The streets of New York are in the midst of an epic battle. In one corner, the classic slice weighs in with its thin-yet-yielding crust topped with tomato sauce and low moisture mozzarella cheese. In the opposite corner waits a smaller, more delicate pizza baked in a showpiece oven and topped with hand-crushed tomatoes under a sprinkling of cheese whose name your customers have only heard on TV. The prior evolved on the streets of the city over the past hundred years and the latter arrived recently despite its roots in the origin of pizza itself. Who will emerge victorious?



To be quite honest, the New York slice has been going out of style for quite some time. Rising commodity prices and nationwide economic issues have forced many small pizzerias to make decisions to keep themselves afloat at the cost of reducing product quality. Thanks to the influx of Neapolitan and other artisan pizza styles, some savvy slice shop operators are taking a page from the artisanal handbook by using premium ingredients to craft their offerings instead of the old standbys.

The resulting slice is a welcome upgrade from the monotonous greasy wedge and fetches a higher price. Pizzerias like South Brooklyn Pizza, Best Pizza and La Margarita (their spelling) are proof positive that consumers are willing to pay more for quality. These slice shops use fresh mozzarella and the best tomatoes to elevate their slices from the white noise created by common slicerias.

On the other hand, I also see artisan pizza evolving to meet the demands of a slice-hungry culture. Roman pizza al taglio’s success in New York is a positive response to artisan pizza’s exposure to the New York slice. It successfully combines quick service and elevated ingredient quality in a by-the-slice format. Even pizzerias that don’t sell slices are altering their recipes to make more portable products. Madison Avenue’s Pizza Da Solo, billed as a Neapolitan pizzeria, uses oil in their dough. Even though it’s a major departure from Neapolitan pizza tradition, added oil results in a product that holds up better during transportation. The pizzeria offers only takeout and utilized an American pizza making method to solve its logistical dilemma.

Contrary to what New York “traditionalists” may believe, artisan pizza is more ally than adversary when it comes to slice culture. It elevates pizza’s public image from quick-service snack food to respectable meal and even provides opportunity for further development when it comes to ingredient options. At the same time, New York’s propensity for pizza-by-the-slice has influenced artisan pizza in a positive way that makes it more accessible than some initially perceive it to be. After all, this is not the kind of battle that culminates with a victor; it’s more like a sparring match in which both parties walk out of the ring in better shape than when they went in.

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

The crowd gasps an undeniable breath of anticipation the moment she appears on stage. After a brief announcement from the emcee, the crowd exchanges quips of admiration regarding the impending performance. As the moment of performance arrives, paparazzi descend upon her. But the stage is not that of Madison Square Garden, it’s a table; the emcee is a waiter; the crowd is your customers and “she” is your Quattro Formaggi pizza. The paparazzi (or in our case, pizzarazzi) are the growing legion of tech-toting shutterbugs that will risk the heat of a dish in favor of the perfect pic. A few peeved restaurateurs in New York recently put the kibosh on tableside photography and now eateries across the country are contemplating the same. Little do they realize that a camera in the hands of a customer could be the best thing to happen to a pizzeria

I take pictures of food when it looks delicious. We eat with our eyes first, so the sound of a camera shutter should really be taken as a compliment. Most food photogs I know don’t even use cameras, opting instead for their phones. Sometimes I wonder why I wasted money on a digital camera when the chip in my mobile phone usually gives me better shots. The best part about your customers taking pictures with their phones is that they’re probably going to post the images on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Foodspotting and Instagram. These sites have incredible marketing power and all you have to do to leverage them is serve attractive food!

Rather than ban food photography, restaurants should encourage it. Dig around the social media sites and I bet you’ll find photos of your food that look better than whatever is on your marketing materials. Why not make a contest out of it and reward your customers for taking shots of your food? I’d love to see pizzerias hold food photography events to encourage customers to get snapping. Just partner with a local photographer to show your customers how to get the perfect angle and you’ll maintain control over your image.

