Pizza Fusion, the organic pizza chain based in Fort Lauderdale, has to push to find some organic items in particular regions, says Ashley Rathgeber, supply chain and distribution source development director for Pizza Fusion.

For a recently opened Pittsburgh restaurant, organic sodas, beer and wine were tough to come by, particularly for alcohol, mainly because of Pennsylvania’s stringent alcohol laws. The chain has also struggled to get organic artichoke hearts in a food service quantity. “They are in little sixounce jars,” Rathgeber says. “That’s not good for the environment or for the stores.”

But those types of problems seem to be slowly disappearing. Rathgeber has noticed that she now has several food service providers offering organic food products, rather than just one. At each restaurant, though, Pizza Fusion strives to work with local providers, because it’s good for the environment to keep “food miles” down and because the food quality is often better. “Sometimes organic food will seem like it’s a really good price, but it will be 2,000 or 3,000 miles away,” Rathgeber says. “Especially with produce, you have to watch, because it has the potential to get buggy. Buy locally as much as possible.”



Marshall notes that on some occasions, it’s just not possible to get some organic items at a reasonable price. Red bell peppers, a menu staple for Biga Pizza, are $100 per case in the winter if he buys organic, and $25 if he doesn’t. He goes through four cases a week. In that case, he chooses the non-organic. In early June, he wanted organic fennel but couldn’t get it through the local farmers, so he bought non-organic. As soon as he can get organic, though, he’ll switch.

Customers may like the fact that the pizza is organic, but ultimately, it just has to be good food to hook customers. Silvio’s Organic Pizza in Ann Arbor, Michigan, serves organic food whenever possible. Like others interviewed for this story, he has gone to great lengths at times to get organic ingredients. He drives to the airport to pick up organic cheese from time to time. The restaurant “is gaining popularity day by day,” says owner Silvio Medoro. “People refer their friends, and we have new customers every day. There is a share of people who like it just because it’s good pizza.” ❖

Defining Organic

The Organic Trade Association provides background and information about organic food on its Web site, www.ota.com. The OTA defines organic as food that is produced in soil that is free of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers. The food itself must be raised without the use of antibiotics, synthetic hormones, genetic engineering, sewer sludge or irradiation. Cloning animals or using their products is not considered organic. Food must be processed minimally without artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is in charge of certifying food as organic in the U.S., according to its Web site. The U.S.D.A. allows the use of the term 100 percent organic on labels of food that is in fact 100 percent organic, excluding water and salt. Products may be labeled simply as organic if they have 95 percent organic ingredients. Processed food that is labeled as made with organic ingredients must contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients.

Want to become a certified organic restaurant? Visit www.ams.usda.gov, which operates the U.S.D.A.’s National Organic Program.

Robyn Davis Sekula is a freelance writer living in New Albany, Indiana.

This year’s International Pizza Expo is truly special — it’s the venerable trade show’s silver anniversary. To celebrate, the event will close by giving away $25,000 in cash. But there’s more to the show than the giveaway, say event organizers. Scheduled for March 10-12 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, International Pizza Expo brings together the $37 billion pizza industry’s best and brightest. By successfully pairing together the segment’s top suppliers with forward-thinking pizzeria owners, International Pizza Expo is the world’s oldest and largest pizza-centered trade show.

 

This year’s keynote address will be delivered by Michael J. Mrlik II, president and chief executive officer of Gatti’s Pizza. Mrlik, a restaurant industry veteran who previously held executive positions with New World Restaurant Group (Einstein Bros. Bagels, Noah’s Bagels, Manhattan Bagel, Chesapeake Bagel Bakery and New World Coffee), has guided Gatti’s Pizza to a brand overhaul and has stimulated relationships with the company’s franchisees. Gatti’s, currently ranked No. 20 on Pizza Today’s Top 100 Companies list, will celebrate its own anniversary in 2009 — the pizza chain is turning 40. Mrlik’s speech is slated to begin at 7:45 a.m. and run until 8:45 a.m. on March 10 in Room N247.



A second keynote will be given by Joey Todaro, president of La Nova Pizzeria, on March 11 (same room and same time as Mrlik’s March 10 address). Todaro guides the family pizza establishment founded by his grandfather “Papa Joe” Todaro, in 1957. La Nova Pizzeria is one of America’s most successful independent pizza restaurants.



