You are a victim; your business has been violated. After a barrage of emotions, your determination is to not let your shop get broken into and ransacked again. Let’s take a look at some of the steps you should be taking to protect your pizzeria.

Police officers recommend that a business establish redundant layers of defense to protect from loss and/or damage of property. Start outside; check the lighting around the perimeter of your store and parking lot. Is it inviting with blind spots or well lit, therefore deterring criminal activity? Are your windows and doors secure and armed with a security device? Each step towards your safe needs to deter potential invaders.



Security devices come in a wide array of products and prices. Is it better to hire a security company or DIY? Joe Wadlow, president of Monte Cello’s Pizzeria, has tried both since his company’s inception in 1980. Monte Cello’s eight units have operated in western Pennsylvania since 1980 with little loss. Wadlow comments that “advancing technology has made it possible for us to do most of the alarm installation and security monitoring ourselves. Of course we are tied in to the local police department, too, if an alarm is tripped.”

Monte Cello’s, like most pizzerias, employs a combination of security cameras and alarm systems. These layers of protection have led to exposing areas of weakness.

“Cameras have prevented litigation in a slip and fall episode and have alerted us to safely store empty kegs so no one would come along and take them for the deposit,” says Wadlow.

Police officers stress that while cameras are an asset to loss prevention, being able to pull a high-quality still photo from the footage is key to an investigation, so invest in a system that will aid law enforcement. As for an alarm system, law enforcement suggests installing a system that notifies police within 2 minutes. That is to say that from the time the door / window is opened, the alarm sounds, the alarm company calls to verify illegal entry and then notifies local authorities, no more than two minutes has elapsed.

Do we have additional defenses in place while awaiting the arrival of police or in case of a system failure? Telephone lines can be cut or power may be turned off to your system. If phone lines are cut, what can alert authorities of the intrusion? Security advisors say that a 105- to 120-decibel alarm will usually scare off criminals and alert neighbors who in turn will phone police. Audible alarms can be placed inside or outside your establishment for more effectiveness. Having unusual lighting, such as a colored strobe, tied in to your alarm will catch someone’s eye, telling them something is amiss. Additionally, can a passerby easily see in your business or do you have signage, poor nightlights or displays that block the view of activity inside your operation? Any unusual activity needs to be detected easily and immediately. In the case of power being cut, it is recommended that you have a battery back-up to keep systems operational.

Lastly, if one does gain entry to your business and begins their search for cash, have you protected the obvious? Leave your cash drawer open with money (minimal amount needed to operate securely) in a safe. This will improve your chances that valuable equipment is not destroyed during a break-in.

Today, most cash drawers are integrated with a POS system. Regularly back up and secure storage of the data contained on your POS. According to measurement firm IDC, 44 percent of companies that lose their operating data close their doors forever. POS providers recommend that information be backed up at least weekly to a fl ash drive that is stored in a different location.

As for your safe, keep it concealed, closed and locked when not in use. Place your safe with the hinge away from the wall and the door opening next to the wall. This makes it harder to pry the door open. You may bolt your safe to the floor or wall to further prevent loss.

No one wants to be a victim. Do more than lock your door. ❖

Scott Anthony is a Fox’s Pizza Den franchisee in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He is guest-writing this month’s column

You’ve probably heard a lot about how good for you whole grains can be. It’s been touted for its health benefits. They are being incorporated into more and more food products because The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, last released in January 2005, recommend that all adults eat at least half their grains as whole grains –– that’s at least three to five servings of whole grains daily.

Many don’t realize that whole grains are often an even better source of key nutrients than some fruits and vegetables. In fact, whole grains are a good source of B vitamins, Vitamin E, magnesium, iron and fiber, as well as other valuable antioxidants not found in some fruits and vegetables. Most of the antioxidants and vitamins are found in the germ and the bran of a grain.

Foods labeled with the words “multigrain,” “stone-ground,” “100-percent wheat,” “cracked wheat,” “seven-grain,” or “bran” are usually not whole-grain products. Color is also not an indication of a whole grain.

OK, now that we understand all of this, what does it mean to us as pizzeria operators? It means that people are doing their best to conform to doing what is right for their diet while trying to still enjoy their favorite foods. That’s where we come in. As innovators and providers of what people want, we should consider filling that niche. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that everybody is going to convert to eating whole wheat and whole grain pizza, but we can make a substantial impact to our business by offering something unique that our competitors don’t offer — or by doing it much better than they are attempting to do.

You might wonder if this is just another diet phase like many of the other diets, including the recent lowcarb craze that lasted a couple of years at best. I don’t think so (and does it really matter if it doesn’t last)? Operators that took advantage of offering something as crazy as a crust-less pizza baked on parchment paper and sold a lot of them were deemed a hero by those low-carb dieters!

Let’s face it, if you are interested in tapping into this opportunity to offer a whole grain pizza, it will take some nurturing the process and educating your customer base. It will be very important to share your new product idea with the folks who would be and should be interested in it. I’d start by bringing flyers, coupons and perhaps even some samples to every local gym and health club. Those are the folks who are trying to get or stay healthy. Many of those folks are avoiding pizza now because it would work against all their efforts at the gym. Maybe you are one of the smart operators who have already tapped into that group of people with innovative and healthy salads and wraps.

Once you’ve developed the dough that works well with your oven and baking process, you’ll need to be clever enough to put together some great pizzas that fit the diet of one who is looking for whole grains in the first place. I’ve already shared with you the health benefits of whole grains and we don’t want to throw that all down the drain by adding unhealthy and fatty toppings. I say let’s go with smaller amounts of cheese with less fat and more flavor. I’d also stick with some great veggies and consider going organic with those toppings if it makes sense in your market. I would also boast a nice, fresh tomato sauce. By doing these things, I’m suggesting your taking the idea of something that may not be such an appetizing concept simply because of it’s health benefits and turning it into a highly desirable meal that will be so appealing to guests, that you’ll soon be able to put on that hero button again!

The trick with a whole grain dough is that its characteristics are very different than our everyday pizza dough. To make the dough as desirable as possible you may need to add some regular fl our as well. Because of the whole-wheat fl our you’ll use, it’s more difficult to get the dough light and airy. Therefore your whole grain dough will need to be a thin crust by using less dough and rolling it out thinner. Because of the texture of this dough, it will also be difficult to throw or toss your dough and should simply be rolled out or pressed out on the prep table. The recipe I’m sharing with you works well in my oven and will in yours as well. It is also a base recipe. Adding additional ingredients like sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and poppy seeds add nutritional value as well as texture and flavor. I feel it heightens the value of what you are offering your health conscious diners. Again, you need to understand your market and what folks in your area are looking for and willing to buy. Just because your current customer base may not be asking for whole grain pizza doesn’t mean they aren’t very interested in trying it. You may have more frequent visits because of the health value of a whole grain pizza topped with delicious and healthy toppings. Give this pizza a try! ❖

Chef Jeff’s Whole Grain Pizza Dough

3 cups warm water
1 ounce instant dry yeast
2 ounces sugar
17 ounces whole wheat fl our
12 ounces high gluten fl our
6 ounces dry quick oats zipped up in the food processor
2½ ounces wheat germ
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
Water as needed

Like making regular dough, add your yeast and half the sugar to the warm water. Whisk it and set aside until it starts to foam (about 5 minutes). Mix with all other ingredients using a dough hook in a mixer until dough is mixed well.

This recipe will yield you six 11½-ounce dough balls with which you can make six 12-inch, thincrust, whole-wheat pizzas.

Set dough aside, covered, under refrigeration for a minimum of 3 hours before using.

Whole grain Mediterranean Veggie Pizza

Yield: One 12-inch pizza

11½ ounces whole grain dough
4 ounces fresh tomato sauce
Roasted red peppers
Artichoke hearts
Sautéed fresh spinach
Caramelized onions
Kalamata olives
6 ounces mozzarella/ provolone cheese
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese

Stretch dough out to 12 inches in diameter. Sauce skin. Layer vegetable and top with cheese. Bake until cheese browns and dough rises. Cut and serve.

Jeffrey Freehof, owner of The Garlic Clove in Evans, Georgia, is Pizza Today’s resident expert. He is a frequent speaker at the International Pizza Expo family of tradeshows.

Q: We added Alfredo to our pasta sauce lineup, and it has been well received. But, sometimes throughout the week it curdles, sours or even gets discolored. Is there something we’re doing wrong?



A: I’m sure you’re going through more on the weekends than during the week. When a sauce breaks or discolors, that usually means it was held in a steam table at too high of a temperature. If your sauce is just starting to break and hasn’t soured, you can save it by whisking in some cream. Heat and hold smaller batches during the week. Consider portioning the sauce in microwavable cups and heat to order during the week.

I saw round olive fritters at International Pizza Expo once and thought they’d be good on my menu, but can’t find them. I saw on your restaurant’s Web site that you sell them. Can you tell me where to get them?

I used to buy them, but then decided to make my own. I mix cheddar cheese spread and cream cheese with chopped black and Kalamata olives, Parmesan cheese and garlic. With a tiny ice cream scoop I portion little balls and freeze them. Then I double bread them and keep them frozen and ready to fry.

I have always donated to just about anybody who walks through my doors asking, but with lower sales than average and more people than ever asking for donations, I feel like I can’t keep giving to everyone. How do I say “no”?

The best thing you can do is decide how much your business can afford to donate each year and create a monthly budget. When the funds are gone, you simply explain that to the person requesting a donation. You should also weed out those who are not a good cause. Another way to say yes to more folks is to lower the amount you donate. If you used to give a $15 gift certificate, lower it to $10. That will stretch things out a bit.

I have a customer that calls for delivery once a week and complains about something missing or made wrong every time. We usually send a driver out with a replacement even though we always make it right the first time. How do I get this nag off my back?

Open your eyes and realize you are getting scammed every time you send your driver back there with a replacement. As operators, we need every customer and every dollar, but we can’t let people take advantage of us like that. Send them a professional letter in the mail explaining “that you strive to please everyone every time. Since we can’t ever seem to please you, we will respect your decision to dine elsewhere. If you choose to continue to order with us, we will do our best but will no longer be able to remake any food for you.” The bottom line is, you won’t really have to worry about them any more. ❖

Jeffrey Freehof, owner of The Garlic Clove in Evans, Georgia, is Pizza Today’s resident expert. Send your questions to: Ask Chef Jeff, c/o Pizza Today, 908 South Eighth Street, Suite 200, Louisville, Kentucky, 40203.

The rules of color were introduced early in life, usually with finger paints or crayons or markers, and the rules seemed simple: yellow and blue make green; red and blue make purple, and mixing all the other colors together makes a gross brown or drab gray. It was fun, easy, creative and definitely messy.

And it still can be. Not necessarily with fi nger paints or crayons or markers, but with paint. Operators can bring back the joy of coloring or painting when designing or redesigning a restaurant space. By putting one or more colors on the walls, the look and feel of a restaurant can be enhanced, changed or determined. Color can influence mood, set a tone and create a style.

“We believe color has a huge impact,” says Howard Cannon, CEO of ROI Consulting and Restaurant Consultants of America in Birmingham, Alabama. “The color impacts how the customer feels from the dining perspective and speed of service. We believe color has an impact on appetite.” According to Cannon, bright colors like reds, purples, and yellows are found in more fast food restaurants because they convey a concept of speed. By contrast, earth tones are found more in casual and fine dining restaurants.

“Designing for fast food restaurants is much different than, say, a high-end, upscale restaurant,” says Kate Droege, an interior designer in Cincinnati, Ohio. “The fast food (restaurant) would use bold, intense colors to stand out from their competitors, while the upscale restaurant would use colors that reflect the company, food or specific atmosphere/ feeling of the space.”

Color, both inside and out, should connect. “There is a strong influence of colors and psychology. This can also be tied to the demographic that one is targeting. The exterior color also plays a role and should reinforce the interior,” says Bernard C. Stolberg, managing partner and SVP of MCG (Management Consultant Group) in Metairie, Louisiana.

A restaurant’s concept and brand should determine the right color. Susan Pitaccio, president of Maxey Hayse Design Studios, Inc., in Nutley, New Jersey, says that “colors should always be selected based on your restaurant’s concept and brand. It is always important to tie your brand concept and target clientele together. Never lose focus on your brand. It will always lead you to the correct answers.”

Cannon develops a concept and integrates it with color, and agrees color needs to compliment the brand. “We mesh concept, brand, logo and target customer to develop a color scheme,” Cannon says. “Restaurants want to give the experience of a shortterm version of a vacation. Restaurants want to connect to theme or concept, and using brighter colors can do that.”

Adds Pitaccio: “Don’t be afraid of color. Color adds character and drama to a restaurant. It helps to create a unique dining experience, and it is an inexpensive way of making a change.” Pitaccio goes on to say that “there have been some studies that show certain colors will affect thirst, such as orange. I also believe that creating an overall color palette that is warm and inviting will draw more customers.”

Jonathan Poore, author of Interior Color by Design, explains that color can aid in “setting the emotional tone or ambiance of a space; focusing or diverting attention; modulating the space to feel larger or smaller; breaking up and defining the space; and unifying the space or knitting it together.” Additionally, color can be enhanced by other elements like lighting and furniture.

“I’d argue that lighting has more of an affect because of its visual impact on a person,” says Droege. “A bright, lit space like McDonald’s (along with hard, uncomfortable seating) is aimed for quick turnaround. An upscale restaurant may have dimmer lighting and comfier seats to encourage lingering, because you’re enjoying a pricey dinner.”

Cannon said that a dimmer light scheme is found in casual dining restaurants, while bright lights and recessed lighting are found in fast food restaurants.



Adds Droege: “The thing about design is it intertwines so many elements. Focusing on one thing is detrimental, because it doesn’t allow you to combine the strengths of other elements. The lighting and furniture has as much of an impact on customers’ dining experience as does the colors selected.”

The cost of color can be determined by the size of the space. “The cost comes down to the number of square footage — no two jobs are the same, but any professional is going to discuss ideas and quote the work for free; the consultation is free,” Cannon explains, before adding that there are three ways to redo design: “One, the DIY or Home Depot route, which usually is a mistake; two, advice from a consultant who lacks real design experience; and three, an experienced design consultant — which can be expensive, but the money put in can be made many times over if the job is done right.”

Cannon goes on to say that “a design consultant can help with the whole look and feel that the customer experiences. Restaurant design is so much different than designing your home. In a home, you’re dealing with a few people and not a lot of wear and tear. But in a restaurant, you have to realize the traffic. It’s a different animal altogether.”

Lastly, says Poore: “Effective color design does not need to add any cost to interior renovations or construction; it is a simple matter of planning ahead.