If food photography is so great, what’s all the fuss about banning it? The one complaint I can understand is that overzealous photogs have the tendancy to disturb other guests. A couple on their first date might feel awkward when someone at the next table whips out a giant camera to photograph a soufflé. A friend of mine once drained the blood from my face when he stood up on his chair to get a better shot of a Pizza Margherita. These situations seem to require a quick lesson about manners rather than an all-out camera ban. More ridiculous is the suspicion that a competitor might alter the image of a dish to discredit its restaurant of origin, but that seems highly unlikely. The only time a camera ban makes sense for your restaurant is if you’re serving something that doesn’t look appetizing. If that’s the case, pictures of your bad food are the least of your worries.

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

This is an intervention. The Internet has become well-worn territory, yet many of you are still treating your Web sites like it’s 1996. Users’ attention spans are microscopically short for Web sites, so you want there to be as few barriers as possible between potential customers and your business. In a completely selfish maneuver to make my own pizzeria-Web site-surfing life less stressful, I’ve compiled a list of my top five pizzeria Web site failures:

1. Just The Facts. Stop burying basic information like your location and hours of operation deep within your site. The further I have to dig for these details, the less likely I am to find them. Be specific about hours rather than simply stating “Open for Lunch and Dinner” … because one person’s dinner is another’s late lunch. And remember that the Internet is big, so people who aren’t from your immediate area are likely to view your site. Be thorough with your location information rather than just listing “Sweet Valley Location, Bayside location,” etc. None of those names are helpful if I don’t know what state you’re in.
2. Can the Music. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fallen victim to a sneak attack by a low-quality version of “That’s Amore” blasting through my computer’s speakers. I get it — you want people who visit your site to know you serve Italian food, but music is usually more annoying than it is useful. If you do insist on a soundtrack, just be sure to provide an obvious mechanism for turning it off or my only alternative will be to exit your site.
3. Menu Me. Stop making me download a PDF of your menu — just publish it directly on the page. Placing a downloadable menu on your site gives the user a reason to opt out, especially since folks are so weary of downloading corrupt files. Having your menu readable as text right on the page may even bump your search engine visibility because of all the keywords embedded in your dish names.
4. Annoying Animation. Ditch the annoying flash intros. One of my favorite pizzerias in the world has a loading page and eventual animation that does nothing but waste time. I have an immediate instinct to close a page as soon as I see the “Loading” bar appear. If I really want to track down info about your pizzeria, it’s easier for me to visit Yelp! and run the risk of seeing some bad reviews. Which do you prefer?
5. Faulty Formatting. Investigate how your site looks on multiple browsers. If it looks different on Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, Firefox or the utility of your choice, alert your Web master immediately! It frustrates me to no end when I have to scroll from side to side just to view all the information on a pizzeria page. Don’t forget to check compatibility with mobile devices. Some sites have separate mobile versions, but it’s possible to design one site that will work across the board. Newer smartphones are even able to make details like phone numbers and street addresses clickable so users can dial or view your location on their devices instantly, so be sure your site is formatted in a way that optimizes these options.

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

How rare is your cheese? Has it flown across the ocean just so your customers could have the exclusive opportunity to enjoy it? Are your tomatoes culled from a unique piece of earth that has been designated right and proper? The challenges of collecting such ingredients have become marketing points, especially within the Neapolitan pizza community, but there’s a parallel trend developing in New York and other major cities that promises even more flavor potential without the need to leave one’s neighborhood.

This new trend combines the two hottest food concepts of the moment: Neapolitan pizza and the locavore movement. I’ve been calling it NEOpolitan because it uses the Neapolitan model as a jumping-off point and launches into something completely new. Simple dough made of 00 flour baked quickly in a wood-fired oven provides the perfect foundation for creative flavor combinations utilizing local ingredients. The result is entirely unique and exciting in its ability to combine two upscale trends into one powerful pie.

I first encountered this pizza style five years ago at a pizzeria in Brooklyn. It seemed like a standard Neapolitan joint, complete with a large brick oven built by a third-generation Italian mason, but the menu had a list of the entire ingredient sourcing. Everything came from farms within a 250-mile radius. The list made me feel like I was cheating because so many pizzerias are protective of their ingredients, guarding them as trade secrets. This pizzeria eliminated the mystery of its process — and I loved the fact that its owners were willing to share with their customers.

Local ingredient selection is a point of pride for pizzerias. I recently met a chef in New Jersey who beamed with excitement as he told me how he picked the greens for my salad at a farm down the road that very morning. He wanted me to know how involved he was with the process, and I truly did appreciate it. Seafood restaurants can boast about the fish they purchased at the dock the same morning, so why can’t a pizzeria follow suit?