Keynotes aside, International Pizza Expo offers a plethora of educational sessions. In fact, Bill Oakley, executive vice president of Macfadden Protech LLC, the parent company of Pizza Today and Pizza Expo, says “Our pizza-specific program of more than 60 seminars, workshops and demonstrations is unparalleled and second to none in the foodservice industry.” From marketing seminars by Kamron Karington and Scott Anthony to food demonstrations by Pat Bruno, this year’s speaker lineup and list of topics is diverse. For a closer look at the complete lineup, visit www.pizzaexpo. com.



As always, International Pizza Expo 2009 promises to be highly competitive. From the World Pizza Games to the International Pizza Challenge, this year’s Expo offers ample opportunities for attendees to get the competitive juices flowing. New for this year, says Oakley, is the fact that the International Pizza Challenge will crown champions in two categories — traditional and non-traditional.



“In all, more than $50,000 in prize money will be given away in our competitions this year,” says Oakley. As for the World Pizza Games, they’ll once again serve as the focal point at this year’s annual Rockin’ Party. The Rockin’ Party, slated for 6:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in rooms N247 and N250 on March 11, is open to all show attendees and exhibitors. Complete with food and drink, it’s a social networking/entertainment opportunity like no other, says Oakley. This year, the World Pizza Games finals will crown champions in six categories: Freestyle Acrobatics, First Division; Freestyle Acrobatics, Masters Division; Fastest Dough; Largest Stretch; Fasted Box Folding and Longest Spin.

Finally, don’t forget the show floor. Packed with the industry’s leading exhibitors, the floor is open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on March 10 -11, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 12. For more information or to register, visit www.pizzaexpo.com or call (800) 489-8324.

What’s Up, Doc?

Bugs Bunny loves carrots, and you should, too. Why? Because they’re the perfect way to sweeten a pizza sauce. That’s right, carrots have a built-in natural sugar, so they are excellent for that use. Wash and skin a large carrot and cook it with sauce. Discard the carrot after the sauce is cooked. It’s that simple.

Kid Friendly

We all know families are the backbone of your business. Here are some tips to make your place a welcome spot for the little ones:
❖ Speak directly to the child, not the parents. Ask them their name, then use it when you reference them.
❖ Bend down to their level and look them in the eye so as to be less threatening.
❖ Offer to have the children’s meal prepared as soon as possible, before the adults get their food.
❖ Have moist wipes on hand.
❖ Offer the kids coloring sheets and crayons to occupy them while they’re waiting.

To the Woods

So what if you don’t want to sweeten your sauce, but would instead prefer to give it more of an earthy profile? Try dried porcini mushrooms. Reconstitute them in warm water and strain the water through a fine mesh cheesecloth. Save the water, which has a lot of flavor, and add it to the sauce along with the softened mushrooms. A white sauce for pasta using heavy cream, rehydrated mushrooms and grated Parmesan cheese is a real winner!



All Knotted Up?

Here are some tips to keep in mind next time you make garlic knots for your appetizer menu:
❖For denser, chewier garlic knots, make them to order. Use your regular aged dough, cut and form the knots, then bake immediately without further proofing.
❖ To prevent garlic bits from burning at high temperatures in a pizza oven, strain the mixture before applying to the dough. Or, apply only after baking.
❖ To come up with your own distinctive flavor blend, substitute extra-virgin olive oil for some or all of the butter.
❖ For variety, sprinkle on freshly grated Romano cheese, chopped oregano, chopped fresh basil and/or crushed red pepper after tossing the knots with the garlic mixture.
❖ For a more mellow flavor, use roasted garlic instead of fresh garlic cloves.

Surveillance cameras are not just for videotaping robberies anymore. Today, restaurants use surveillance cameras to make sure employees are trained well, that customers had the experience that they described, and that things are going smoothly even when the manager is miles away.

“It gives you piece of mind if you want to walk away from the store,” says Kelvin Slater, co-owner of the two-unit Blue Moon Pizza in Georgia. “I don’t think I would open a store without cameras now.” Slater has eight cameras in his Smyrna store and six in his Marietta store, and hopes to open a third store by the end of this year.

Slater says he can monitor, from his laptop computer, whether a staff member greets customers at the front door, what time workers arrive through the back door, and whether everything is going well at the bar. He says he hasn’t had any foul play in the restaurant, but that’s not entirely due to the surveillance system. “No one wants to steal a case of pepperoni,” he says. “I worked in other restaurants where you have steak and lobster, and those are more likely to get taken.”

Chris Dyess, executive vice president of direct sales for West Des Moines, Iowa-based Westec InterActive, says most restaurants use the cameras to make sure workers are following procedures. “A lot of our customers use it in the back of the house to make sure they’re not putting too much cheese, they’re checking vendor deliveries correctly, and they’re opening the restaurant correctly,” he says.