The best approach is to look at all the paint colors and other materials as a single color composition.” The rules of color learned early in life still hold true for restaurant operators. Putting color on the walls can be a great experiment, and it can create surprising results. So, break out that color wheel, get creative and a little messy. ❖

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

If I could only give two words of advice to pizzeria operators (or, better yet, those about to enter the business as a first-time owner), it would be this: be extraordinary.

I know … easier said than done. If we could all be Michael Jordan or Dan Marino, we would be, right? But that’s a bad example. Why? Because we all weren’t born with the ability to jump through the roof or throw a football 70 yards with a lightning-quick release. We can, however, make a commitment to go above and beyond in our businesses.

For me, in a pizzeria, it starts with the food. But that’s just the beginning. Once you’ve reached exalted status with your offerings, don’t stop until you’ve nailed down service, marketing, your restaurant’s aesthetics, etc.

Thanks to a multitude of mediocre establishments in the foodservice landscape, being extraordinary may not be as difficult as you think. I had a long conversation recently with Donald Cooper, who will lead a seminar at this month’s Pizza Expo titled “Be Extraordinary … or Be Eliminated.”

His premise is that in the 1980s making money in the pizza business was easy. Profit margins were high, competition wasn’t as fierce as it is today and even mediocre operations could succeed and make good money. Flash forward to today. While the cost of doing business has risen dramatically, many pizzerias are still tied to the $10 threshold. Unfortunately, that doesn’t leave much room for error.

But being extraordinary is still possible if you buy the “best of the best” in terms of ingredients and treat your customers like gold. Go the extra mile to ensure they are fully satisfied with each and every visit. Get to know their names and preferences. Send them ‘Thank You’ notes. You get the point. Get started now. Mediocrity is no longer an option!

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

Some pizzerias look to set themselves apart from the competition by providing extra services and conveniences to corporate clients. One example is Armand’s Pizzeria, with nine locations throughout metropolitan Washington, D.C.

For years, the chain has had fi ve catering trucks as part of its delivery fl eet that are equipped with a propane fueled warming oven where pizzas can be baked in their final stages to promote freshness. It also opens up various Armand’s locations to handle other orders when large catering needs are required, said owner Ron Newmyer.

“We had a situation a few weeks back where we had to make and deliver 450 pizzas within a 90-minute time span,” Newmyer said. “That would have been hard for us to do while taking care of other orders without the trucks.”

By setting up with tablecloths and then providing heat lamps to keep food warm, Newmyer says he and his staff are able to promote a “buffet on wheels" concept to corporate clients.

“It’s a different level of service than many of our competitors offer, although it does require manpower, equipment upkeep and more,” says Newmyer, who estimates that up to 10 percent of his revenue comes from corporate clients.

Securing profitable corporate catering customers requires time, financial investments and creativity, according to pizzeria and restaurant owners, marketers and industry consultants.

One of the biggest challenges in attracting catering customers is overcoming perceptions of the pizza industry in general. Traditional caterers offer a broad, traditional menu that will often include meats, seafood, salads and more. These individual caterers or restaurants also are typically more expensive.

“We’re not the traditional choice when companies think of caterers, because big restaurants and catering companies come to mind,” says Carey Hamilton, director of field marketing for Marco’s Pizza, a franchise with more than 170 stores nationwide. “But our pizza is our best marketing device.”

Corporate customers comprise a small percentage of business for Ken Denfeld, owner of Godfather’s Pizza in Portland, Oregon. Yet he has spent a significant amount of time working with store managers and even hiring a sales professional to help promote his catering and large-scale lunch services to businesses around the Portland metro area.

Denfeld has consistently promoted his location’s expertise in catering in print and online advertisements. He works with his staff to engage potential customers as part of informal networking campaigns to drum up corporate business.

“The biggest challenge we face is that business customers don’t think of pizzerias as a catering option,” Denfeld says.

Godfather’s Pizza is a franchise headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, with locations across the country. Denfeld has had success in getting orders from local businesses who are hosting employee appreciation events, or large groups of employees who want to pool money to order multiple pizzas from an office setting. But the large-scale catering jobs have been difficult to fund.

“We really work with our managers to get them to network with the business community, and some have had some success that has added to our revenue,” Denfeld says. “But our managers have so many other responsibilities around running the restaurant.”

In addition, some managers don’t have a significant sales background and may not be comfortable taking more of an active sales role, Denfeld says. “It takes a dynamic person, and we don’t want to take away from the day-to-day management duties.”

Marco’s Pizza offers its franchise owners some general tips and practices that can appeal to corporate customers. Hamilton recommends that pizzeria owners and managers adhere to simple strategies that involve face-to-face marketing techniques.

Asking for business can be another humble, but effective, tool when interacting with corporate prospects. “We’ve been welcomed when our franchisors have taken that approach,” Hamilton says. “We tell our owners and managers that you don’t want to engage in hard selling; but even if you can introduce yourself to a new business in a matter of a few seconds, that time can be valuable.”

One of the keys to building a successful catering business is letting customers know that you can customize orders and menu items to meet their needs, says Clark Wolf, owner and president of the Clark Wolf Company, a New York City-based restaurant and food consulting firm.

Reduced corporate budgets make discount offers even more important than ever before, Wolf says. That is especially true for pizzerias and Italian restaurants, which traditionally have been willing to offer discounts to individual or business customers in any geographical market.

“I think a significant discount offer is really a home run now, and it’s something companies are carefully looking at,” Wolf says. “All you want to do is get companies to taste your food. And when they become sold on the taste, you’ll have a new customer.”

Wolf suggests that pizzerias spend more time on personally marketing their menu items than on largescale advertising campaigns. Sending restaurant associates or college students around to local businesses with free samples at lunchtime can be an effective way to promote within a corporate environment, he says. Low-cost open houses targeting corporate “neighbors,” complete with e-mail and printed invitations, can also be effective.

While one goal is to get customers to taste your food, another is to get the contact name(s) and information of those individuals within a company responsible for organizing food for company events, client meetings and banquets. The individuals typically given these responsibilities include office managers, marketing managers and other administrative personnel.

“Get to know these people and really develop relationships with them,” Wolf says. “They are your key contacts, and if you keep them happy and keep your restaurant’s name at the top of their minds, you’ll be in great shape.”

Denfeld hired a semi-retired sales professional a couple of years ago who was responsible for drumming up more corporate business. The individual worked nearly eight months for Godfather’s Pizza and enjoyed only modest success.

That model of using a sales professional would likely work if Denfeld had more stores to promote, he said. “I could justify the cost of adding a full-time sales professional if we had more stores and more revenue to support a good sales person,” he says.

Outside sales professionals might have good corporate contacts, but in his experience they have less passion than owners and managers when marketing a restaurant to the business community, Hamilton believes. The key is not only marketing your menu items to prospective corporate customers, but to become an active part of the community.

“That’s the strategy that our most successful stores adhere to,” Hamilton says. “When a franchise is visible and active, it is reflected in their revenue (numbers). Our customers are the schools, the manufacturing plants, (charitable) organizations and businesses of all sizes.

“So when we’re active in the community, we have a much better chance of attracting corporate catering jobs.” ❖

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

You know the signs. The customer pushes their plate away and frowns. Or they peek under the lid of that pizza box and shake their head. Something’s wrong –– and they’re about to complain.

What happens in the next few minutes will determine if that customer’s going to leave satisfied or start spending their hardearned cash somewhere else, say customer service experts and pizza restaurant operators. “Our attempt is to always try to keep the customers,” says Lucille Wahlert, vice president of marketing for Breadeaux Pizza, a Midwest pizza restaurant group based in St. Joseph, Missouri. She believes that about 85 percent of the time, the company resolves the issue, offers the customer some sort of compensation (usually food) and keeps them coming back.

Wahlert handles the complaints that come into the company’s headquarters. Some are by e-mail, others by phone or voicemail. Her three-step system for handling complaints can be applied to in-person complaints at restaurants and in delivery situations.

First, she said, acknowledge the customer and the complaint, Wahlert says. Listen to them, and hear them out entirely. Then, check the complaint for validity. This may require you to do some research and call the customer back if time has lapsed. “Find the ticket and do whatever research needs to be done,” Wahlert says. Make sure the delivery the customer claims was made actually did occur. As the last step, call the customer back with an offer to make the situation right. If it’s the case of a missed delivery or incorrect order, that’s usually easily remedied, and if a free pizza will solve it, it’s worth it.

If the customer’s issue is more complicated, such as complaints about the behavior of personnel, investigate the validity of it. You can’t tell a customer if someone was disciplined or fired. But you can offer free food as compensation for their trouble. In cases where they’ve complained about a particular restaurant’s personnel, they may not want to return to the same restaurant, so Wahlert sometimes offers for the customer to go to another Breadeaux location.

Servers and delivery personnel are the front lines of communication with customers, and good training with those workers can help prevent complaints and keep them from escalating. Paul Paz, a customer service consultant and owner of www.WaitersWorld.com, says that servers too often assume a defensive posture when a customer complains. “We assume they’re wrong, and that they want something for nothing,” Paz said. “But that’s usually not true. There are people like that, but the majority of the public isn’t like that. The value of the customer as a repeat customer is far more than any revenue they’ll make for that one visit. Plus, word of mouth advertising is very valuable.”

Giving food away usually is a call for the manager to make, Paz said. A server or delivery person in a situation where a customer wants a free meal, or even deserves it, should get a manager’s permission before giving food away. In fact, calling a manager to the table when a complaint is made is sometimes the only way to resolve a situation and ensure that it won’t escalate. If a server or delivery person feels that they’re getting angry, they need to find someone else to deal with the customer before they get into an argument.

Finding a way to get rid of the stress of handling a difficult customer is crucial, too, Paz said. Don’t walk around the restaurant muttering –– chances are, your customers will hear you, and they won’t like it. If you have to, go into the walk-in refrigerator and scream, Paz says.

So what about those folks who simply can’t be satisfied? That’s where a computer system that tracks how frequently someone orders from you, and how often they’ve been unhappy, can come in handy. Paz said there are some customers who are chronic complainers, and it should be up to management to explain that if they aren’t happy after their tenth visit, it’s probably time to try another restaurant. Greg Patton, owner of a Breadeaux location in Ottumwa, Iowa, said he told a customer earlier this year that he would no longer deliver pizza to her because she cussed out drivers every time she ordered a pizza and complained. After two weeks away, she called again — and promised to behave. She’s now a regular, and satisfied, customer again.

But for the most part, Patton believes it’s not worth it to lose a customer over the price of a pizza. In many cases, if they got a pizza with incorrect toppings, he simply authorizes the restaurant to make a replacement pizza. Replacement pizzas for delivery move to the head of the line, and the driver rushes another one out to the location to keep the customer satisfied. It throws off the fl ow of the day’s deliveries, but it’s necessary, he says, even in those instances where you know the customer is wrong. “That’s the hardest thing to control,” Patton said. “When they complain, the customer says we said this, and you know they didn’t. You have to just go ahead and take care of them. It’s just not worth it to lose a customer.” ❖

How not to handle a complaint



Paul Paz, a customer service consultant who works with restaurant servers, has a short list of things he says are definite don’ts when dealing with difficult customers. Here’s his list:

❖ Don’t take it personally. Servers and delivery drivers have a tendency to be offended at a complaint. Try not to be, Paz said. “The other side of that is, take it personally, but you only get five seconds,” Paz said. “Then get over it.”
❖ Don’t speak if you’re getting mad. Keep quiet and just listen. “If you’re getting angry, get someone else to take over,” Paz said. “When you are feeling the tension of that stressful situation, avoid sarcastic comments.”
❖ Don’t argue.
❖ Don’t finish a customer’s sentences.
❖ Don’t use “no”, “but”, or “however.”

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

Q: Can I get a different crust flavor by using brewer’s yeast instead of my regular yeast?

A: The main difference between baker’s yeast and brewer’s yeast is tolerance to alcohol content. Brewer’s yeast has a slightly greater tolerance to alcohol than baker’s yeast, so it will produce about 1 percent more alcohol. This is important if you’re producing alcohol — but when making dough, we never reach the maximum production of alcohol anyway, so it becomes a moot issue. There’s no need to use brewer’s yeast.

To get a crispier crust we have been increasing the amount of sugar used in our dough formula. The crust is getting darker, but not appreciably crispier. Why is this?

Actually, two things are happening here. First, you’re probably baking the crust for a shorter time with the increased sugar level to control the crust color. This is contributing significantly to a less crispy finished crust. Secondly, as the crust bakes, it concentrates the remaining sugar in the outer portion of the crust. This increases the hygroscopicity of the crust, so it absorbs moisture more readily, thus losing any crispy characteristics much more readily than a crust made without the added sugar. To maximize crispiness in your crust, I would suggest deleting much, if not all of the sugar from the dough formula. This will necessitate baking the pizza a little longer to get the desired color characteristics.

We are having an inconsistent problem with our dough having too much snap-back at times. We always make the dough the same way, so we can’t figure out why this happens.

Believe it or not, this is a very common complaint, and the number one cause of the problem is temperature control. If your finished dough temperature varies by as little as 5 F, it can have a rather dramatic effect on the way the dough handles at the time of forming. Most shops don’t measure the finished dough temperature for each dough — they just mix it by their regular procedure and begin processing it without thought to the temperature. You should be measuring the temperature of the water that you add to the dough, and then measure the temperature of the finished (mixed) dough to ensure that it is within some specified temperature range. I generally recommend that the finished dough temperature fall within the range of 80 to 85 F, but this may vary with your specific shop conditions. You should strive to achieve a consistent finished dough temperature by making slight changes in the temperature of the water that you add to the dough. By maintaining a consistent, finished dough temperature that is correct for your shop conditions, you should find that your doughs perform more consistently with little or no snapback characteristics.

I’m trying to get more of a fresh tomato flavor in my sauce. Do you have any suggestions?

The last garden fresh tomato that I had was straight from my home garden, and it tasted great! The one thing that it didn’t have, though, was added oregano, basil, and garlic flavors. Over the years, I’ve noticed that the sauce many pizzerias use is so heavily flavored with these main seasonings that it is virtually impossible to taste anything but them. I have been quite successful at restoring a more natural, tomato flavor profile to the sauce by dramatically reducing the amount of dried basil and oregano used in the sauce. This allows the flavor of the tomato in the sauce to become more dominant. If you want to add complexity to the sauce by adding oregano and basil, try adding them sparingly as green leaf basil and oregano. You would be amazed at the difference in flavor. ❖

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

In challenging economic times, it’s not just about knowing how to produce a quality pizza and understanding your customers’ needs and wants to maintain and grow your pizzeria. Attending an industry tradeshow – even during an economic slowdown – can be the best vehicle to obtain new knowledge, insight and ideas that can help you position your pizzeria for future growth. As an independent pizzeria owner, you may be under pressure and/or worried about how your pizzeria is going to survive. The fact is you may need to slow down in order to speed up your business. You may also need to do some creative thinking to come up with some innovative ideas to boost your bottom line. Attending Pizza Expo can stimulate that creativity and provide the momentum you need to move your business forward.