There’s also a lot to be said about supporting local purveyors in an effort to become more entwined with one’s community. One of my favorite NEOpolitan pizzerias searches farmers markets for unique local products to work into their menu. Some experiments are short-lived, while others gain full-time spots in the line-up. Either way, I’m sure it helps bring in new customers who want to see their friend’s product on a real restaurant menu. The constant influx of new ingredients must help feed the pizzaiolo’s creativity, which has never been the goal of standard Neapolitan pizza.

We have to remember that Neapolitan pizza is named as such because it uses the local ingredients of Naples. Since pizza was a peasant dish, pizzaioli would never dream of paying to import ingredients. Tomato and mozzarella were simply available in Southern Italy, so they became popular toppings by default. In a sense, featuring local ingredients in your pizzeria is more true to the original form of pizza than importing DOP San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella di bufala to your restaurant in Alabama.

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

It’s great when your phone is ringing off the hook, but I have a feeling your heart sinks every time the voice on the other end offers to “feature” you on their daily deal Web site. If you haven’t received one of these calls, it’s only a matter of time before you do. The basic gist is that the site offers an amazing coupon for your business — usually 50 percent off — to thousands of subscribers. You get plastered on their site for a day or two, and everyone on their email list is forced to read the name of your business (unless they click delete). There are no upfront costs; you just have to split the remaining 50 percent with the deal site.

I had the opportunity to work with one of the biggest group buying companies a couple years ago, just as they launched their site in New York. We did a big discount on my walking NYC Pizza Tour, and I had no idea what to expect. Daily deal sites were still pretty new at that time, so it was unchartered territory for me.
Sure, people were paying half price and I was only getting part of the remainder, but the influx of new customers was incredibly valuable — or so I thought. Most of the buyers had either never heard of my business or never cared enough to purchase a ticket.

The best part about my deal was that most of the new customers were local — and you know how powerful local clientele can be. If they like your business they’ll tell their friends, bring family members, write online reviews and help steady your customer flow. I’ve even had some customers who signed up for a tour after seeing it listed on the past deals page of the deal site. All in all, the deal ran pretty smoothly.

Now for the bad news. As soon as I ran my deal, scores of other companies started calling to offer similar “features” on their Web sites. Of course I didn’t want to run too many deals as I did not want to run the risk of devaluing my product. I also had to consider the chance that bargain shoppers could take up all the space on my tour, preventing full-price customers from signing up. From your point of view as a pizzeria owner, the last thing you want in your restaurant is for your tables to be filled with coupon-toting diners while your regular customers wait outside in the cold.

The way I see it is that it’s dangerous terrain, to be sure, but you can make it work if you navigate carefully. When preparing your deal, be sure to schedule it right before your slow season so you can attract new crowds when you need them the most. Lots of businesses complain about daily deal sites because they have been burned as a result of improper deal management. Don’t fall into this trap; plan your deal intelligently and train your staff to deal with the influx of new customers.
Once I walk into your restaurant with my daily deal coupon, it’s your job to convert me into a lifetime customer. Make sure I know about your mailing list, Facebook page, Twitter feed and Web sites so I can stay in the loop. You can even use the daily deal model on a micro level to feature one of your under-performing menu items for half price during a slow lunch. If you win me over, I’ll probably jump at the chance to stay connected to your business — even for full price.

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

When I was first asked to write a column for Pizza Today from my perspective as a professional pizza consumer, I polled my favorite pizzerias to find out what irked them the most about relating to their clientele. The responses were instant, uniform and came in the form of a four-letter word: Y-E-L-P.

Review sites like Yelp offer invaluable guidance to pizza consumers, such as myself, by presenting advice and recommendations from peers. As helpful as they are to me, I completely understand how reading these public forums would frustrate you as a business owner. Most of your reviews are probably shining recommendations from your long-time customers — but the occasional negative review can really ruin your day. Negative comments tend to be extremely negative and seldom give context for bad experiences. Sometimes users even complain about problems that could have easily been fixed. Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick up a phone after an hour of waiting for two large pies and a bottle of soda rather than post about it online? People tend to use their mobile phones for everything but having verbal conversations, so don’t count on getting a call from the customer who placed her order online and anticipates minimal interaction with the delivery driver.