Dyess says the newer technology lets the operator set it up so the camera records the area only when the back door opens. With the old technology, a manager would have to rewind and play hours of videotape when the cash register came up short or someone was injured.

Jeff Gannon, director of business development for Louisville, Colorado based Envysion Inc., says today’s video monitoring is less complex than older systems. “It’s hosted online, it’s easy to use, it will not strain your network or broadband connection, and it will work in tandem with your existing point of sale system,” he says. Operators can set up alerts that send an email when a procedure is violated, such as the cash register has more than ten voids in one shift. The owner can watch those transactions from their computer.

Some restaurants have used the cameras to defend themselves against slip and fall lawsuits. “One woman actually poured liquid on the floor and lay down,” Dyess says. “She wanted to sue the restaurant, but the camera saw her pouring liquid on the floor.”

Theft deterrence remains a big reason why restaurant owners install cameras. “They are looking at the bottom line all the time,” says David Disher, president of Advanced Digital Security in Dayton, Ohio. “They say, ‘I can’t figure out how I’m losing money.’”

Disher says operators want to see whether customers, burglars, and vandals are stealing product or cash, or if the theft is internal, such as employees improperly ringing up purchases or removing boxes of food. He recommends letting employees know the cameras are there. “There are some deterrents that go with seeing the camera,” he says. Don’t put up fake cameras, he says, because there have been court cases concerning employees thinking they were safe from crime because there were cameras in the business location, but the fake cameras failed to protect them. (For any legal question, consult your lawyer.)

Dyess agrees that the cameras should be out in the open. “It’s better to tell people,” he says. “We have customers who request hidden cameras and we don’t like to do them except in specific circumstances.”

He says cameras have picked up some questionable actions by employees. “One of our customers tells us at the end of the night they give the leftover pizzas to the staff. They find out the staff was ‘accidentally’ cooking up ten extra pizzas. The system put that to an end.”

It also ended the habit of crew members preparing free pies for their friends, or loading up the toppings and charging them for one topping.

Gannon says he has received comments from operators. “I get feedback, ‘As soon as we installed the cameras, three employees walked out,’ ” he says. “And from the other employees they get, ‘Hey, thank you, we didn’t need that person here because he was nothing but trouble.’ ”

The costs vary. Dyess says a typical restaurant might get a subscription, which means they don’t own the cameras but pay about $320 a month for eight cameras. The company also offers systems for purchase, which can cost several thousand dollars upfront. Disher says a system costs about $5,000 per store, for five or six cameras per store. Gannon, meanwhile, says a system could cost $4,000 or more upfront.

When shopping, ask what kind of tech support you get, how often are the cameras replaced, and what kind of computer or point of sale system do you have to have so you can watch the video remotely. Then, analyze your return on investment to see if your food costs and other costs changed. ❖

Where To Install the Cameras

In general, it’s a good idea to install a camera over the front door, back door, the bar, front of the house, prep areas, and cash register.

Your vendor can help you decide where to put your cameras. David Disher, president of Advanced Digital Security in Dayton, Ohio, says a restaurant customer wanted to put a camera in the freezer to see if employees were stealing boxes of product. He recommended against it, because the camera would likely also record people legitimately removing food to bring to the prep table.

Instead, he suggested putting a camera outside the back door. “You want to catch him when he’s coming out,” he says. “Watch the dumpster. It looks like he’s just throwing out the trash.”

He says employees who steal product throw the box into the dumpster, then come back later and retrieve it. This only works if it’s not trash pickup day. “You have to think, what are the basic human behaviors he will exhibit while doing this,” he says.

Nora Caley is a freelance writer specializing in food and business topics. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

Love it or hate it, spinach has the potential to be a big hit on your menu and can be utilized in appetizers, pizza, pasta and entrées. I have loved spinach since I was a kid. In sixth grade, at recess, when most kids went across the street with their pocket full of change to buy candy, I would cross with them but then go to the bakery next to the candy store to buy a spinach pie. Yes, it’s the truth ... that’s how much I love spinach.

And, I love my spinach pies as well. They’re like a mini calzone made with bread dough. Here’s the awesome thing: my kids love them, too. I just made them 24 spinach pies to enjoy during their week off from school and they gobbled them up. To prove even more that I’m a true spinach geek, when I got my first car, a ’72 Ford Pinto and then got a CB radio, my handle (radio name) was actually “Spinach Man”. While cooking in an upscale restaurant when I was a junior and senior in high school, I’d look forward to going out after work at one in the morning, sharing a spinach pizza with my buddy, Sean. Yep, spinach is the life for me!