Below are a few tips that will help you get the most out of your tradeshow experience:

❖ Time is at a premium. Come prepared with a plan of attack. Schedule appointments with key contacts you want to meet with. Make a list of what you want to learn and see. Review the seminar program and pre-show workshops to see what’s being offered that will have the greatest benefit and impact on you and your business.

❖ Take charge! You may want to arrange to meet with suppliers and/ or other pizzeria operators to find out what they’re doing and what they see happening in the future. Or better yet, just make plans to attend the Beer & Bull® idea exchange.

❖ Take time to walk the show floor thoroughly and completely. Jot down the products, companies and booth numbers that grab your attention. Pay particular attention to new products being offered at the show, as well as any new exhibitors.

❖ Knowledge is Pizza Power! Gather as much information as possible while at the show. Find out what products, services and techniques are available to you that will improve your product, productivity and best of all, your bottom line.

❖ Take time to talk to industry consultants and experts to pick their brains to find out what they’re thinking and doing. What are the new trends and how can they help or hurt your business?

❖ Last but not least, this may be one of the best times ever to purchase new equipment … certainly a buyer’s market. The fact of the matter is no one wants to take their equipment and products back to the warehouse. Take advantage of the show specials and steep discounts being offered by our exhibiting partners. You may not have an opportunity like this ever again.

❖ What is the competition doing and how does your pizzeria compare?

❖ Can you leverage vendor/supplier expertise?

❖ Is there an opportunity to expand your menu?

❖ What can you do differently to outshine and outperform your competition? Finally, write down what you learned at the show and rethink or analyze your business strategy and philosophy. How can you better position your pizzeria in the marketplace? What new ideas can you implement to achieve your goals?

There will always be winners and losers, but only those pizzeria owners and operators that arm themselves with new industry knowledge and are willing to take action towards positive change will have the ability to compete and win in today’s economy. At International Pizza Expo® you’ll gain new industry insight, as well as the knowledge that will help you strategize, improve operations and make the right decision for you to compete and WIN! We mean business!

Bill Oakley, Executive Vice President

To say blue cheese is an assertive cheese is to put it mildly. At its best, blue cheese is creamy, pungent, acidic and complex. It works well with other strong flavors, like fiery barbecue sauce, garlic, onion and bold spices. One of blue cheese’s many dimensions is sweetness, which plays well against tart ingredients, such as green apple and dried cranberries. The question is: which blue cheese works best on a menu?

A natural fit on an Italian-themed restaurant or pizzeria is Gorgonzola, a cow’s milk cheese named for its place of origin, Gorgonzola, Italy. Prized for its creaminess and savory, slightly pungent flavor, Gorgonzola is generally considered a milder blue cheese that still brings a lot of body to the plate. Both domestic and imported varieties are available for foodservice.

Roquefort is a French blue cheese made from sheep’s milk exposed to a mold known as “Penicillum roqueforti,” and aged for three months in limestone caverns near a village in Roquefort, France. Like Champagne, only blue cheese from this area can be labeled Roquefort and is prized for its salty, pungent, rich flavor. Its price point makes it a rarer-seen cheese on menus.

Stilton is an English blue cheese, and gets its name from an eponymous village that first sold the cheese … but the village never produced the cheese. Made throughout England, Stilton cheese is a cow’s milk cheese renown for its rich, creamy and somewhat crumbly texture and its deep, pungent profile. Because of its texture, Stilton is mostly seen on cheese boards, often paired with a glass of Port.

The U.S. makes some wonderful blue cheeses, including the famous Maytag Blue Cheese, out of Newton, Iowa. Wisconsin, California and Vermont cheese purveyors also make blues that rival those from Europe.

Opportunities for blue cheese exist on the menu beyond bluecheese dressing or blue-cheese dipping sauce for wings. Some operators are taking advantage of blue’s strong personality, adding the cheese to pizzas and salads with great result. At Mezza Lunna Pizzeria in Eugene, Oregon, Gorgonzola is the pungent cheese of choice, found in three dishes and also listed as a pizza topping.

“We go with a domestic Gorgonzola,” says Sandy Little, co-owner of this 45- seat shop that specializes in New York, gourmet-style pizzas. “It’s got a great profile for pizza — it’s milder than most blues without that back-of-the-throat sharpness.” He goes through a five pound bag of crumbled Gorgonzola (divided into one-pound allotments) about once a week. “It’s really consistent, and ordering it crumbled makes using it very easy,” he says.

The Boot is their specialty pizza featuring house-made Italian sausage, Gorgonzola, roasted red and yellow peppers, onion, roasted garlic and tomato sauce. It consistently performs in the top five out of 16 specialty pies.

“The Gorgonzola works really well with the sausage, and stands up to the roasted flavors of the peppers and garlic,” says Little. He also features Gorgonzola on the Spin Chicken Pizza, a pizza that also boasts fresh spinach, chicken sausage, roasted red and yellow pepper, garlic, mozzarella and tomato sauce. “The chicken sausage has a sweeter, milder flavor than our other sausage, but the spinach has some tooth, which helps bridge the flavors between the sausage and the Gorgonzola. The Spin Chicken falls in the top 10 in sales.

“We use the Gorgonzola on both of these pizzas as a finishing cheese,” he says. “It doesn’t melt like mozzarella; it’s a bit chunkier, but people who like blue cheese like that.”

Mezza Lunna’s salad called “Fruits and Nuts” relies on Gorgonzola to complete the overall desired profile. Leaf lettuce, dried cranberries, candied pecans, Gorgonzola and balsamic vinaigrette play together, balancing flavors of sweet, tart and creamy. “The blending of flavors is what works here,” says Little.

The Bristolian Pizzeria in the college town of Bristol, Rhode Island, sources a domestic Gorgonzola for The Swoop Pizza and Gonzo Salad. The Swoop ranks in the top fi ve out of 12 gourmet selections at this 14-seat shop, which does most of its business through take out and delivery. The pizza stars a house-made Buffalo sauce, shredded chicken, red onion, mozzarella and Gorgonzola. A large sells for $14.25 and runs a $7 food cost.

“The Buffalo sauce is spicy, and the cheese just stands up to it really well and adds a whole other layer of flavor,” says owner Rob Shaheen.

For the Gonzo Salad, fresh spinach shares space with chopped walnuts, slices of green apple, crumbled Gorgonzola and sliced red onion, and is finished with a balsamic vinaigrette.

“The balsamic vinaigrette balances the sharpness of the Gorgonzola,” says Shaheen.

He sources a five-pound bag and portions out the blue cheese into sealed one-pound. bags that he stores in the walk-in cooler.

“It’s better to portion it out, so you’re not opening and closing the large bag all of the time,” he says. “We go through about five pounds in 10 days. The cheese is really fresh and has a great creaminess when melted. It’s just a fantastic cheese to work with.” ❖

Sweet Onion/Mushroom and Gorgonzola Pizza

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for brushing
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
1½ cups thinly sliced button mushrooms
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
1 prepared pizza crust
1 ¼ cup grated mozzarella
2 tablespoons pine nuts
4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; cook onions, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until soft. Add sugar and vinegar; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat; season with salt. Let cool.

Place pizza crust on sheet pan; brush with oil. Spread mozzarella, then sweet onions and mushrooms over top; sprinkle with pine nuts and Gorgonzola cheese. Bake in 400 F oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.



Katie Ayoub is a frequent contributor to Pizza Today. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Janie Van Winkle is a franchisee with Nick-N-Willy’s Pizza. Van Winkle is set to open her second store this year and recently did a light remodel of her current location to align it with the new Nick-N-Willy’s look.

Q. Community service is a big part of your operation. How does it help in your marketing efforts?

A: That’s the main focus of all of my marketing. The biggest piece that we do is our fundraising cards. We support local non-profits, and we’ve helped local non-profits raise over $50,000 since we opened the store, in five years. I call that a ‘win, win, win.’ The customer gets a great value, the non-profit gets a great fundraiser and I get new customers. That’s been our cornerstone. After that, I rarely say no to a donation request, as long as it’s a non-profit.

Q. With many restaurants taking a hit thanks to the economy, how is take-and-bake fairing?

A: We’re take-and-bake as well as baked, so we do both. I had an ‘up-year’ in ’09 as compared to the previous year. I think a lot of that is due to the fact that we do take-and-bake and baking. People are beginning to understand the change in our format.

Q. To what do you attribute that success?

A: We’ve had a good year, and I attribute that mostly to our community involvement and that connection that we have. Another example is on Halloween, we do some sort of a promotion with a local partners’ program, which is similar to a Big Brothers/ Big Sisters program. I hear over and over, when we do those kinds of promotions –– we donate a dollar for every pizza sold on Halloween to Partners –– “thank you for supporting our organization” from the board members to people who have been involved previously. It just creates a real awareness in the community. I think that attributed not just to the business, but overall.



Q. You recently remodeled your interior after only five years being open. Has the move helped in your day-to-day operations?

A: We added new paint, and we added another oven. … It was directed by the franchise, and in the last year-and-a-half, we changed the logo and (developed) fresh colors and a fresh look. Our store was five years old and needed to be updated to those colors. We now have the new logo throughout the store and in all of our collateral.

Q. After five years in the industry, you’re set to open another franchise. Why now?

A: It just feels like the right time. It feels like I obviously have a handle on the business. I feel like I do know the business (and) I know the market. … Certainly, real estate is a challenge anytime, but I feel like we’re going to hit that market right at the right time.

Flour, eggs, oil, and salt — such simple ingredients create an assortment of pastas. Why stop there? Enhancing pasta with vegetable purées, citrus zest, herbs, spices — even wine — creates unique flavor profiles, colors and pairing possibilities, not too mention, menu interest for diners.

At Mangia Ristorante & Pizzeria, Layfette, California, owner Chris Frumenti purchases fresh spinach pasta sheets for lasagna primavera (spinach pasta layered with marinated mushrooms, spinach, mozzarella, Parmigiano, ricotta and marinara). Spinach fettuccine is featured in the Prawns Sicilia dish, which pairs imported tiger prawns sautéed with garlic, sundried tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash in a cream sauce. While Frumenti admits $13 spinach pasta sheets are more expensive than $10 egg pasta sheets, he wouldn’t trade the diversity spinach pasta adds to his menu. “We have a lot of vegetarians in the Bay area and a dish like lasagna primavera is an option for them. It’s very popular,” he says.

Sure, dried and frozen flavored pastas are easy to purchase, but operators should consider preparing their own fresh fl avored pasta. Giovanni Scappin, C.H.E., assistant professor at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., chef/owner, Cucina, Woodstock, New York, and co-author with Vincenzo Lauria of A Tavola! Recipes and Reflections on Traditional Italian Home Cooking (Lebhar-Friedman, 2009) says using flavored flour, where vegetables such as beets and mushrooms are dehydrated, pulverized and mixed with all-purpose fl our, is the most practical way to make flavored pastas. Operators may also purchase dehydrated vegetables such as peas or carrots and create their own flavored fl our, using a ratio of ¼ flavored flour with ¾ all-purpose fl our.

Another option is to create vegetable purées. Build spinach pasta by blanching spinach, then purée until it becomes a liquid and add it to pasta dough. Keep in mind that adding too much purée will cause the pasta to fall apart. Make sure to incorporate flour in overly soft pasta dough. Don’t stop there. Add pulverized basil to dough and serve basil pasta with an olive oil/ caper sauce. Cook butternut squash with shallots, onion and herbs. Then purée and add it to dough. “Butternut squash won’t give the pasta a lot of color or flavor, so I would also add it into the sauce,” says Scappin. Make a bold statement by cooking pasta in red wine and pairing it with pecorino and beef sauce. “Cook the pasta a few minutes less than the directions say. While it’s really hot, pick it up from the water and place it in a hot sauté pan, gradually adding wine. Cook it until the wine completely absorbs into the pasta, making it very red and flavorful,” says Scappin.

Adventurous operators can follow the lead of Azita Bina-Seibel, chef, at BiNa Osteria in Boston, who pairs squid ink spaghetti with calamari, celery pesto and tomato confit. Bina-Seibel says just four ingredients: water, salt, semolina and fresh squid ink from Spain make up the pasta. All are mixed in a dough mixer and put through the in-house pasta machine. This dish is the third top- selling first course dish. Always remember pasta sauces should complement pasta shapes and textures. Hearty ragús require sturdy shapes like penne. While smooth olive oil based sauces like pesto benefit from thin strands like linguine that are easily coated. Long wide ribbon pastas like fettuccine go great with butter or cream-based sauces. ❖

Pasta Basics

According to cookbook author Giovanni Scappin, C.H.E., who is also assistant professor at the Culinary Institute of America and chef/owner of Cucina in Woodstock, N.Y., all that’s needed for fresh pasta is fl our, eggs, salt, flavoring ingredients and sometimes oil and water. Just combine fl our and salt in a bowl and create a well in the center. Then place eggs, flavoring ingredients and oil in the well. Using a fork, incorporate the fl our into the wet ingredients. (Adjust the consistency with fl our or water.) Place the dough on a floured surface and evenly knead it until its texture becomes smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into balls and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Then lightly fl our a work surface to prevent dough from sticking and flatten it using a rolling pin. When dough reaches desired thinness cut it into sheets, then pasta shapes.

To make large batches of dough, fit a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Mix the ingredients mentioned above at a low speed, until dough is moistened. Then increase the speed to medium and knead dough until it forms a smooth ball. Let the dough relax. Cut off a piece of dough, flatten it and fold into thirds. (Cover remaining dough to keep from drying).) Set the mixer’s rollers to the widest opening and guide the dough through the machine as you turn the handle. Pass the dough through the widest setting two to three times. Repeat, and narrow the setting until reaching the desired thinness. (Lightly dust the dough with fl our each time.) Then cut the sheets into desired pasta shapes.

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

Take a look around your kitchen. Chances are you’ve already got the makings of a healthy menu item or two, and you’ve probably got customers already asking for it.

To grab the attention of this growing demographic, you need only your imagination and these simple guidelines.