If you think ignoring Yelp and other review sites is the best solution, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. Your customers have been telling their friends and families about the time they found a hair in their pizza for years, but you never had the chance to eavesdrop on their complaints like you do now. Think about how powerful it could be if you were somehow able to convert disgruntled customers into an army of loyal fans. Sites like Yelp give businesses the opportunity to respond either publicly or privately to their reviews. A well-worded note responding to a negative review shows the public how much you care about your product. I’ve read dozens of success stories about how nasty reviewers have become dedicated customers after interacting with business owners online. If you take the time to check in with the online chatter, it shows your customers that you care and want to give them the best experience possible.

Don’t forget that these reviewers are not the enemy — they are your customers. If they’re unhappy with something, you can choose to fix the problem. Maybe that pizza really did take an hour and a half to deliver. Maybe the cheese really was stuck to the roof of the box. A pizzeria owner in Queens recently told me that he is planning to add box toppers that say, “If you love us, Yelp us — if you don’t, give us a call” to give customers an option to correct their problems before they fall into public view. I think it’s a great way to keep reviews positive while improving quality control.

Whether you like it or not, there’s a conversation happening about your pizzeria and you can either ignore it or become part of it. Think of online review sites as tools rather than obstacles and you’ll quickly learn that they can provide far more help than harm.


Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

I’ve been in a real rut lately. There are dozens of quality pizzerias in my area, but when my friends want to go out for a pie or two (or six) we end up at the same place every time. It isn’t even close to my apartment; I have to take the subway six stops just to get to the right neighborhood. The prices aren’t any different from the other pizzerias in town, so it’s not like I’m going there to save money. There isn’t even a clever loyalty program to encourage repeat visits. So why am I so in love with this pizzeria? The answer is so incredibly simple and requires no additional costs or equipment. More importantly, it has the power to attract the most coveted of all customers: the ones who come back for more.

When I go out, I’m looking for more than just good food –– I’m looking for an experience. Part of that experience has to do with the physical nature of the space. I don’t need plush seating, but it’s nice when a room conveys a singular vibe. The pizzeria I’m currently in love with has funky mismatched chairs and large wooden tables with assorted found objects accenting the space. It’s a far cry from the TGI Friday’s school of decorating, but still conveys a degree of informality. That’s exactly what I want on pizza night because it makes me feel relaxed and ready to enjoy my favorite food without feeling like I’m underdressed.

Once inside, my attention falls on the staff. We all know a pleasant and attentive wait staff is important for any dining experience, but it’s a huge plus when my server goes beyond the call of duty to help me get more out of my stay. This person can give me vital clues about the menu because they (hopefully) have lots of experience eating from it. An insider tip about a favorite dish can get me out of my routine and introduce me to a new favorite dish. I would be forever grateful for the suggestion and you can bet it will influence the tip-o-meter.

I especially like it when the owner or manager takes a moment to stop by the table. There’s no better way to understand a pizzeria than by talking with its owner. I’ve read so many Yelp reviews about how great it was when “the owner stopped by to see what we thought about the pizza.” It’s pretty powerful when someone spends more time talking about meeting the pizzaiolo than they do about eating the pizza. As amazing as a dining experience may be, it can all fall apart in the final moments. Part of the reason I find myself frequenting the same pizzeria is that they make me feel comfortable during the entire visit. I never feel rushed to pay the bill and the bussers aren’t racing to snatch our half-eaten pizza bones. If two pizzerias serve similar food, I’d much rather patronize the one that let me manage my own pace.

So if you already make the best pizza in town and want the edge over your competition, help your customers feel at home with a healthy dose of comfort. A pizzeria with strong human identity is much easier for me to tell my friends about than one with an anonymous and cold vibe. If you keep it easy, you can be sure I’ll be back for more. I’ll probably even bring some friends.

Scott Wiener is Pizza Today’s ‘Man on the Street.’ The most enthusiastic pizza fanatic you’ll ever meet, Scott owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City. His column will appear regularly.

Last year, I ordered pizza from no fewer than 350 restaurants. The bulk of it was the result of my involvement with a statewide survey of pizzerias in New Jersey, performed on behalf of the state’s largest newspaper. The mission was unprecedented. Over the course of six months, we visited roughly 10 percent of the state’s pizzerias — and we followed the same protocol every single stop.