I get so happy when I can convert others who claim to hate spinach but then love one of my spinach creations, like a sampling of my Spanikopita. Spinach is like artichoke hearts in a sense that it doesn’t have a pile of flavor on its own, but really becomes a wonderful ingredient when it’s seasoned well or mixed with other ingredients. I’ll tell you right now that spinach and garlic is a match made in heaven. They belong together with a pinch of salt (of course). Now, keep one thing in mind. Don’t ever, ever use canned spinach for anything. I need you to promise! Canned spinach has no value to me whatsoever. It’s brown and mushy and doesn’t do spinach any justice. The people who claim to hate spinach, I’m convinced, are the same people whose parents tried to force canned spinach on them as a child. The two ways that I would suggest you buy spinach is either fresh or frozen. I prefer fresh, and for the last couple of years I’ve been buying the baby spinach. I like the baby fl at leaf for two reasons: it’s already washed and because the stems are so small the spinach is totally ready to use. I used to use washed spinach that was leafier, but there were lots of places for dirt and sand to hide and it usually needed extra washing.

Most people don’t realize what high water content spinach has. So, if you’re going to use fresh spinach in cooked dishes like pasta and pizza, understand that it really cooks down, wilting in volume about 80 percent. Frozen chopped spinach is a good alternative, especially if you’re going to offer hearty spinach pizzas. I’ve ordered a spinach pizza before and it looked like a sprinkling of parsley. Know that if a spinach lover orders it on their pizza, they really want some spinach.

Here’s the best way to handle and prepare frozen chopped spinach to top pizza or to add to an Alfredo dish: First, thaw the spinach under refrigeration, and then drain it very well by squeezing the excess water out. It’s important to add a little bit of vegetable oil or olive oil to the spinach to make it easier to work with. I like to add some salt and either fresh chopped or granulated garlic. For a two-pound box of thawed and drained spinach, I’d add ½ cup of oil, 2 teaspoons of salt and 2 teaspoons of garlic. This mixture can also be used perfectly well in calzones and the spinach pies that I love so much. If you really want to use fresh uncooked spinach on a pizza, you need to make sure it is placed on the pizza before the cheese. If you add fresh spinach on the top of a pizza, it will first wilt and then burn.

If you order fresh spinach, you want to check it to make sure none of it is wilted or slimy. If it is, refuse it. Even a little bit of slimy spinach in the corner of the bag can contaminate the rest of the spinach very quickly. If your spinach comes in real fresh and your refrigeration is working properly, your spinach should last a week. As I’ve shared when talking about menu development, if you’re going to bring in a new ingredient, make sure you use it in more than just one dish. I use spinach on my menu in five different dishes. ❖

Roman Vegetarian Pizza

1 16-inch pizza dough
6 ounces of Alfredo sauce (hot or cold)
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, drained
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
2 plum tomatoes sliced
2 ounces sliced black or Kalamata olives
8-10 pieces of artichoke heart quarters 1½ tablespoons of chopped garlic
8 ounces of your favorite pizza cheese blend

Stretch your dough, spread the Alfredo sauce. Mix the spinach, oil, garlic and salt, then kind of dollop the spinach onto the pizza, spreading it out as much as you can for the best coverage. Spread the sliced tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Sprinkle the olives and chopped garlic with the pizza cheese on top. Bake (the average deck oven at 550 F will take approximately 8-12 minutes).

Jeffrey Freehof, owner of The Garlic Clove in Evans, Georgia, is Pizza Today’s resident expert.

I have opened seven restaurants for myself and at least 30 more for clients in my career. The last one to open was last August in Ohio. I’ve designed fl or plans for stores smaller than my garage (900 square feet) all the way up to a couple of giant family entertainment places pushing 40,000 square feet. The smallest location I designed was 450 square feet in the food court of one of the busiest malls in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. When the rent is high and the space available is tight, you have to get creative and utilize every inch of available space.

In this report, I’m going to attempt to detail a few of the things you’ll need to keep in mind if you’re opening a pizzeria. I’ll work under the assumption that you’re opening in a location that is approximately 24 by 55 feet (or 1,320) square feet. This operation is a closed up shoe store. It sits in the middle of a strip-mall with generous parking and a back door that leads to an alley. The neighbors are a video rental store, beauty salon, jewelry store and an insurance office. The only operation that is open after 5 p.m. is the video store. This allows you much greater parking in the evening when you’ll need it. Retail rental space and foodservice space are as different as night and day. Retail requirements are basically floors, walls and ceiling, plus one restroom, a small HVAC and plumbing requirements. Foodservice establishments have much higher mandated requirements.