First, assess your ingredients. There’s no need to buy new, exotic ingredients. You probably keep the following on-hand as it is: tomato sauce, fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, mushrooms, onions, black and green olives, spinach, peppers, pineapple, grilled or baked chicken breast or strips, red wine, salad greens, herbs and spices, shrimp and whole-grain pasta. With several of these ingredients, you can create a pizza and other entreés that are heart healthy as well as delicious.

Creating healthy, tempting menu choices is relatively easy. Popular selections include thin crust, whole wheat crust and seven grain crust pizzas. Offer a veggie pizza with a tomato based sauce and all your vegetables included, and have an option to order it with half the cheese. Offer garden salad with dressing on the side. A grilled chicken pizza is another heart-healthy favorite. Olive oil can be brushed on the crust of your healthy pizza options if it is not present in your sauce. Shrimp marinara and grilled chicken marinara served on a bed of whole-grain linguine are healthy pasta options easily incorporated into your menu. A large house salad featuring grilled chicken makes an excellent addition to your entrées. If any of your items are organic, let your customers know. Likewise, mentioning which ingredients are “fresh” wins customer interest. Sprinkling an Italian herb and spice into a dish and adding that to the name can entice many customers. “Grilled Chicken with Crushed Rosemary” sounds infinitely more appetizing than “Grilled Chicken.”

Portion control is an excellent way to create a healthy item. Thin-crust, personal-size pizzas or small pizzas for two can have a reasonable amount of fat and calories.

Items to avoid on your heart-healthy menu include cheese sauces, fried foods, pepperoni, meatballs, sausage, bacon and regular soda. Try to avoid trans-fat and limit saturated fats.

Jet’s Pizza in Napierville, Illinois, has been marketing to health-conscious consumers since its inception. According to owner Michael Genzer, the corporate office brought a registered dietician on board to incorporate health and nutrition into their menu and 25 percent of their customers now order these special healthy items.

Chris Cannon, M.D., author of The New Heart Disease Handbook, recommends your heart-healthy menu contain a pizza with a variety of vegetables, low-sodium tomato sauce, grilled chicken or turkey and mozzarella cheese in moderation. Cannon states that keeping a meal at 500 to 650 calories is ideal for good health — which can include a large slice of pizza, a garden salad and a glass of red wine, unsweetened tea, or skim milk.

Put careful consideration into how many items you want to offer on your heart-healthy menu. Too many choices can lead to customer confusion and staff frustration. Too few choices will cause repeat customers to become bored. For most establishments, three to four choices is appropriate. This should include one or two pizza choices, a pasta if you offer them, a side salad and an entrée salad, plus a variety of beverages. Healthy beverage choices can include red wine, unsweetened tea, coffee, an upscale water product and skim milk.

Now that you’ve got a good grip on what you’ve got going for you, call attention to your healthy fare. Capturing the health-conscious consumer involves clever marketing. At Jerusalem Restaurant in Livingston, New Jersey, owners Sara and Arie Jashinsky utilize their Web site, brochures and local newspaper ads. “We mention our healthy items first and highlight our all-natural ingredients,” says Sara Jashinsky. As a result of their marketing efforts, around 35 percent of their customers come in requesting their healthy menu items.

Traditional advertising is effective, but you must consider new ideas to find new customers. Health-conscious consumers can be roughly divided into three categories: the young vegetarian (females and males 18-40), the chronic dieter (females 25-50) and the older adult with medical issues (males and females 50-80).

Young vegetarians can be found via ads in alternative newspapers, magazines and radio stations. Other good strategies include placing door hangers at apartment complexes and displaying flyers at nearby university campuses. Chronic dieters can be found via coupon distributors, flyers left on mailboxes and at health clubs, and television advertising. Older adults can be found by leaving brochures at senior centers and beauty shops, placing local newspaper ads and utilizing television advertising during the morning, noon or evening local news. Church bulletin advertising can be a low-cost way to reach seniors.

Ready to boost your number of customers? It’s a fact that the public perceives pizza and other Italian foods as comfort food, party food or substantial food as opposed to healthy, nutrient- packed fare. You can, however, alter that perception with a little effort. The reward? Hungry new customers and a healthier bottom line. 

Count Your Way to Increased Sales

Don’t be afraid to advertise calorie counts for the items on your healthy menu. Use existing calorie data for items you purchase in a packaged state. A plethora of calorie information is available online, as well. Pick a government Web site or the site of a respected medical institution for your calorie count data. If you need assistance, consider hiring a dietician for an hour or an afternoon to tell you how many calories are in your dishes.

Sample Calorie Counts for a Few Heart-Healthy Dishes
❖ Grilled chicken entrée salad with salad greens, onions, tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, grilled chicken and mozzarella cheese with fat-free dressing on the side. Add a breadstick and unsweetened tea with lemon for a total around 550 calories.
❖ A large slice of veggie pizza, a garden salad with fat-free dressing and unsweetened tea with lemon for a total of 375 calories.
❖ Shrimp marinara with wholegrain linguine, a garden salad with fat-free dressing and unsweetened tea with lemon for a total of 585 calories.
❖ Show potential new customers they can have a full, delicious meal for the same number of calories as a sub sandwich.

J. Lucy Boyd is a freelance writer and registered nurse based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

When Mark Dym left sunny Florida and the commodities business just a few years ago and relocated his family to the snowy Denver mountains, the goal was singular: to open an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria. Never mind that he had no restaurant ownership experience or no real clue how to make pizza, let alone that of the Neapolitan variety. Dym had a vision, the passion and — perhaps most importantly — the capital to buy a building and get the venture off the ground.


(Mark Dym of Marco's Coal-Fired Pizzeria)

The storefront he purchased, at 2129 Larimer Street in the Mile High city’s Ballpark Neighborhood, was built in 1883 and was in dire need of renovation. Though it required plenty of heavy lifting in terms of construction, the result is a modernized restaurant that gives a nod to the building’s charm and character.

“You just can’t duplicate an 1800s-era building,” says Dym. “People have embraced us here and what we’ve done with the building. It’s been a great feeling.”

The construction on the building lasted nearly five months, and the restaurant cost Dym $1.8 million to open. When Marco’s debuted on June 11, 2008, Dym had a lot at stake, to say the least. And though it was somewhat of a gamble — Denver didn’t have a Neapolitan pizzeria, and there’s always the risk of the public not appreciating the product, which is vastly different from traditional, American-style pizza — Dym says he was so focused on producing a winner that he had blinders on.

“I probably should have had some reservations, because the money it took to get this place up was stupid money,” admits Dym. “But I really didn’t. It never occurred to me that this place wouldn’t work.”



It’s that passion that guided Dym as he had wood- and coal-burning ovens built in Italy and shipped into Denver (each one weighs in at 5,500 pounds, by the way). His quest for a perfect pizza was so driven that he even spent $4,000 for a convoluted water system that converts Denver’s city water to the exact specs of New York’s water. While this was an unnecessary step — even he admits he “was a little manaical about it all” — it’s proof that Dym doesn’t settle for anything he considers less than the best.

“That’s why we use an Italian fork mixer to make our dough,” he explains. “It adds more air into the dough. With Neapolitan pizza, the dough is fragile and if you mess with it too much ... that’s very bad for this type of pizza.”

As one might expect based on his devotion to his mixer, Dym is also adamant about the Italian 00 flour he uses.



“This fl our,” he says, scooping up a handful and running a finger through it, “look here. ... If you looked at it under a microscope, the granules are all pretty much the same size. This allows you to get better absorption.”

The inspiration behind all this? A trip Dym made to Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza in Fort Lauderdale when he was still living in Florida.

“The first time I tasted Neapolitan pizza, it changed my life,” he quips. “There’s nothing like it.”

When Marco’s did open in 2008, the public response was overwhelmingly positive. The pizzeria did $1.5 million in first-year sales, and Dym says Marco’s is the most-reviewed Denver restaurant on the popular customer-review site Yelp.com.

“We do very little advertising,” he says. “We haven’t had to. We’ve done some with a local magazine, but that’s about it.”

When you garner press attention, reasons Dym, that’s better than any paid advertising — so why add the expenditure? “



We were awarded Best New Restaurant and Best Pizza in Denver, and that really put us on the map,” says Dym. “That exposure helped tremendously. But beyond that, our marketing is really about sampling and human interaction. We give away a lot of food and do a lot of tastings. I’ll run a new idea past customers and find out if it’s to their liking, to their taste. I try to get out on the floor and touch every table and be visible. People like to talk to the owner and feel like they know the owner.”

When all is said and done, Dym knows the biggest asset Marco’s has is its menu. It was designed with care and with authenticity in mind, and its quality is indisputable.

Receiving certification by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) was important as a means of distinguishing Marco’s from the competition — it’s the only restaurant in Colorado with the VPN designation. Before applying for the certifi cation, Dym underwent training from Roberto Caporuscio, the president of the VPN in America. As co-owner of Kesté Pizza & Vino on Bleecker Street in New York City, Caporuscio is considered one of America’s premier pizza makers. He’s taught a bevy of respected American pizza men the art of Neapolitan pizza, and Dym says learning the rules and regulations of the culinary discipline from Caporuscio was the only way for him to go.

“Kesté is the best pizzeria in America,” says Dym. “What they do there is unbelievable. It’s amazing. I wanted to bring some of that here and learn from the best. So I hired Roberto and brought him out here to train us. It was the best investment I could have made.”

The result of said training is an inspired, yet simple menu. Top sellers include the Margherita and the Abruzzo, a white pizza that features buffalo mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gran Cru, Caciocavallo, fresh basil and extra-virgin olive oil. It’s deceptively flavorful — upon tasting, you’d swear it had garlic and other seasonings.



Not so, says Dym: “It’s such a simple pizza. There’s nothing on it but very basic ingredients. Just some olive oil and four cheeses — plus the fresh basil. It’s one of our top sellers and people are always pleasantly surprised by it and what it has to offer in terms of flavor. It’s pretty intense.”

One of the more unique offerings at Marco’s isn’t a pizza, but rather a mainstream appetizer with a twist. The Coal-Fired Lemoncello Chicken Wings are well seasoned and served in a bed of grilled onions and a side of focaccia bread. A small order is priced at $8, while the large goes for $14. They are cooked to a crispy texture in the coal oven, and Dym says the item is in high demand.

“They’re very popular, and I think it’s because they’re so unique,” he says. “They’re definitely unlike any wings most people have had before.”

Speaking of the coal oven, its presence and the name of the pizzeria nearly cost Marco’s its VPN certification. By VPN rules, an authentic Neapolitan pie can only be baked in a wood-fired oven. And that’s the way it’s done at Marco’s, but since the words “Coal-Fired” appear in the company’s logo, the VPN was hesitant at first to sponsor Marco’s.

“We had to have Roberto assure them that we don’t cook the pizzas in the coal oven, that we only use the wood-burning oven for pizza and we use the coal-fired oven for other items, like the wings.”

Ironically, Dym and members of his staff admit they sometimes cook pizzas for their own personal consumption after hours in the coal oven — and like them better.

Regardless, the important thing is that Marco’s customers give the pizza their blessing, adds Dym.

Like many pizzerias, Dym noticed that the lunch day part wasn’t as robust as he would like. To counter this, Marco’s launched the “$9 Lunch” promotion — and it has been popular. The special consists of a nine-inch Margherita pizza, a small salad and a drink.

“It’s really brought a lot of people in,” says Dym. “Most people who come in here during lunch time get the lunch special.” The increased lunch traffic and the soon-to-come addition of a retractable roof that will allow the pizzeria to use its outdoor patio during the winter should help Marco's reach Dym's sales goal of $2 million in 2010 or 2011.

“We can seat 45 to 50 people out there on the patio, and it's really popular after Rockies games,” says Dym. “When we can use it all year long, that will give us a nice boost.” ❖

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

Tony Pasquini has worked in pizzerias since he was 10 years old, so it’s no surprise that he’s now hawking pies for a living. While still a senior in college in the 1980s, the affable marketing major opened Pasquini’s Pizzeria in Denver and hasn’t looked back since. It’s been a slow evolution, but one that has allowed each store to maximize its sales potential and ready the concept for franchising.



“We opened our first restaurant in 1986, then we didn’t open our second store until 1998,” laughs Pasquini. “So, as you can see, we took our time.” The newest location, pictured in this article, opened in 2006 when a friend approached Pasquini and wanted to put a store in Littleton, Colorado.

“I think I need to do a corporate store now before I really start selling franchises,” says Pasquini of his tentative growth plans. Since Pasquini doesn’t own a store himself any longer, his time is now spent on marketing, branding and operations management.

“When a new store opens, I’m here,” he says. “I’m constantly meeting with the wait staff before each shift, constantly striving to make things better. “The important thing for me is for every store to be successful — for it to do well and for it to be run correctly.”



The current growth goals are for the company to reach 10-15 units in Colorado. “Then,” says Pasquini, “we’ll see what we want to do from there.” Pasquini says he’s been able to get people financed thanks to the small company’s strong sales. “We’re close to $2 million per store, give or take,” he explains. The average Pasquini’s location is 4,500 square feet and costs approximately $650,000 to get up and running. Pasquini has been able to secure SBA backing for his store owners provided they can come up with 30 percent up front. “That’s all in — cash fl ow, marketing, training, menus, advertising,” he says.



Each of the four Pasquini’s stores are unique in their look and theme. The Littleton location, for example, has a retro boxing theme. “With the sign outside, we wanted to show right away what we are — retro comfort food,” explains Pasquini. “The brick inside and the tin really give it a retro look and goes back to a time when you went out for pizza with your family and friends. But every store is different.”



What isn’t different is the food, most of which is scratch-made using fine ingredients.

“Our business philosophy is to try to be authentic, real, genuine,” Pasquini says. “People are smart and you can’t pull one over on them. It has to be based on something real, and I try to convey that with the décor in each of our stores. The important thing is the food and our service.”



Beyond that, adds Pasquini, it’s about community involvement: “The only thing that doesn’t change is that we really run the gamut with our demographics,” he says. “Everyone is welcome here; it’s a community place, a neighborhood store.”

Pasquini’s takes the good neighbor approach by hosting fundraisers to benefit community organizations.

“We do fundraisers every Monday night for community organizations,” says Pasquini. “The organization we’re working with uses their network to promote the fundraiser and we, in turn, give them 20 percent of our sales for that evening. It’s a winning situation for everyone.”



As previously mentioned, Pasquini takes great pains to ensure his fare is fresh and made in house. “We make just about everything here,” he says. “We make our own meatballs, lasagna, eggplant Parmesan, chicken Parmesan, ravioli, sauces. ... We make our own bread. Since I used to have a bakery, that’s easy for us to do. And when I closed the bakery, I kept my pastry chef and he now works out of one of our locations and supplies the stores the best he can with desserts. We make these great pastries ourselves as a way to differentiate ourselves. It’s very important to find a way to differentiate yourself these days.”