With the help of our trusty GPS, we called each pizzeria when we were three miles away, in hopes of placing our order anonymously while still arriving in time to catch the pizza as it emerged from the oven. The routine was simple: one large pizza, half cheese/half sausage, and one large pizza based on the pizzeria’s suggestion. Sounds simple enough, but I was shocked at how hard it was to get a clear recommendation.

The usual answer was something to the tune of, “We have a buffalo chicken pizza” (a violation of our no chicken rule) or even worse, a list of all the usual toppings available at every pizzeria on the planet. In those cases, we often threw the phone operator a bone by asking about standards like a Margherita pizza or Sicilian pizza. The response was so poor it made us wonder if these people had ever eaten at their own restaurants.

The real kicker came when we arrived and the owner realized we were reviewing her pizzeria, only to discover that we had ordered the wrong pie (i.e., the pie she wished we would review). Usually, the owner would try to convince us to taste the shop’s golden goose — but we had to decline. We had our orders, and rules are rules. After all, we called our order in like anybody else, ate like anybody else and paid like anybody else. In short, we were real customers.

Not only did many pizzerias show their lack of coordination by revealing disconnects between the phone person and management, but they also missed out on a great sale. Think of all the marketing dollars you put behind your business with the simple hope that someone will pick up the phone and place an order. Don’t drop the ball and lose them at the most critical moment. If your staff is informed about your unique ingredients, special preparation, featured dishes and culinary accolades, they’ll be well equipped to complete the sale in the most effective way possible. The more they know about your product, the more comfortable I, as a customer, will be with their recommendation.

We all know food preference comes down to personal taste, but it’s still possible to guide your customers when they ask you for advice. When I ask for a recommendation, I’m giving you the opportunity to sell me the pizza you eat after closing time and secretly wish everyone would order.

And don’t forget that anyone with a mobile phone is a veritable food critic, beaming photos and descriptions instantly to a sea of your potential customers. Make sure your team is ready to help people like me have the best experience possible — because you can be sure everyone we know will hear about it.

Scott Wiener is Pizza Today’s ‘Man on the Street.’ The most enthusiastic pizza fanatic you’ll ever meet, Scott owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City. His column will appear regularly.

Four years ago, I took a trip to Israel that changed my life. I didn’t have a profound religious experience as people sometimes do while visiting a place so rich in history, but I did begin to notice something that had never caught my eye before. This was the first time in my life I noticed a pizza box. Unlike the mundane paperboard boxes with minimally designed splotchy red ink patterns of my youth, these beauties were multi-colored masterpieces that went far beyond my imagined limits of a
box top.

Ever since my pizza box epiphany, I’ve paid close attention to the vessels in which we entrust our carefully crafted pies. I’ve even gathered a pretty extensive collection of boxes from more than\ 100 pizzerias across at least 25 different countries. I can definitely say that the simple prints of my childhood are going the way of the dinosaur.

The top of a pizza box is one of the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal. It quickly transforms from a flat, lifeless cardboard slab into a moving billboard as soon as your customer walks her pie out the front door. It even serves as an advertising vessel when it’s sitting atop the recycling pile at the curb. When I see a cool pizza box I make it part of my collection. That means I’ll most certainly post a photo of it on Facebook and Twitter. By this point, your utilitarian cardboard box has paid for itself with the number of advertising imprints it has produced. All it takes is a unique design to separate your message from the humdrum cardboard medium on which it is printed.

One need not look any further for evidence of attractive pizza boxes than this year’s Pizza Expo. Pizzerias were invited to enter their custom boxes into competition based on design and functionality. One entry featured information about high quality ingredients and the specifics of their origins, reaching beyond the dull “Only The Best Ingredients” or “Authentic Italian Recipes” we all see on generic boxes. Another was far simpler but gave instructions for reheating leftovers, which really excites me because it shows how much the pizzeria cares about their product even after it leaves the safety of their perimeter.

The initial impact of a catchy design is huge, but there’s also a lot of potential to create a ripple effect with your box. Lately I’ve seen lots box designs with built-in coupons. Pizzerias are running “collect 10 box-top coupons for a free pizza” promotions that fuel sales without the need to print additional collateral. I even saw a pizzeria in Italy that designed pop-out tokens into their box tops so customers could redeem cardboard “points” for food and prizes at future visits. These informal loyalty programs make my decision between two like pizzerias much easier when I know I’m building toward a reward.