The build-out and finished space will be inspected by the local building authority as well as the health department. Many times the fire department and other zoning and business offices will get their two cents in prior to your opening. Your new operation will need to have heavy-duty electrical service. I look for at least 300 amps. We’ll need at least a 2-inch gas line to supply the HVAC and pizza oven with enough volume and pressure to operate at full capacity. Your local building department will probably allow one unisex restroom for your employees because you don’t offer on premises dining. It will probably have to be handicap accessible. Your entrance and back door will also have to comply with ADA, meaning at least three-foot-wide doors. This is a good thing, because every piece of commercial food service equipment is designed to fit through a 36-inch door. Your plumbing requirements will often state that a huge water heater be installed for pot, pan and smallwares washing. Even though you don’t offer dine in and have zero fried food, you’ll most likely be forced into a grease trap (interceptor) between your sink and the city sewer.

I’ve seen small (30 gallon) to large (1000 gallon) required sizes. These vary from state to state and inspector to inspector. Delco pizzerias create almost zero grease but are lumped into the restaurant category. Once the restroom size and confi guration is established, you’ll also need to buy a threecompartment sink. These sinks are made from stainless steel and usually have drain boards at either end. Many health department rules state that the sink compartment size must be large enough to place the largest piece of equipment you’ll need to wash in it. This is the mixing bowl from a 60-quart mixer. This rule is often overlooked and a regular size sink with a sprayer will be accepted. Next, we’ll need at least one handwashing sink in the food prep area, if not two.

Many locals also require a vegetable-washing sink. If you opt for selling soft drinks from a fountain, you’ll need a cold water line and a fl oor drain. Your kitchen and prep area would certainly be a great place for another fl oor drain for fl oor mopping and scrubbing. While we’re talking about fl oors, think industrial strength, smooth, non-porous, easily cleanable, non-slip surfaces. Your plumber will most likely have to saw out concrete to place your grease trap, water lines and underground drains. If you have a wooden fl oor with a basement or crawlspace, this is an easier task.

Your pizza oven location will need to be established so the gas pipe can be routed (usually overhead). Plumbers usually install HVAC systems. The air conditioning that the bookstore had will not cool your kitchen once the oven fi res up. Most places add an additional rooftop unit of fi ve to 10 tons depending on how hot and humid it gets in the summer. Next up on the list is your exhaust fan and hood. This is referred to as ventilation and has different requirements from state to state. If you are required to install a system with make up air, your basic ventilation costs will triple.

For every square foot of air drawn out of the building, that amount — plus extra fresh air — must be pulled in and often times tempered (warmed or cooled to 70 degrees) to pass inspection. These roof top units are energy hogs, but help keep fl ying insects, dust and dirt outside. When you enter a building with make up air, you feel a little breeze of air across your face when you fi rst open the door. As you can see, the requirements for foodservice establishments are much higher than a typical retail space.

When you are making your short list of possible locations, look for the one that will require the least amount of mechanical rehabbing. Closed down restaurants are often a good deal because they have the basis HVAC, plumbing and electrical requirements in place. Be aware that some locations for some reason are perceived as losers. If there is a pattern of defunct restaurants, beware and move on. You will probably need to hire an architect and/ or engineer to draw blueprints and specifi cation sheets. These prints are often necessary to obtain a building permit. Most agencies will specify a set of sealed working prints before remodeling is started. The engineer seals the prints with a raised embossed seal much like a notary. When looking for an engineer, seek out one with restaurant experience. They will understand the fl ow of people and product and allow for subtle things like where the trashcans are located. Experience really pays off here.

Next month: I’ll offer some insight on your equipment needs. Stay tuned. ❖

Big Dave Ostrander owned a highly successful independent pizzeria before becoming a consultant, speaker and internationally sought-after trainer. He is a monthly contributor to Pizza Today and leads seminars on operational topics for the family of Pizza Expo tradeshows

In challenging economic times, you need your best employees to stay on the job, keeping customers coming back for more pizza. Unfortunately, that’s a tough order when you consider the low employee retention rate in the restaurant business.

One way to keep your star employees at your pizzeria longer is to get them excited about their career future. This can be accomplished by establishing a mentor program that matches seasoned workers with promising new-hires.

“There’s more to running a restaurant than cooking food and serving guests. Nearly anyone can take an order, but to really excel in this industry, workers need to learn the finer points of customer service and running a business. Sometimes, the only way for an employee to learn that is to watch somebody else as part of a mentoring program,” says Matthew Kaufman of Q-Principle, an Atlanta, Georgia-based consulting company that specializes in customer service leadership.