Another point of difference for Pasquini’s is its focus on catering. While many pizza companies are looking to corporate accounts (see our corporate catering article on page 86 for more information) as a way to grow sales, Pasquini’s is unusual for a company its size: it has created a position that’s dedicated solely to drumming up catering business.

“We have a full-time catering rep who goes out and knocks on doors and makes calls,” says Pasquini. “We call it ‘casual catering,’ and it’s a good generator for us.”

Another good generator is the bar area, which contributes from 10 to 20 percent of each store’s revenue, depending on the location.

“It really depends on the neighborhood,” Pasquini says of the bar business. “At our Highlands store, it’s almost 20 percent. But the bar isn’t the focus of what we do. What it really does is provide one more reason for people to come in and have a pizza. That’s the key.”



Speaking of pizza, the pies at Pasquini’s are done in the traditional, New York-style vein. The dough is made in house and hand tossed, and the emphasis is on freshness and quality.

“I don’t like to stay static,” says Pasquini, “so I’m always looking for new ideas. When we started, it was just pizza and calzones, and then we grew it from there.”

The process has worked — each store opening has exceeded sales expectations early on.

“We have such a name in the area,” says Pasquini. “When we finally opened our second store, its sales matched the original in the first month.”

The driver behind it is the marketing, which Pasquini studied in college and oversees. The weapon of choice? Direct mail. “It’s the major thing for us,” says Pasquini. “We send out direct mail to every household in our delivery area every quarter. Every business and every household in our area gets our flyer.”

The delivery area is typically a 1.5-mile radius from the store. Pasquini staggers the mailing to make it more economical — he sends out flyers weekly, and that allows him to slowly cover the entire territory each month.

“We send out about 50,000 per month,” adds Pasquini. “We always ask the diners at the tables how they heard about us, so we know anecdotally and sales-wise that it works.”



The response isn’t immediate, however. Says Pasquini: “By the third or fourth time you send it is when you get the return. For us, it generates at least $10,000 to $20,000 in extra sales for the month.”

A lack of marketing, in fact, is the downfall of many independent pizza operations. Pasquini says that’s because many small operators simply don’t understand it.

“Most people open their restaurant and spend all the money on equipment and maybe some grand opening marketing, and then they have no budget left for marketing,” he says. “They think they can just open the doors and hope that people will show up, and then they don’t.”

Pasquini learned that lesson for himself in the 1980s when building his business slowly. “Before I opened I went to the bank in my suit, and they said no,” he recalls. “I finally got the money to get going, and all the equipment I needed was there, along with nine Formica-topped tables. I bought two to three days worth of supplies and opened up.”



The ‘build it and they will come’ mantra didn’t apply to Pasquini’s. “I walked up and down the street and handed out business cards for a free slice to get people in the door,” recalls Pasquini. “It took me five years to build it up.”

Hold the Gluten, Please

In response to the growing attention being given to gluten-free products, Pasquini’s has created a gluten-free menu for the convenience of its customers. While it doesn’t contain pizza, it does offer a variety of options for those seeking a non-gluten meal. Here’s a quick look at the offerings:

❖ Roasted Asparagus, $5.50
❖ Antipasto, $6.95 (small), $8.95 (large)
❖ Gluten-free Fettucine, $9.95
❖ Arugula Salad, $6.75 (small), $8.75 (large)
❖ Walnut Pear Salad, $6.25 (small), $8.25 (large)
❖ Chevre Salad, $6.25 (small), $8.25 (large)
❖ Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce, $3.95
❖ Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake, $5.95

The catering menu, meanwhile, features:

❖ Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, $60 (12 people)
❖ Chicken Parmesan, $139.95 (12 people)
❖ Bruschetta Tray, $69.95 (15 people)
❖ Italian Sub Tray, $79.95 (12 people) ❖

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

Go to International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas and Sean Brauser will be hard to miss. He’s seemingly everywhere, from assisting his peers at the World Pizza Games to orchestrating the ebb and fl ow of the International Pizza Challenge. You’ll also spot his business partner, Jeremy Galvin, whose lofty height is, let’s just say, imposing.



The Ohio duo is deft at keeping the aforementioned Challenge on schedule, but that’s nothing compared to the streamlined way in which they run Romeo’s Pizza, their business back in the Buckeye State.

Founded by Brauser, this company based in the greater Cleveland area began winning “Best Pizza” awards in 2002 and hasn’t looked back since. After getting over some early stumbling blocks (i.e., gaining a better understanding of food costs and how to keep them in line), Romeo’s has taken off quickly and now has 25 locations in and around Cleveland, Canton and Columbus.

In fact, in 2009 when the industry as a whole was struggling, Romeo’s managed to actually double its size (it ended 2008 with 11 locations) thanks to an aggressive, shrewd growth strategy.

“We realized that the best time to gain market share was during an economic downturn,” says Galvin. “We took advantage of existing market conditions.”



Explains Brauser: “A lot of guys were hurting and needed out of the business. We were able to scoop up shops for next to nothing. Pennies on the dollar, literally.”

According to Brauser, Romeo’s Pizza was able to take over ailing or shuttered businesses and convert them for as little as $20,000. “They literally pay for themselves right away,” he says. How?

“We make use of their existing equipment,” says Galvin. “We’re able to go in, clean the place up a little and add our signage and menu. We get in the shop and train the staff on our procedures and then we’re up and running. Within days of opening, our sales are way higher than what they’d been under the previous ownership.”

A grand opening party often helps set the tone, but Brauser says that isn’t the secret to a location’s success. He says he can sum up Romeo’s growth and vivacity in a single word: relentless. More than a catchy company motto, Romeo’s uses the word to define every step it takes.

“It’s our way of life,” says Galvin. “It governs every decision we make, everything we do at the store level.”

“Being good isn’t enough,” adds Brauser. “We’re striving for perfection in every facet of our operation, and we’re relentless about achieving it.”



That sounds like heady talk until you consider the track record. Take the Columbus market, for example. When Brauser got word that a small group of franchisees in that market weren’t happy with their parent pizza company, Romeo’s moved in for the kill and converted the stores. When early questions arose about Romeo’s operational methods and how the company would make its new Columbus area franchisees successful and increase their sales, Brauser made a bold guarantee: “I told them if they followed our procedures and weren’t making the money they needed to make, I’d buy their store from them at full value and they could walk away … I’ve not had to buy any stores.”

In all, Romeo’s has won 18 “Best Pizza” awards in its various markets. Galvin says the company is “relentless” in pursuing the best ingredients on the market and knows better than to attempt cutting costs by bringing in lesser ingredients.

“It all starts with what you’re using to make the pizza,” he says. “That’s why we make the dough ourselves daily in each store and why we use the best sauces, cheeses and toppings around.”

While pizza is the star of the show, the Romeo’s menu includes a variety of appetizers, wings, salads, stromboli, calzones, pasta, subs and even gyros. “Our calzones are real popular,” says Brauser. “They sell real well.”

When it comes to the pizza, the “Butcher Shop” (pepperoni, ham, bacon, meatballs and sausage), “Pepperoni Feast” (double pepperoni and double cheese) and “Great Ranch & Potato” (spicy Italian sausage, caramelized onions, garlic potatoes and ranch-flavored almonds on ranch bacon sauce) are customer favorites. The “Great Ranch & Potato” recipe came together more quickly and easily than one might imagine, says Brauser.



“I created that pizza by going to the grocery store and looking for unusual ingredients that I thought would work well together and make a good pizza,” he admits. “There was a little trial and error, but not much. We knocked it out pretty quickly, really.”

With the menu set and high customer counts, Romeo’s is now turning a focus to online ordering and catering as ways to maximize same-store revenues.

“We want to drag in orders any way we can,” says Galvin. “We just started online ordering and it isn’t available at all of our locations yet. We’re still working on ironing things out and making the process easy for our customers and our stores.”

As for catering, the menu consists of half (feeds 8-12) and full (feeds 16-24) orders of rigatoni, spaghetti, baked ziti, lasagna, scalloped potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, mixed vegetables, garden salad, roast beef with gravy, BBQ chicken and honey glazed ham. Of course, pizza or a sub tray are popular options.

“It’s a great add-on to sales,” Galvin says. “Plus, it adds to your exposure and you get people who haven’t been in the store to try your food.” Of course, adding new locations will continue to be a main driver for Romeo’s.

“We’re looking for franchisees and new opportunities every day,” says Brauser. “Our branding is solid and the sky’s the limit on how many stores we can have. We’re going to continue growing this thing as big as we can.” ❖

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

If you had the opportunity to sit down with the man who predicted the stock market crash of 1987, the fall of the Soviet empire, the bursting of the dot com bubble, the real estate collapse, and even the bottled water and gourmet coffee craze, what would you ask him? 

Well, I asked Gerald Celente, founder of Trends Research Institute, the man behind the predictions, this question: “If you owned a pizzeria right now in this economy — and you couldn’t sell it or burn it to the ground — what would you do to make it successful and provide a reliable income for you and your family?”

Gerald calmly said: “Those offering great quality at an affordable price will thrive in this economy. They will attract those who still desire a slice of the good life, but are watching their budgets.” He went on to say that “now is a great time to be in the pizza business. It’s the best positioned segment of the market to benefit from an economic downturn.”

Is that so? Right here in Las Vegas, where I live, Gerald Shlesenger recently dropped a pretty penny opening Ciao Ciao. I met him at last year’s Pizza Expo, and assisted him a bit with marketing. And rather than point at pricing, he talks about what goes into the pizza and how it’s baked at 900 F in a wood-fired oven. He talks about his imported Italian ingredients and aged pizza dough.

His place is first class all the way. From the wood burning oven, the topnotch ingredients, and the fl at screens lining the walls, it’s a very comfortable place to hang out. Prices are reasonable for the caliber of the restaurant — and the place is booming. He’s tapped right into the very niche people are hunting for right now. They want a great experience without breaking the bank.

“Pizza is the number one food in America,” says Shlesenger. “It’s a value priced meal that is right for the times. Despite the current economic downturn, this is the perfect time to open a restaurant like this that allows families, couples and individuals to enjoy their favorite food prepared like they have never tasted before.” His pizzas are priced from $9.95 to $17.95.

Gerald is also the front man being featured in the ads. This brings personality and a human connection to the business. Instead of a faceless pizza joint, guests get to know “Gerald.” When your face is on the ad, it shows pride.

Take a peek at Jeremy White’s column in the recent January issue. A favorite pizzeria switched to a cheaper cheese … and lost a customer. So, while the urge is to cut costs, the right move is to keep quality up and prices reasonable. Use value-added offers instead of money-off discounts.

Back in the roaring ‘90s I was jacking up prices and flaunting the most expensive pizza in town. That worked well at that time. But times are different. Belts are tightened, and people are unemployed. Even in the worst of times, people gravitate to activities that provide an escape from reality. A good movie replaces a more expensive outing. A great pizza replaces a steak dinner.

I’ll leave you this month with a quote from Charles Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” ❖

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.

Marsala is a wine fortified with alcohol, which made it possible to tolerate long ocean voyages when it originated in the 1700s. It’s produced in the area around Marsala, a city in Sicily. Port, sherry and Madeira are also fortified wines. Marsala is crafted from local indigenous white grapes, and there are different age grades of the wine:

❖ Marsala Fine: designates a Marsala wine that is aged for a minimum of one year. This is a typical cooking wine classification.
❖ Marsala Superiore: a Marsala wine that has spent up to three years in oak, but has a baseline minimum of two years in wood.
❖ Marsala Superiore Riserva: 4-6 years in oak. This really starts the Marsala tier that you would look for to use as either an aperitif or dessert fortified wine option.
❖ Marsala Vergine: 5-7 years in oak.
❖ Marsala Vergine Soleras: as the name implies, a Marsala blend of multiple vintages, with a minimum of five years of aging.
❖ Marsala Stravecchio: aged a minimum of 10 years in oak.

Traditionally, Marsala was used as an aperitif between the first and second course of a meal, but it now most typically finds its purpose in the meal itself.

There are basically two designations for Marsala: sweet and dry. In most instances, dry Marsala is used for cooking. Sweet Marsala is used mostly for sipping and as a dessert wine.

Hence, the recipes in this article utilize dry Marsala, which is quite versatile. In fact, I’ve used it in a number of dishes, ranging from sauces to a deliciously satisfying Italian custard called Zabione.

As it goes when cooking with wine of any type, it is important to cook off the alcohol so that you get back to the essence of the grape used to make the wine. One of the classic dishes using Marsala is Chicken Marsala. Here is a very good starter recipe:

Chicken Marsala
Yield: 4 servings (scale up in direct proportion)

¾ cup all-purpose fl our
4 5-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups white mushrooms, sliced
3⁄4 cup dry Marsala
3⁄4 cup chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a deep plate or bowl, dredge the chicken breasts in the fl our. Shake off the excess.

Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the chicken breasts until they are golden brown, turning once. Transfer the chicken to a plate and reserve.

Add one more tablespoon butter to the pan. Add the mushrooms. Cook and stir until the mushrooms release their moisture and start to turn golden brown. Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine by half. Add the chicken broth. Lower the heat and return the chicken breasts to the pan, and continue to cook until the chicken is completely cooked through (this will also help to reduce and thicken the sauce).

Add the remaining tablespoon of butter. Add salt and pepper. Garnish each chicken breast with finely chopped parsley. Serve.

Veal Marsala
Use the same procedure as the chicken recipe (8 veal cutlets, each about 3 ounces, will make four servings). Dredge the veal cutlets in fl our, shaking off the excess. Sauté the cutlets in unsalted butter (2 tablespoons) and olive oil (2 tablespoons) until cooked through. Remove the veal from the pan and keep warm.

Add 2 cups of thinly sliced white mushrooms and sauté for 3 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-high. Add Dry Marsala and cook it off. Add ½ cup chicken broth. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes. Add a little more unsalted butter to thicken and round out the sauce. Plate the veal cutlets, dress with the Marsala sauce. Serve with sauteed spinach and roasted potatoes or a side of pasta.

Mushroom Sauce

This all-purpose sauce can be used for chicken, veal, pork cutlets and pork chops, as well as turkey. It’s also good in a risotto or when used as a pasta sauce. It’s a breeze to make and can be kept in the cooler for four days. Simmer the sauce for five minutes before using if it has been refrigerated.