Pizza boxes are often thought of as a necessary evil, but their ability to extend your brand into the homes of your customers is reason enough to put more thought into your box-top design. If you’re getting more creative with your pizza ideas, why not bridge that passion into your food’s delivery vehicle? I can’t wait to see the result so I can add to my collection. u

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

I often have to remind myself that there’s more to life than just pizza. The ability to contain a balanced meal with all the major food groups allows pizza to satisfy the needs of any dining situation, from a quick snack to a full-blown meal. I can eat it every day without getting bored, yet I still appreciate the occasional diversion. Even though pizzerias often concentrate on a single-item menu, I’m delighted to find additional offerings that fill in the blanks between slices. As a consumer, here are some non-pizza items I want to see on a menu when I walk into a pizzeria.

Pizza dough is always on hand, so why not use it to pump up your list of offerings? Calzones, stromboli and rolls (chicken roll, pepperoni roll, spinach roll) are simple modifications of your existing pizza options. I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes the calzone format is more appealing than a couple of slices. I’m eating the exact same ingredients, but the modified construction results in a completely different product.

I’m surprised I don’t see garlic knots on more menus. I love the punchy aroma of fresh garlic knots in a pizzeria — and they provide a nice snack while I’m waiting for my pie. All it takes are some strips of pizza dough, garlic, olive oil and cheese. Voila –– a tasty side dish that requires no additional ingredients or kitchen equipment!

That same dough can also become dessert with an extra ingredient or two. I recently had a plate of fried dough strips topped with Nutella and powdered sugar. You can also do cinnamon and sugar or any other sweet flavor combination you can imagine. If you have a fryer you might as well make zeppoles, which require nothing more than dough and powdered sugar. I’d be delighted to chase my slice with some sweets, so don’t be afraid to try some out on your loyal customers.

Now that I’ve eaten your pizza dough in its many forms, how about some quick vegetable dishes? I love oven-baked artichokes and stuffed peppers. You can get the job done in the corner of your pizza oven with nothing more than the veggies and your usual pizza ingredients.

To wash it all down, I would love to see some alternative beverages at pizzerias. There are tons of small companies who make unique sodas that can help set you apart from your middle-of-the-road competition. You already know how hot craft beers have become, so get ready for a wave of healthy, organic, all natural and small production sodas. I’m a big root beer fan, so you can bet I’ll pay an extra buck for that funky bottle of small-production Sarsaparilla.

In an industry with so much competition, these non-pizza offerings can provide the hook you need to reel in new customers and keep them coming back. You may even get some attention from the press for experimenting with unique menu items. Since everyone in town makes the best pizza in the world, you might as well throw a curve ball at your customer base and give them a reason to think of you before the place across the street.

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

BY SCOTT WIENER
PHOTOS BY JOSH KEOWN

I must have a terrible poker face, because it took about three seconds for the guy behind the counter to ask why I looked so confused. There I was, standing in the entrance of a pizzeria whose signage boasted “Brick Oven Pizza,” yet a wall of shiny stainless steel deck ovens stared right back at me. I politely asked, “Do you make all of your pizzas with those ovens?” It was my way of finding out if there was a secret wood-burner hiding in a back room, but the answer to my question negated my suspicion. I truly believe it’s possible to make a great pie with an Easy Bake Oven if you’ve got the chops, but what peeved me so deeply about this situation had more to do with psychology than great pizza. Thanks to the allure of “traditional” equipment and techniques, many pizzeria owners are convinced that marketing is more important than follow-through, a plan that does a great job of getting me through the door but often fails to deliver on its promise.

Lots of pizzerias toss around phrases like “traditional,” “authentic,” “old world” and “DOC” to create an illusion for the customer. Traits that were once regarded as messy and inconsistent are now desirable –– even Domino’s has its own “artisan” line with carefully blemished crusts and unconventional toppings. It’s obvious how powerful these images are to an increasingly food-literate population, but one cannot allow their product to be defined by image alone.