“Mentoring programs help employees understand why and how things are done at your restaurant, and how it all translates to profitability,” says Gayle Gregory, a Portland, Oregon workplace consultant. “When employees have mentors, they gain a sense of ownership.

They’re more likely to show up on time, are ready to do good work, and are eager to be a part of a team that cares about the total customer experience.” Sound enticing? Here are some ways to effectively establish a mentoring program at your pizzeria.

First, set expectations before you start. Talk to your workers about what they hope to learn and accomplish with mentoring. “It’s important to establish employee needs upfront, so you can make sure you are both getting what you want out of the deal,” says Kaufman. “Hopefully, they’re gaining know-how and the ability to do their job, and you’re gaining a loyal employee who’s helping to make your pizzeria a better place.”

Communicate whether or not you’ll launch a formal, established mentoring program with set meeting times, or an informal, open-door type relationship. Either way can work, says Kaufman, as long as they match the personalities of everyone involved. “A mentor program should be in keeping with how the rest of the business operates. If you have a small restaurant with a very relaxed atmosphere, it’s probably best for the training program to be relaxed,” he says.

When setting expectations, consider the health of your company. If business is on an upswing, share that information. Employees may have the opportunity to work more hours and make more money if they learn the ropes in a mentoring program. But if sales are down and you think there’s a chance you might have to lay off some people in the near future, consider restricting the mentor program to only a few of your most promising workers.

Also, consider pairing top level talent with new-hires. Veteran/newhire pairings generally mean that the new worker watches the expert do job-related tasks. Then, the new worker begins to perform those tasks, gradually improving until they’re able to do the work independently.

To be successful, these pairings need buy-in at the highest levels, says Bruce Kolbinsky, senior vice president of franchise operations at Stevi B’s Pizza Buffet, an Atlanta-based chain with 26 franchisees and five corporate owned units. “The top person at each of our franchises spends a large amount of time with each new employee on their very first day. That way, the new employee has the benefit of feeling like they were actually trained, and not just thrown into the job,” says Kolbinsky. It makes a huge impression on a new-hire if the owner or high-level manager is willing to take the time to show them the ins and outs of business.

Next, maintain positive communication. James Higgins, owner of Puget Sound Pizza in Tacoma, Washington, is a firm believer in providing an encouraging atmosphere while training employees. “We try not to have an adversarial work environment,” he says. “To manage that, we have to keep communication levels high. Our pizzeria has a high retention rate, so it works.”

Higgins doesn’t implement a formal mentoring program, but he says that with good, informal communication and positive feedback, employees learn how to do their jobs effectively.

Also, don’t forget the back office. Make room in your mentoring program to educate high-performing, trustworthy individuals on back office instruction. “When you identify someone that you believe has the ability to lead, it’s up to you, as the manager, to groom that person for the next step,” says Kaufman. “That employee needs to know about your policies, your values and your approach to doing business.” As your restaurant grows, it’s just as important to have someone who can help you with vendor relationships, marketing and bookkeeping, as it is to have an excellent server.

Once you’ve done the necessary planning, start your mentoring program. At all points along the way, evaluate your results, says Gregory. Don’t just assume that your plans are working. Instead, take a look at hard numbers to see if you’re reaching your goals (see sidebar). Try to identify the impact of mentoring on your restaurant. If successful, your pizzeria could soon be enjoying longer-term employees and happier customers. ❖

Goals Checklist

When establishing a mentoring program, it’s important to establish specific, measurable goals that you hope to achieve. Here’s a checklist of common objectives you might want to use for evaluating progress from your program’s start to its end.
❖ Fewer mistakes at the cash register. As mentors show employees specific tips for reducing counting errors, there should be fewer times when money comes up short.
❖ Fewer employee absences. As employees become more engaged with their mentors, they should be more committed to their job roles, potentially reducing the number of unnecessary absences.
❖ Fewer customer satisfaction complaints. As employees observe how seasoned colleagues offer customer service, they should be able to improve their own interactions with customers, hopefully decreasing the number of overall complaints.
❖ Increased number of employees ready for supervisory role. This is subjective, but it’s still an important indicator of the program’s success.

Margarette Burnette covers small business, finance and health for a variety of print and online publications. She is based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.

It’s not unusual for pizzeria owners to trademark their store’s names. But some owners are taking their quest for brand originality beyond the store sign and onto the menu by registering trademarks for distinctive offerings. Does registering a menu item trademark make sense for your business? Ask yourself these questions to determine if the legal legwork is a good investment for you.