Yield: about 1 quart of sauce (may be scaled up in direct proportion)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1 pound fresh white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thin
3⁄4 cup dry Marsala
4 cups canned plum tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon chopped fl at-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1 teaspoon dried basil, crumbled
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy 3-quart pot set over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook and stir for another 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until they give off moisture and start to brown (lightly). Add the Marsala, bring to a boil and simmer until the alcohol has been boiled off. Add the tomatoes, oregano and basil. Simmer the sauce for 45 minutes to an hour. Season with salt and pepper. ❖

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.

In one of my pizza cookbooks, The Ultimate Pizza, I devoted an entire chapter to dessert pizzas: six delicious ideas for sweet pizzas. Where does a sweet pizza fit into the scheme of a restaurant? Good question. I have seen it work quite well on a lunch or dinner buffet arrangement. Also, after a meal of, say, spaghetti and meatballs or some other pasta or chicken dish, the idea of a sweet pizza can be very appealing. Here is one of my favorite sweet pizzas: apple pie pizza. The three components –– streusel, apples, jam –– can be prepped ahead. To order, the pizza is finished off.

 
(Apple Pie Pizza)

Yield: one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

Streusel Topping
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

In a small mixing bowl, combine the fl our, brown sugar, cinnamon, and granulated sugar. Mix the butter in with your fingertips or pastry cutter to form small crumbles. You will have 1½ cups of streusel. Set aside or chill for 15-20 minutes.

The Rest
3-4 Granny Smith apples (about 2½ pounds), peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch slices
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons apricot jam or preserves
1 14-inch pizza shell

In a mixing bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice. In a sauté pan set over high heat, melt the butter until it just begins to froth. Add the apple slices and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for 2 minutes more or until the apples are barely tender. Transfer the apples to a bowl and let cool for 10 minutes. (Can be prepped ahead and kept to order).

In a small saucepan, cook the apricot jam until it liquefies. Set aside.

Brush the entire crust, including the edge with the apricot jam. Spread the reserved apples evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the streusel over the apples. Bake the pizza. Let it sit for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Options: 
Sprinkle ½ cup chopped walnuts over the streusel. 
Sprinkle ½ cup grated cheddar cheese over the streusel before baking

Other sweet pizza ideas include Banana and PB pizza (banana and peanut butter), Sweet Ricotta Pie with Espresso Syrup, Peaches ‘n’ Cream Pizza, and Cream Cheese and Pineapple pizza. The recipes for these can be found in my cookbook, The Ultimate Pizza, which is available through Amazon. com.

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.

Raising menu prices remains an inevitable part of the restaurant landscape, a particularly difficult decision to make at any time, but specifically when paired against the backdrop of a stumbling economy. As the market shifts, operators are forced to respond to changing conditions, such as rising food and labor costs, lower traffic counts, and slimmer profits.

“Money has wings when it’s going off the bottom line,” reminds operator Steve Abo, who oversees 18 Abo’s Pizza locations in Colorado.

As operators exhaust portioning and purchasing alterations, the two other operational areas that contribute most to profit margin, many face the decision of either changing product, a move that will most certainly irk customers, or raising prices.

Working to keep their business afloat amid profit and sales erosion, operators have dedicated increased attention to menu prices. Often apologetic for raising prices, operators mustn’t be so gun-shy.

“The biggest mistake operators make is not raising prices. You can’t outrun costs with sales,” says Joe Perrino of Chicago’s Home Run Inn.

By blending data with an understanding of product and perception, operators can better make pricing decisions that retain customers and contribute to a healthy bottom line.

In business, there’s a romantic quality to relying on instincts. Gut reactions can be dead on, but safety looms in a scientific approach. Kevin Moll, head of Denver-based National Restaurant Consultants, suggests an analytical, numbers-based approach that requires work, but provides clear direction.

A thorough menu analysis should include the production cost of each menu item (the cost to produce a dish), a determination of each item’s profitability (sales price minus the cost of production), and a report on the sales mix (how specific items are selling).

“You want to get to a point where any price change is legitimate, well thought out, and part of a larger strategy,” Moll says.

A firm grasp of healthy margins has carried Home Run Inn, a family-owned operation, to success in its eight restaurants and frozen line.

“We have a tight reign on the margins we have to hit, and do what’s necessary to maintain that balance, which includes raising prices,” Perrino says.

Matt Loney, president of Stevi B’s Pizza Buffet, which oversees 30 locations across seven states, says panic should never drive price changes. The faith Loney holds in Stevi B’s price points, supported by accurate data and confidence in the restaurant’s offerings, thwarts consumer discontent.

“If you believe in the product you’re providing and the pricing strategy is rooted in facts, then you have a price you can stick by,” Loney says.

Central to the price debate is product positioning; operators must have a solid grasp of their menu mix and local competition. Prior to making any price changes, operators should study customer ordering data, noting popular items and profit margins.

“Not all menu items generate the same level of profit. Know what’s selling and redesign the menu with that in mind,” Moll advises, adding that many operators minimize price changes on entrees more likely to grab attention and institute a more aggressive pricing strategy on sides and drinks.

And never should operators overlook the competition. Either by price or quality, pizzerias must differentiate themselves and understand that a $5 pizza carries different expectations than a $20 pie.

“It’s okay to identify yourself as a premium product, so long as you’re prepared for those premium expectations,” says Ron Santibanez of California-based Profit Line Consulting. “Operators can’t lose sight of who they are in the marketplace, which feeds directly into pricing strategy.”

Make no mistake: pricing and perception are tied together. Managing that perception with well executed alterations to the environment, menu, or value proposition can minimize consumer discontent.

In conjunction with a recent price increase, for instance, Stevi B’s altered its stores’ physical make up with new menu boards, fresh paint, new arcade games, and enhanced lighting, thereby improving the customer experience and mitigating its price hike. A new menu layout, meanwhile, remains one of the best strategies to veil price increases.

“If the menu, the most important real estate inside the restaurant, is redesigned properly and with appropriate prices, then everything will fi t together,” Moll assures.

Operators can also offer a combo price or family pack to gain value perception.

“Consumers have money, but need to see a value proposition. The bundled format is the best way to show that,” Moll says.

In implementing price changes, Abo utilizes the “same number” concept, which is entirely about perception. Consumers identify a clear price distinction between $2.19 and $2.49. There is, however, no difference between $2.49 and $2.59; both are equated with $2.50.

“That extra 10 cents doesn’t mean much to the customer, but it means a lot to us 1,000 times over,” Abo says.

When food costs fall, Home Run Inn maintains its price points, though the Chicago eatery does offer deeper discounts and heavier promotions to generate a positive value perception.

“You can’t go up and down with your menu prices, so this is a way to hold the line and provide something extra customers appreciate,” Perrino says.

Silence or Sharing? Communicating price changes to customers

Common thought holds that a subtle posted note explaining a price increase does much to placate customers and spark empathy, if not loyalty. Not so, say operators and experts alike.

“You’re apologizing for something you don’t need to apologize for,” says consultant Ron Santibanez.

Matt Loney, president of Stevi B’s Pizza Buffet, says experience tells him customers dislike operators blaming a price increase on another factor, such as rising labor or commodity costs. They understand that selective price increases must happen.

“If you’re going to say anything, it might be: ‘We held our prices as long as we could, but eventually had to make a change.’ People appreciate that more than excuses,” Loney says.

Ultimately, operators should maintain confidence in their product, and their level of service.

“People on the other side of the counter don’t care too much about your problems. They just want a good pizza at a fair price, so bite the bullet and move on,” says Steve Abo, who oversees 18 Abo’s Pizza locations.

Chicago-based writer Daniel P. Smith has covered business issues and best practices for a variety of trade publications, newspapers, and magazines.

For operators who are considering expansion, the current recession may represent the best of times and the worst of times. Banks are holding money close to their chest, and loans may be tough to come by. But owners looking to lease may find a far better market than they expected.

Take Primanti Brothers. The legendary Pittsburgh sandwich and pizza operation expanded to Florida 15 years ago, where its pizza has attracted a loyal following. When Eric Kozlowski, who’s in charge of the company’s Florida locations, looked for a new space in Broward county recently, what he found amazed him: In an area where there were once few openings, he found dozens of empty storefronts, many of which had been restaurants. Kozlowski looked at a bankrupted Fuddruckers; a bankrupted Hops, the brew pub chain; and a bankrupted Shells, the Florida seafood chain. The Hops was available for lease at $13,000 a month, the Fuddruckers at $12,500. But the empty Shells — an enormous 4,700 square foot building on a very busy road — came in at a mere $8,000.

How did Primanti Brothers get such a good deal? “There simply wasn’t anyone lining up to take it over,” Kozlowski says. “The reality is that these are out there right now. And I’m going to go look for some more.”

But Kozlowski has an advantage: He’s looking in Florida, where the economic recession has hit many businesses very hard. Conditions elsewhere may not be as favorable, according to Dean Small, managing partner of Synergy Restaurant Consultants. “There are amazing deals out there,” Small acknowledges. But in places where rents haven’t fallen and businesses haven’t keeled over, property owners won’t cut a deal on high-traffic spaces. “Those landlords, unless they’re upside down and financially struggling, realize what they have.” That said, many consultants agree that good leasing opportunities abound: “If I had a pizza concept and I wanted to expand it, this is the best time in the world,” says Lloyd Gordon, president of GEC Consultants.

Buying property is difficult these days, even for businesses with significant cash flow. Then again, buying property has never been easy for independent operators. “Banks have never liked restaurant ventures,” says Bill Boyd, a Raleigh real estate broker who handles restaurant property for Kimball & Company. The current tough climate, he says, is not so much a new problem as an exacerbation of an existing problem. But for owners looking to lease, the situation is reversed. “Today, when I negotiate a lease,” says Lloyd Gordon, “the first thing I tell my client is, for the first time in a long while, you’re in the driver seat.”

The single biggest mistake operators make when negotiating a lease may be not hiring a good broker. Many clients avoid brokers in order to save money, but that’s backward: Brokers are typically paid by the landlord. A good local broker is invaluable: He or she knows comparable market rates and how much a landlord is willing to bend in a negotiation. As Boyd puts it, “A broker beats up the landlord on what they need to be beat up on.”

That may turn out to be tenant improvement dollars. Even if a property was formerly a restaurant, there is almost always construction required for a new tenant, and those expenses can sink a balance sheet. “Once you put in a hood or a grease trap, you can’t take it with you; it stays there,” Small says. That’s why Small advises tenants to prioritize having the landlord pay for renovations. “If the landlord puts money in, he’s going to have skin in the game,” he says. An operator should also negotiate for free rent during construction, Small says, but bearing in mind that construction, once plans are approved and carried out, can drag on; free rent can disappear in no time.

Lease length is crucial: the longer the lease, the lower the monthly rent. It’s customary to negotiate a five-year minimum lease with multiple options for five additional years. Signing a longer lease may seem a risk, but it actually can make a business more valuable. “Should you decide you want to get out of business,” says Gordon, “that lease becomes a valuable asset.” A lease should explicitly state when the rent will increase and by how much; it should also stipulate a penalty, typically at least several months rent, if the tenants need to break the lease.

What’s the best way to get all this? “You’ve got to package it,” says Small. “And it can’t be on a few pieces of scrap paper.” He recommends presenting a business plan that’s as transparent and realistic as possible and that includes a biography of the project and key individuals involved.

And before you sign off, remember the industry guideline: Keep property costs at under 7 percent of sales. If the Primanti Brothers had purchased the old Shells location, Kozlowski estimates the mortgage payments would have been $14,000 a month. Their lengthy 30-year lease, on the other hand, which came with a long-term option to buy and the first six months free, costs just over half that. Since the new restaurant, which is a pizzeria-sports bar, is on track to do $2 million its first year, that puts rental expenses well below 7 percent. “How do you not lease at that money?” he asks. “There are amazing deals out there.” ❖

Tips and Tricks
❖ Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. Never assume anything is off the table. Restaurant consultants and brokers say the same thing: If you want it, ask for it. And be persistent.
❖ Know the legal niceties. Hire a lawyer early in the process and consult him or her throughout. Buying or leasing is a lengthy ordeal with binding consequences. Don’t get caught unaware.
❖ Find a broker. Brokers are frequently paid by the landlord, not the tenant. They know the local market rates, and they often can negotiate a far better deal than operators flying solo.
❖ Think long-term. A longer lease will normally have lower monthly payments, and it could turn into a valuable asset on its own.
❖ Tenant improvement dollars. Almost any space will require significant upfitting, or renovation. Since those improvements stay with the property, press hard to have the landlord cover all or part of the cost.

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

A couple of years ago, Pappardelle’s, a small, family run pizzeria in Bethpage, New York, decided to expand its delivery service to the national level. Shipping pizzas was the quixotic idea of Pasquale and Vincent DiMartino, the brothers who manage the restaurant. The rest of their family thought they were nuts, Pasquale DiMartino recalls.

They weren’t. Pappardelle’s tapped into a national market hungry for authentic New York pizza: the restaurant now receives 60 to 70 online orders a month, each for between 1 and 10 pizzas. Its pizzas have been served in Hawaii and London. “We just had a guy from California who ordered $750 worth of food,” DiMartino says, amazed.

Shipped pizza, even frozen parbaked pizza, may seem impractical at best and unappetizing at worst. Can a food as fragile as pizza survive a trip across the country? And even if it could, would anyone be willing to pay the shipping? Surprisingly, pizzerias like Pappardelle’s answer both questions with a resounding yes.

“It’s a good money maker,” says Giovanni Mineo of Mineo’s Pizza House in Pittsburgh, which began shipping pizzas in the late 1990s after a skeptical Mineo overnighted a few frozen pizzas to a friend in Florida. The result was unexpectedly impressive: pizza that was still recognizably Mineo’s, a half-century-old Pittsburgh staple that often sweeps the city’s best of awards.

What began as a novelty — a favor to customers who swore by Mineo’s pizza — has morphed into a revenue stream. “Especially with this economy, anything you can do now to help your business is a good thing,” Mineo says. Last year, the pizzeria sent over 400 packages to customers around the country; each package included anywhere between two and 20 pizzas. (That’s without accepting credit cards: Mineo’s still only takes money orders.) Far flung orders soared when the Pittsburgh Steelers played in the Super Bowl, and the day after the game, Mineo’s made The New York Times: the paper ran a photo of a Pittsburgh native in Tampa reheating a Mineo’s large on his engine block. (He finished it on the grill.) Pittsburgh residents have a strong civic identity and Mineo’s sends many pizzas to customers who miss the taste of home. But it ships just as many to people who only lived in town while at the University of Pittsburgh or Carnegie Mellon. “A lot of people who aren’t from here end up loving the pizza and then they leave and apparently can’t get any good pizza,” Mineo says.