First, is the name central to your brand or business strategy? Drew Militano started thinking about healthier pizzas long before it was trendy. In the early 1980s, the co-owner of Gerlanda’s in New Brunswick, New Jersey, fi rst experimented with a recipe for a wholewheat pizza dough.

“We fooled around with the recipe for a while, and our customers were liking it,” he says. “We just called it wheat pizza, though. Then one day I was by myself and all of a sudden, it hit me: ‘Wheatzza.’ I called my lawyer the next day to start the trademark process.” He was sure he wanted to protect the name not only because it so fittingly described his product but also because he saw future marketing potential in the catchy crust. “I felt it had value,” he explains. “I don’t know exactly what that value is in dollars, though we’ll know if I ever sell it. But it makes our brand unique. People search us out and say, ‘I’ll have a Wheatzza,’ or ‘make that one a Wheatzza!’ It’s great.”

Militano says when he first trademarked the name, the Wheatzza wasn’t exactly his top seller. But he’s gone from making about 50 Wheatzza crusts each week in 1984 to 50 a day in 2008. “I named my corporation the Wheatzza Corporation (and) my Web address is wheatzza.net,” he says. “I decided when I came up with this that this is mine and I want to make it a brand. We’re not just a little pizzeria around the corner; we have something no one else can say they have: the Wheatzza.”

Next, consider if you are in a hot competitive environment. The legal lightbulb went on for Michael Nicholson, owner of Glass Nickel Pizza Company in Madison, Wisconsin, after a someone approached him about opening an independent branch of Glass Nickel.

“This person decided he was going to open his own pizza shop, and he took the recipe for our best-selling pizza and named it something fairly similar,” Nicholson says. “At that point, we knew we needed to do something to protect our names.”

After contacting his legal counsel, Nicholson began the trademark process for his top-selling pie, a pizza with a chunky tomato sauce base that’s piled high with spinach, red onion, tomatoes, mushrooms, the Glass Nickel house blend cheese and topped with feta cheese. He had always called it “Fetalicious”, and he knew it was time to legally protect his best-seller’s memorable name.

“It was a light-bulb moment,” Nicholson says. “We take all our cues from our customers, and this was their favorite and it had been their favorite for a while. So they voted with their orders, and we liked the ingredients and the name and knew this was the pizza we needed to protect.”

Next, it is time to consider your cost-to-benefit ratio. For any business investment, understanding the costto- benefit ratio is essential. Trademark decisions are no different. But what many people don’t know, says Cynthia Lynch, the administrator for Trademark Policy and Procedure at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), is that you can gain “common law” trademark protection without any cost at all.

“In the United States, you can gain trademark rights just by using your mark (the name you want to trademark),” she says. “You definitely get additional legal presumptions and benefits by having an official trademark registration, but it’s not the case that without that, you have nothing.”

You can even add the ™ mark to your unique menu items without registering them, says Karin Segall, a Manhattan lawyer who specializes in clearance and registration of domestic and international trademarks. She says for owners who aren’t worried about legal battles surrounding stolen names and are simply looking to officially “mark” a fun menu item or unique name, common law trademarks can be a great solution. But if you’re going to be investing a lot in advertising and branding based on an item, she recommends you go ahead and initiate the registration process because it can save you money in the end.

“Before you do anything with it, you need to clear the name,” she says, explaining the clearing process involves thorough searching to make sure no one else is using your desired trademark. Segall says individuals can do a search online via the USPTO’s Web site as well as more conventional Google searches. “Doing your own search is certainly a good starting point,” she says. “But its best to have a lawyer do it because there’s a certain art to these searches and just because you didn’t find something doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

If you decide to go ahead and register your trademark, Lynch says restaurant services usually fall into a single “class,” and cost about $325 for the mark. If you choose to use a lawyer, obviously you’ll also incur any legal fees associated with researching and applying for the trademark, as well.

One of the most common problems Lynch sees in trademark applications at the USPTO is very basic: choosing a name that you can’t trademark. “We have criteria for what we can and cannot register, and we are ordered not to register a term that is generic, like ‘breadsticks,’ for example,” she says. “The philosophy behind the law is that your competitors should be able to use whatever terms they need to use to describe their item.”

Nicholson, owner of Glass Nickel Pizza Company, says he thinks it makes the most sense for pizza shop owners to go ahead and hire a lawyer, however, to navigate the trademark process for you. “Find an attorney with reasonable fees to do the leg work for you,” he says. “After all, you have a pizza shop to run!”

Nicholson sees his trademark as more than legal protection: it’s advertising, as well. “You’d pay as much to advertise in a hotel guide book and not bat an eye at it,” he says. “And people remember it and notice the trademark. Our regular clientele tell us how excited they are that Fetalicious is trademarked because they really take pride in it, too. They were there when it began and helped it become what it is today.”

Militano agrees, noting just an “R” in a circle sets you and your items apart from the crowd. “We operate in a college town, and this is no exaggeration: there are 14 pizzerias within five blocks of each other here,” he says. “But because of Wheatzza, I’m not just the average ‘sling a pie for five bucks and give it to a college kid’ guy. I made a brand that is memorable and means something. And it’s legally mine.” ❖

The Payoff of a Trademark

Lauren Teton, a product naming expert and consultant, offers these tips on choosing the perfect trademark for your favorite menu item:
❖ Try some rhyme time. There’s a reason we remember catchy jingles or even the Dr. Seuss books we read as children: rhyming and alliterative names stick in our brains better than run-of-the-mill titles or stories. “I have found names that rhyme are memorable and really have the ‘fun factor,’ which makes them easy and entertaining to say,” she explains.
❖ Keep it simple. Make sure your trademarked item’s name will be something your customers can easily understand. She cites the case of two Italian restaurants with diffi cultto- pronounce names: Sfuzzi and Scuisa. “You had to be a chi-chi insider to know how to pronounce them, and even if you knew how to say them, you’d have to be an insider to know how to spell them to call for a reservation,” she says, noting that these restaurants are no longer in business.
❖ Make it mean something. Teton loves the name of Gerlanda’s “Wheatzza” pizza. Not only does the name say exactly what the food is—a pizza with a whole-wheat crust—it is unusual while still being something our brains understand easily when we hear it. “If you can choose a name that implants itself in the brain, you will have an advantage over the competition,” she says.

Alyson McNutt English is an award-winning freelance writer specializing in home, health, family, and green topics. She lives in Huntsville, Alabama.

This is one of my all-time favorite pasta dishes. The Italian word “carbonaio” means “coalman” or “dealer in charcoal”. This dish takes on that name because of its coal dusted appearance from the abundant use of freshly ground pepper in the preparation. Pancetta (unsmoked Italian bacon), the fat generally used to give this dish its added kick of flavor, is generally what I use. However, I find that substituting prosciutto for the pancetta works just as well. Buy the prosicutto in a chunk or cut in a slab off the leg for the dice (thinly sliced prosciutto will work, but not as effectively).

Serves 4-6 (scale up in direct proportion)

1 cup finely diced prosciutto
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
1 pound spaghetti
Freshly grated Parmesan on the side

Put the prosciutto in a small sauté pan set over medium heat. Cook and stir for about two minutes to release some of the fat and to crisp it up a bit. Add the olive oil, butter and garlic. Sauté and stir for another minute or so to combine. Transfer the sauce to a sauté pan large enough to hold all of the spaghetti after it has been cooked. Keep the sauce warm over low heat.

In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, Parmesan and black pepper. Set aside.

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until it is al dente. Drain well. Working quickly, turn the cooked pasta into the sauté pan holding the butter and oil sauce. Add the egg/ cheese/pepper mixture to the pan. Toss rapidly and thoroughly to coat the pasta. Serve with grated Parmesan on the side.

Chef’s Notes: The above master recipe is designed to give you an overall view of what this classic pasta dish is all about. However, in restaurant service, the ideal method is to prepare and cook to portion size. For example, using the same ingredients as in the master recipe, scale down accordingly. So for, say, a serving for one, you would cook the pasta ahead (2-3 ounces dry) and hold. You would combine a smaller portion of prosciutto, olive oil, butter, and garlic and keep warm. Probably one extra-large egg and 1/3 cup of Parmesan should do it. Add black pepper to taste.

Put the cooked spaghetti in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and butter sauce and stir to combine. Combine the egg and Parmesan and pour that mixture over the spaghetti. Toss well. Presto! One order of spaghetti carbonara.

Safety Note: if using raw eggs poses a problem, buy liquid pasteurized eggs (¼ cup liquid egg is equal to one large egg). I don’t generally like to give variations on a pasta dish as classic as this. However, if you wish to add an extra touch of creaminess overall, stir 3 tablespoons of heavy cream into the egg, Parmesan and pepper mixture.

Pat Bruno is Pizza Today’s resident chef and a regular contributor. He is the former owner and operator of a prominent Italian cooking school in Chicago and is a food critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.