Shipping pizzas is likely to stay a small sideline for Mineo’s. But at Lou Malnati’s, the Chicago deep dish legend, sending pizzas across the country is a highly profi table mail order business: the company ships a staggering 250,000 pizzas a year. “It’s a little larger than our largest restaurant in terms of sales volume,” says Mindy Kaplan, Malnati’s director of marketing. The company first offered shipping 20 years ago for the holiday season. The idea became so popular that six years ago it founded Tastes of Chicago, a mail order operation that sells Malnati’s alongside other iconic Windy City foods. “Just like any mail order business, 60 percent of our sales are gifts,” especially during the holidays, Kaplan says. “The other 40 percent are people who moved away from Chicago but still need their Malnati’s fix.” To serve that market, Malnati’s offers a Pizza by the Month package.

Any shipped pizza has to arrive in good condition and taste even better. There’s a surprising number of opinions about how best to do that. When DiMartino of Pappardelle’s began shipping pizzas, he tested various options in his (very warm) garage. His system: after par-baking the pizza and freezing it overnight, he vacuum seals it inside a pizza box and then places that box, covered by large frozen gel packs and shrink-wrapped, inside a Styrofoam box. UPS picks the pizzas up at 7p.m. and DiMartino says they can withstand 3 Day Select delivery, although after Tuesday he’ll only ship 2 Day or Next Day.

Lou Malnati’s exercises extra caution: They pack their pizzas in an airtight Styrofoam cooler with dry ice and require delivery by 48 hours, often using UPS’s Next Day Air Saver service, which guarantees delivery by 7p.m. Mineo’s, on the other hand, simply par-bakes the pizza, transfers it to the deep freeze and then sends it priority overnight; FedEx makes the pizzeria its last stop before the airport. Although Mineo’s doesn’t add dry ice or gel packs, it has successfully shipped pizzas as far as Hawaii.

Shipped pizzas may be an expanding market, but that trend could be reversed by a declining economy. Mail order business in general has been hit relatively hard, and last year Malnati’s had a slight fall-off in shipped pizza orders. “It’s the only year we haven’t seen growth,” Mindy Kaplan says. On the other hand, Pappardelle’s and Mineo’s, both relative newcomers to shipping pizzas, continue to see their orders grow. ❖



Want to ship? Consider:

❖ College Towns. College students live on pizza, and if you have built a loyal collegiate following, you might have a base of out-of-town nostalgic customers. A shipped pizza is a cheap trip back to campus.
❖ Bulk. It’s expensive to ship a single pizza. But larger orders cut the price per pizza dramatically and make the concept of cross-country pizza much more cost effective. Market your pizzas as party fare. For many pizzerias that ship, their bestseller is a special four-pizza pack.
❖ Timing. Don’t ship at the end of the week. Not every location has Saturday deliveries and no one will be happy with a pizza that’s spent the weekend in a warehouse. In fact, some pizzerias only ship on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
❖ Marketing. Customers for cross-country pizza come by reputation or Web traffic. If you’ll be relying on the latter, optimize your Web site to increase its rank in Web searches. If it works, you’ll see a dramatic rise in orders

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

Easy Appetizers

If you’ve got pizza dough in house, why not create a specialty appetizer pizza? Roll out dough to 6 inches, then top with light, flavorful ingredients like thin slices of prosciutto and smoked mozzarella or feta and olives. Slice into 6 pieces and serve. Avoid heavy ingredients that will fill up your customers –– you want to be able to offer them dessert as well.

Reflection of You?

Take a look around your dining room. What does it say about your operation? If you can’t immediately put your finger on it, it might be time to create a signature look. Located in Maryland but a Brooklyn native? Let your restaurant convey that. It should be a reflection of you –– even when you’re not in-house. Check local zoning and planning guidelines before you redesign the façade of your restaurant. You don’t want to have to redo it twice!

Rising Temps

Yeast and proofing take center stage when it comes to dough management, but temperature control is also important. Dough Doctor Tom Lehmann warns that active dry yeast should be rehydrated using 100 to 105 F warm water. Instant dry yeast should be activated using water that is 95 F. The best way to guarantee temperature is to test it with a thermometer before adding the yeast. A finished dough temp of 80 to 85 F is desirable.



Gung-Ho Potatoes

International Pizza Challenge’s non-traditional category has had plenty of unusual options, ranging from blood sausage to cream cheese and smoked salmon. While not commonplace, potatoes on pizza seem logical because they’re relatively versatile and have several different ways of prep. Red potatoes are especially good to use since they retain their shape and add color as well. If you’re going to use raw red potatoes, the key is to slice thinly –– paper thin, to be exact.

Pizza by the slice is big business for many pizzerias across the nation. According to the National Association of Pizzeria Operators, the average American eats 46 slices of pizza per year. But handling slices is different than simply tossing a pie in a box.

Many by-the-slice operations either prepare the pizza in advance for reheating during the rush, or they start with a prepared cheese pizza base and add toppings to order.

“If it’s a very busy slice business location, then I would say a variety of different pies already made might be the way to go,” says Wayne D’Andrea, managing partner of Papa Pizza II in Milford, Connecticut. “Otherwise, I’d suggest making cheese pies only and adding your toppings to order.”

Lexy Frautschy, owner of Ian’s Pizza on State in Madison, Wisconsin, echoes that sentiment. “We generally don’t modify our slices. Our business plan is based on a lot of throughput, so we make sure to always have plenty of varieties available. We keep around 24 different kinds at a time, and with that large variety people generally find something that suits their taste buds.” At Rise PizzaWorks in Charlottesville, Virginia, pizza can be ordered as a whole pie or by the slice. All are madeto-order, allowing the customer to customize from crust to toppings.

John Spagnolo, co-owner at Rise, says the low guest check generated by slice sells requires operations to focus on high volume.

“That said, we still sell both slices and whole pies because there is a very significant market for whole pies, and selling whole pies allows us to compete in that market space, too,” he says. “In addition, beyond variable costs like labor and cost of goods, an operator still has other expenses, and whole pie orders result in higher guest check amounts — (and) therefore more cash.”

But what is the potential for profit in slice operations? Franco Antonio Salese IV, manager and operator of Juniors in Burlington, Vermont, reports a 40-percent revenue income from single sales.

“Buying eight individual slices is generally more profitable than when your customers are buying in quantity such as a whole pie,” says Frautschy. “For us, a 20-inch cheese with eight slices costs $12. However, eight individual slices sold through the line at $2.50 makes us $20. That is a big difference. Not all the 20-inch pies are that cheap, but in every case the slices make us more.”

According to Spagnolo, when comparing the profitability of a slice versus a whole pie, you have to consider the revenue generated from the sale and your prime cost.

“Obviously, the whole pie generates more revenue for us, but when I calculate the prime costs, the cost of our slice is about four percent less than our whole pie,” says Spagnolo. “On an item-to-item comparison basis, the slice costs less and ... is more profitable.”

Frautschy believes high profitability is possible with pizza by the slice operations. However, he believes a fresh product is more important than the bottom line. “We chose to serve high quality food at a reasonable price and spend a little on extra things,” he explains. “That lowers our margins.”

Government regulations won’t allow operators to let slices sit all day — it’s a public health issue. That said, the potential for waste in single slice operations can be high, says John Racanelli, owner and founder of Racanelli Pizza in St. Louis, Missouri.

That’s why Mike Agrawal, founder of Slice, the Perfect Food, par-bakes crusts and dresses them to order. This allows unsold crusts to get used the next day.

Back at Rise Pizza Works, the cost of discarding a crust is substantially less than tossing a dressed pizza, says co-owner Andrew Vaughan.

“We manage the potential of waste in two key ways,” Vaughan said. “We track our usage daily and use the historical data to forecast our expected needs for a given day; and as the business day draws to a close, we slow our par baking to keep our make line stocked with a minimal amount of crusts.”

The equipment for single slice restaurants is the same as most traditional pizza places. Frautschy adds smaller reheat style ovens may be needed to serve slices during peak times. However, Agrawal says they use a dough sheeter to increase their crust production.



Overall, Vaughan recommends studying other operations for inspiration. “Make sure you have a product that can distinguish you from the many other by-the-slice operations that are out there,” he says. “Whether it is outrageous toppings, a great crust or some combination/specialty slice you are known for, work hard and focus on all of the small things that lead to a successful restaurant.” ❖

Terah Shelton is a freelance writer based in Duluth, Georgia.

Restaurant operators tend to think of capacity in terms of the number of seats, but this is incorrect, says Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president-food strategies for WD Partners, a design development fi rm in Columbus, Ohio. Instead, capacity depends on the number of tables. “The tables will get used up first,” he explains. “And if the tables are full but you have a lot of empty chairs, this is a red flag that there are table configuration issues.”

These issues can present serious problems for restaurant operators, says Izzy Kharasch, president of Hospitality Works, a hospitality consulting company in Deerfield, Illinois. “Many times we’ll go into a place that’s losing business and scrap the tables,” he says. “Table configuration can absolutely affect profitability.”

Table configuration exerts a decided impact on how people experience your restaurant. This can be obvious — there’s no mystery why customers are put off by extended wait times, poor service or a “bad” table placed in an undesirable location — or subliminal, says Jeff Cahill, principal of Jeff Cahill Studio, a fi rm specializing in restaurant design, located in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. The food and service could be great, but if someone has spent the evening uncomfortable or getting bumped all night, he may not understand why he doesn’t want to come back, but the result will be the same — he won’t.

You should imagine what it’s like to actually be in the restaurant, says Kharasch. Configurations that look good blueprint-wise may not translate well into real life.

“There are tables where people won’t want to sit, even though it works in the blueprint, and you probably shouldn’t put them in,” he explains. “And you need to think of customer comfort. The tables may be moved around to fit eight, but will they be comfortable?”

Restaurant operators typically don’t give enough thought to table configurations, so they tend to just go with four-tops and over-configure with these, says Lombardi. And four-tops, says Kharasch, take up more space for the least amount of diners.

“For example, if you have six people and you push two four-tops together, you’ve just lost two seats,” he says. It’s important to incorporate flexibility, allowing staff to quickly reconfigure the room, says Cahill, which is why, generally, a mix of two-, four- and six tops is best.

How your operation changes depending on day and time, and to what extent you’re a special-occasion destination, also affects configuration, says Lombardi. Greater differences require greater flexibility.

Jordon Scott, president of Mama’s Pizza, a five-site restaurant chain headquartered in Ft. Worth, says they must meet the needs of two distinctly different groups.

“We have a lot of people who come in alone for lunch, so we have a lot of two-tops,” says Jordon. “But we have mostly four- and six-tops we can push together for the dinner crowd where we attract a lot of families and groups.”

Because of the buffet (lunch only) and the salad bar, allowing enough space between tables for unimpeded traffic flow is an additional consideration (tables are 28 to 32 inches apart). Also, all their tables are sized to accommodate their largest pizza, a 20-incher.

That’s another thing — pizza takes up real estate, says Lombardi. Obviously, tables must accommodate the pizza and all the required accoutrements, but there should also be enough room for customers to move items around.

“They must have the ability to make the table feel the way they want. For example, moving things out of reach of the kids,” Lombardi says.

The way service is provided, what servers carry and how easily they must maneuver around tables must also factor into configuration and placement, says Josh Zinder, principal of Princeton- based Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design. This can prove especially important to customer satisfaction.

“If the traffic pattern is an issue, certain tables will be harder for staff to reach,” he explains. “Therefore, they won’t circulate around these tables as frequently as others, meaning that some customers aren’t getting the same amount of attention.”

Since they’re not as flexible as other types of seating, Lombardi isn’t a big fan of booths. Others like adding them to the mix. Jordon says they’re useful for increasing occupancy (“You can get more booths against a wall than tables”). Although Kharasch agrees they’re not as flexible, he puts them where space doesn’t allow for tables, such as in corners.

Cahill also likes banquette seating; one long booth with a mix of two, four, and six-top tables with chairs on the outside.

“This gives you a lot of flexibility,” he says. “You can have a separation of 18 (inches) between tables and people still feel like they have enough space. You could never do this out on the floor. Plus, communal-style seating for casual dinning is extremely popular.”

How to tell if your table configuration is working for you? Stand back and observe your restaurant at different times, says Zinder. “A restaurant where the seats are filled is a restaurant that has done its homework,” he says. “This is an indication they understand their clientele.” ❖

Doing Your Homework



Devising an optimal table configuration requires getting a solid grasp on your predominant customer mix. Different types of customers have different preferences. Example: families with small kids like to corral them in booths, says Dennis Lombardi, EVP - Food Strategies for WD Partners. However, group-oriented teens and millennials prefer bigger configurations that can be combined into large social areas.

It’s important that new owners of existing restaurants take a fresh look at configuration, says Josh Zinder, principal of Princeton-based Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design.

“Very often they come in and take things as they are instead of really standing back and looking to see if there’s a way they could maximize their use of the space, or to make their staff more efficient,” he says.

Also, ask your staff, Zinder suggests. If they complain that chairs are in the way or there’s not enough room on the tables, listen. And remember, capacity restrictions and emergency requirements vary by state. Know yours before you plan.

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.

When Mike Wilson opened his first Fellini’s Pizza in a renovated gas station in Atlanta in 1982, giving patrons the opportunity to eat their pizza al fresco was a priority.

“There’s nothing better than pizza, a pitcher of beer and eating it outdoors,” says Wilson, whose small chain now has six additional locations, each featuring ample patios.

“Some of our restaurants are as big as our patios,” Wilson says. “Patios are family-friendly. We put a water feature — a fountain –– in each of them. Our restaurants are known for being fun and casual.”

A patio adds seating capacity in temperate months and increases sales at Fellini’s, where Wilson estimates revenues rise by between 25 and 30 percent on a beautiful day. Joanie Thomas, owner of Joanie’s Pizzeria in St. Louis, tells a similar story about her patio’s effect on sales.

“We have a full patio with capacity for 100. And we have indoor seating for 80 to 100,” says Thomas. “When the patio is in full-swing, we have 50 percent more sales.”

Increasing capacity and sales are two reasons to consider adding al fresco dining. Deciding whether it is right for a pizzeria, and deciding how much to invest in it, depends on how an operator sees the business. And even if snow may be flying outside the pizzeria windows, it’s not too early to begin planning for an outdoor space. According to Wilson, the patios at Fellini’s are crucial to projecting the fun, casual atmosphere he wants his restaurants to have. He prefers his patios be at the front of his buildings, rather than hidden at the rear of his freestanding units.

“People like to see what’s going on in front on the street,” Wilson says. “They don’t want to look at a parking lot.”

The patios at Fellini’s not only provide a comfortable place for patrons to eat, but are a subtle form of marketing. “I think the patios add to the look, the feel and the ambience,” Wilson says. “If people drive by a restaurant that looks like fun, then they will be more willing to try it out.”

At Joanie’s Pizzeria, the outdoor patio is in keeping with the feel of the neighborhood, and is a feature that she thinks her diners expect. “Because of the neighborhood I’m in, people want to sit outside,” Thomas says. “I’m in an historic neighborhood. It’s an old French neighborhood with lots of courtyards and patios.”

Giving diners the option to eat al fresco is not as simple as putting down a concrete floor and adding some tables and chairs.

“You have to find out your local codes or your designer needs to be knowledgeable about them,” says Frank Stocco of National Restaurant Design in Minneapolis.

“There are a lot of different rules for patios,” Wilson adds. Operators “should call the city, and they’ll give you a whole list of recommendations.”

Plenty of decisions will be required, from what sort of flooring is best, to what type of tables and chairs are needed to how many doors are required from the dining room to the outdoor space.

“Typically codes state that there should be a door for entering the patio from the restaurant and another door though which the food is served,” Stocco says. “If you need to put in a door to the patio, I don’t think anyone’s going to let you just punch a hole in the building.”

For flooring, Stocco says he prefers stone tile in large, fl at blocks. “You want to have a smooth surface,” he says. “Nothing that’s so bumpy that it’s going to cause tables and chairs to rock.”

Thomas said she would recommend choosing flooring that is easy to maintain. “I’d say do more of an outdoor tile or a stone aggregate. I have basic concrete and it gets stained easily.”

The grade of furniture in the outdoor space may depend on the pizzeria’s sales volume and the sort of ambience the operator wants to evoke. “If you’re doing a million or 1.5 million in sales, then you want your chairs to be substantial,” Stocco says. “Don’t throw plastic chairs out there. Make the patio as attractive a setting as your dining room. But if you’re serving pizza by the slice and pop in paper cups, then go ahead and put plastic chairs out there.”

The tables and chairs at Fellini’s are wrought iron. If an owner opts for plastic, Wilson recommends making them the highest grade possible. “We go with wrought iron because it looks good and it lasts longer,” Wilson says. “Plastic doesn’t last that long and it can break. Plastic is fine as long as it is restaurant quality.”

Both Wilson and Thomas are able to use their patios from April through October. “Anytime it’s about 65 degrees, it’s good patio weather,” Wilson says. “We generally schedule the wait staff according to the weather. We have a minimum staff and we call in extras if it’s a beautiful day.”

At Joanie’s, Thomas extends the season for her patio by using propane heaters in cooler months. She has a staff of about 16 waiters that increases to about 23 in warmer months. About a half–dozen of her staffers are what she calls “weather-permitting” staff. “If it rains or if it’s cold, they know to call in and then they don’t have to come in,” she says.



The possibility of inclement weather such as rain, or even extremely hot days in warmer climes, brings other decisions for operators considering opening a patio. Should a patio have a canopy or umbrellas? If a patio has a canopy, then lighting is required in it so people can read their menus. For hot, steamy climates, Stocco says some restaurateurs furnish patios with devices that emit a fine spray of cool mist.

For Thomas, not having a canopy means her patio is sometimes not useable in summer. “If you book a party on the patio and it rains then you have to bring everybody inside and there’s a lot of stress involved,” she says. Patios also require seasonal maintenance.

“You have to seal and caulk cracks in the concrete,” Thomas says. “You have to power wash it and you have to break it down in winter, winterize it and put everything away.”

Despite such headaches, Thomas and Wilson say their patios are worth it. “People want to be outdoors,” says Thomas. “They just love being outdoors.” Says Wilson: “Patios are our signature.” ❖

Annemarie Mannion is a freelance writer in Willowbrook, Illinois.

Thin crust pizza, thanks to all of those Neapolitan pizza places that keep sprouting up across the land, is the pizza of choice these days. And it didn’t take long for operators to jump on the pizza wagon and come out with an ultra-thin crust pizza. Thin-crust’s popularity has to do with the fact that people want to cut back on calories without having to cut out pizza. This is a smart move (most frozen pizza purveyors have come out with an ultrathin pizza) because it lets the avid pizza eater buy into the fact that they can still enjoy pizza without feeling as if the calories are going to do them in.

Let me first cover this aspect of thin-crust pizza: how thin is thin? Let me explain it this way –– the thinness or thickness of pizza crust is determined by how thin or thick you roll or press the dough. For example, dough made with 1 pound of fl our and 1 cup of liquid and 4 ounces of corn oil will yield about 28 ounces of dough, or enough for two 14-inch pizza shells. Suppose, however, you want an extra-thin crust. Simply divide the same 28 ounces of dough into three equal pieces and roll each to a diameter of, say, 9 to 10 inches. Or, divide the dough into four pieces and your result will be four thincrust pizzas each about 8 inches in diameter. Getting a super thin or cracker crust is simply a matter of rolling the dough even thinner. I have been in pizza restaurants where 4 ounces of dough was used to make an 8-inch pizza.

Also, how far you extend the toppings toward the edge of the crust will affect the amount of crust that you will be showing. Keep in mind that any part of the pizza dough not covered by toppings will rise higher than the area covered by toppings. You have probably seen and eaten pizzas where there is no crust as such; the toppings go almost over the very edge.

Now let me approach this ultra-thin crust from another direction, a direction that has to do with one ingredient: yeast. For example, I know of a pizza restaurant that ages its dough to the max, possibly a week (the place has enormous cooler capacity, so it can date-stamp and age the dough for that length of time). This aging kills most of the yeast’s capacity for leavening (and rise). In other words, the normal process of leavening time has practically run out. So when the pizzas are baked, there is hardly any oven spring or rise of the pizza shell (especially with the toppings on at this point, not too much happens regarding a rise).

OK, so you do not have cooler capacity for that technique. Go back to what I noted earlier about the rolling out of the pizza shell. The next approach would be to dock the dough vigorously. This will prevent much of the oven spring (that process when dough comes in contact with the heat of the oven).

The younger the dough (dough made and used the same day), the more oven spring. But I still refer you back to the amount of dough used and how thin or thick you roll out the dough. Those two factors play the most important role in crafting a perfect thin-crust pizza.

The amount of bake time has little or no effect on how thin or thick the crust comes out. A classic Neapolitan pizza fi red in a wood-burning oven takes about two minutes (or less). And this style of pizza has as thin a crust (through the center) as you could ask for.

Use this basic dough recipe to test the idea of ultra-thin cracker crusts. It may take a little playing around to get it right, but the effort is worth it.



Basic Test Recipe

16 ounces fl our (protein level of 11-12 percent)
8 ounces water
1 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon salt
4 ounces corn oil

Mix all of the ingredients, knead the dough for 6 to 8 minutes. Make two balls of dough, each 14 ounces. Dust each dough ball with fl our and bag (plastic freezer bag) and do a standard rise (overnight in the cooler preferred).

Now take one of the balls of dough (14-ounces) and roll out one pizza shell to 14-inches in diameter. Now divide the remaining 14 ounces of dough in half and roll out two pizza shells, each about 9 (or even 10) inches in diameter.

Top the pizzas with one of the suggestions below and bake. You will soon see the difference in thin-crust versus ultra-thin crust. Either way you go you will have some excellent thin-crust pizzas.

Here are some easy combinations to try on your thin-crust:

❖ Funghi e Salsiccia (Mushroom & Sausage): Pizza sauce or allpurpose ground tomatoes; ½ of the mozzarella; sliced fresh mushrooms; remaining mozzarella; sweet or hot Italian sausage crumbles and a drizzle of olive oil. Top the pizza shell with the ingredients in the order shown.

❖ Prosciutto e Rucola e Parmigiano (Prosciutto, Arugula and Parmesan): Olive oil; shredded mozzarella; thin slices of prosciutto di Parma; arugula; shaved Parmigiano- Reggiano and more olive oil. Brush the crust with olive oil. Spread on the mozzarella. Bake the pizza. Out of the oven, layer on the prosciutto and the arugula. Add thin shingles of Parmigiano over the arugula. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve.

❖ Calabrese: Spicy meats are the hot topping trend right now, so with this pizza I use meats like hot coppa salami, calabrese hot salami or soppressata. Layer in order: pizza sauce or all-purpose ground tomatoes; shredded mozzarella; pitted, sliced black olives; thinly sliced and coarsely chopped calabrese hot salami. Top the pizza shell with the ingredients in the order shown. Anchovies would be an option for this pizza. ❖

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.

Bartering with other businesses can be a great way to bring in more customers, raise your profile in the community and reduce your overhead costs. And the current economic downturn has made trade an even more attractive tool for pizzeria owners and operators trying to get the biggest bang for their bucks.

“Especially with the state of the economy, business owners need to be innovative in order to gain market share and ensure their success,” says Chris Haddawy, an expert on barter and chief operating officer and co-founder of the Seattle, Washington-based trade association BizXchange. “Certain businesses that wouldn’t have embraced trade before are opening up to it now.”

In fact, most pizzerias use barter to some extent –– even if it’s just trading with another restaurant for gift certificates to be used for incentives or holiday gifts for employees. But even if your use of trade is much more extensive, there probably are ways you could expand and refine your barter strategy to maximize the benefit to your business.

Bartering, when done correctly, can be an excellent way to advertise and boost business –– all on a shoestring budget. Part of the secret, pizzeria owners say, is to know your customers before you start striking trade deals for advertising. For example, John Arena, co-owner of Metro Pizza –– which has five locations and a sixth under construction in the Las Vegas, Nevada area –– knows most of his customers find his pizzerias through the Internet. “I won’t do a trade for Yellow Pages ads because I know none of my customers use the phone book anymore,” Arena says. “But if I can do a trade for Internet advertising, I will. You have to pick and choose.”

Ty DuPuis, owner of the Flying Pie Pizzeria, with four locations in the Portland, Oregon, area, has a similar strategy. “Our customers are mostly family and kids,” DuPuis says, noting that he steers clear of bartering for advertising with radio stations whose listeners are older than his typical customer or geographically too far away, and instead provides pizza parties for local schools and sports teams in exchange for advertising on their Web sites, T-shirts and newsletters. “Schools and sports teams are the most effective type of customer creation for who we’re targeting,” DuPuis says. “You have to make sure you’re getting what you really need.”

Trade also can be an effective, low-cost way to motivate employees and build morale and loyalty. Many pizzeria owners do that by bartering for gift certificates, movie tickets or other small gifts to use as employee-of-the-month rewards or contest prizes. DuPuis barters to give his employees bowling or sledding parties for fun and bonding. “It makes the employees feel appreciated, taken care of and valued, and then they tend to do a better job taking care of your business,” says DuPuis, who has almost no turnover, with an average employee tenure of nine and a half years at his main location. “My food cost is only 35 percent, so it works out a lot cheaper on trade than paying for it upfront.” Arena sometimes uses his trade relationship with Southwest Airlines –– which began when the air carrier called him about 150 stranded passengers who needed to be fed –– to help a cash-strapped employee travel to visit a sick relative or deal with another family emergency. He also uses it to provide a vacation (for example, a trip to California wine country) for an Employee of the Year.

And, of course, trade also can be a way to get essential goods and services to keep your restaurant running at a lower cost. DuPuis started out by making partial trades for refrigeration repair and electrical work. The co-owner of Rise PizzaWorks, which opened recently in Charlottesville, Virginia, John Spagnola, traded with a nearby copy shop to get menus and guest checks printed. It pays to always be thinking about possible trades –– and to be creative: Arena recently found that he needed some extra workspace for back-office personnel; instead of looking for an office to rent, he approached his insurance company and offered to provide food for employee luncheons in exchange for the use of vacant cubicles. “They have empty space they’re not using that we have a need for, and they get the opportunity to provide their employees with a benefit at no cost to them,” Arena says.

The owner of Big Louie’s Pizzeria in Eureka, California, Harold Lawrence, says trade saves him substantial amounts of cash. “Let’s say I do $25 worth of trade. It costs me about $2.50 to do it, so I’m operating on about a 10 percent cost factor on that.” That’s partly why Arena trades so much, too. “We’re always interested in stretching our dollars as far as we can,” he says.

But there are some pitfalls to trade, too — most of which can be avoided by vigilance on the part of the pizzeria owner. It’s important to make sure that trading partners respect the value of your product, according to Arena. “There has to be reciprocity. If an airline wanted to get $600 worth of pizza in exchange for an airline ticket they value at $600, but I know I could book online for $300, I’d have to reject that,” Arena says. On the other hand, he adds, “We do frequent trade on a dollar-for-dollar basis with Bouchon, and they’re a world-class restaurant, and they’ve always treated us very fairly. That’s an agreement that works.”

Pizzeria owners who barter agree that trade is one area where smaller, independent pizzerias sometimes have an advantage. “As a family owned business, we’re able to do things a corporate entity would have to jump through hoops to do. We can make decisions on the fl y –– we don’t need to get anybody’s permission,” Arena says. “I think that’s where independents have a real edge in trade.” ❖

Trade Associations

In the pizza business, direct barter probably is the most common way to trade. But that does come with some downsides – for example, it can be challenging to find a business that offers what you need when you need it and also has a need for that dollar amount in pizza, and record-keeping can be a hassle. In a trade association, businesses typically pay a fee to join, then build up “trade dollars” in an account when another member “purchases” their product on trade. Those dollars can then be used with any other member business.

For pizzeria owners thinking about joining a trade association, Chris Haddawy, chief operating officer and co-founder of the Seattle, Washington-based trade association BizXchange, offers some tips:

Check out the association. Ask how long it has been operating, how many members it has, and the dollar amount of business it does each year. Make sure it’s a member of the International Reciprocal Trade Association, a self-governing body for the barter industry.

Learn about its members. Ask for a list of members, and see whether enough of them offer goods and services you need and use, and make sure you would want to do business with those particular companies.

Consider whether the trade association is likely to bring you new business. For example, if there are only a few members located within your delivery area, it might not be the association for you.

Ask to talk to members who own or run restaurants. Also consider talking to members whose services you’d be most likely to use –– for example, screen printing or pest control or accounting businesses. Call and ask them how being a member of the association is working out for them.

If you do join, consider starting out slowly so you don’t end up in a situation where, for example, you’re making $5,000 a month in “sales” to other association members but only using $500 in trade. You might be able to do this by providing a set dollar amount in gift certificates to the exchange each month.

Allie Johnson is an award-winning freelance writer who lives in Kansas City, Missouri. She writes frequently about food and business.