You’ve probably noticed the increase of San Marzano tomatoes on the tongues of chefs and pizza makers across the country, but that’s not necessarily what’s in their saucepans. I recently discovered that several of my favorite Neapolitan pizzerias are using a completely different type of tomato. Why? Because they believe it tastes better. With all the corruption and intrigue in today’s food labeling world, I’m much more comfortable trusting a chef’s taste buds than I am the name on the side of a can.

If there’s one thing our allegiance to convention has robbed us of, it is the confidence to strive for innovation. A new pizzeria recently opened in the back room of a bar in Brooklyn. They advertise some “old world” techniques, such as a 100-percent natural fermentation process, Italian tomatoes and mozzarella di bufala, but instead of using an imported wood-burning oven they opted for a modified tabletop pottery kiln. It’s composed of a base and a “dome” with exactly enough room for one pizza at a time. After a topped skin is loaded onto the hot brick hearth, the “dome” lowers into place and blasts the pie with enough heat to finish the bake in about 60 seconds. It’s absolutely incredible, but far from traditional.

When I take my friends to a pizzeria, it isn’t because of the recipes’ authenticity or the presence of a brick oven. You can make any claims you want on the sign above your front door, but all I really care about is the quality of your food. Why hide under tricky marketing when you can stand behind the best pizza in town?

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

Lower Manhattan is a ghost town. Century-old trees are uprooted, the world’s most incredible public transportation system has ground to a halt and power is out — not just in some buildings, but everywhere south of 28th Street. As I write this, New York is just days removed from the landfall of Hurricane Sandy. Most residents and businesses have remained closed, but several pizzerias have figured out how to keep the lights on both literally and figuratively.

The first challenge for powerless pizzerias is how to make dough without a working mixer. Some went back in time and whipped up batches by hand. A beautiful photo quickly made the rounds on Twitter of Motorino’s Mathieu Palombino, hands deep in a flour trench filled with yeast-clouded water. Employees at Pizza Box on Bleecker Street were proud of their handmade dough, especially because they had never attempted it over decades of pizza making.

Others were fortunate enough to have access to kitchens in electrified parts of the city. I saw Roberto Caporuscio getting out of a taxi with two bags of vegetables and a stack of dough trays. He was transporting supplies from the refrigerator at Don Antonio in the Theater District to his powerless Greenwich Village pizzeria, Keste. A similar task was necessary for Forcella’s Giulio Adriani, who carted dough from his location in Brooklyn to the one in Manhattan. Newcomer Cowboy Pizza in the Lower East Side made trips to Long Island for access to a working mixer at a friend’s pizzeria, even though road and bridge closures made the drive interminable.



Even with mixed dough in hand, the problem of storing it without refrigeration remained. The storm brought a cold front to New York so overnight temperatures are low enough for dough trays to be stored outside. Pizza makers had to tweak their dough formulas to compensate for slightly warmer ambient temperature but I found the slightly softer crust texture to be a welcome change. 

Heating ovens is no challenge for pizzerias whose central piece of equipment is fueled by wood, coal or natural gas, but operating them safely with minimal light is another story. Joe’s in Greenwich Village created a system of flashlights taped to poles to provide oven lighting. Percy’s lit its tiny counter by candlelight. Lombardi’s probably had the most complex setup, with a series of car batteries powering lights in the kitchen, dining room and even a couple for the sign outside. Most pizzerias are avoiding the lighting issue altogether by restricting service to take-out and delivery.

No matter what obstacles are placed before them, these pizzerias found solutions. Beyond just being a business, you’re part of a community that depends on you for comfort food in times of need. Seeing how these pizzerias have gone out of their way to serve their neighbors has been a great testament to the resilience and dependability of the pizza industry. Just think about what you would do in an emergency situation so people like me can turn to you for the comfort of a warm slice.u

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

There’s no such thing as Italian pizza. Allow me to clarify: there is no single Italian style of pizza. That would be like saying there’s only one style in the United States. Instead, there’s a patchwork of variations based on different regional histories and ingredient availability. We’re already familiar with Neapolitan pizza, but New York is currently experiencing a surge of Roman-style pizza that may prove to be a perfect complement.

Two distinct Roman pizza styles have gained popularity over the past few years, the first of which is called pizza al metro. As the name describes, pizzas are a full meter long. In Rome, slices are cut to order and priced according to weight. Pizza al metro in NYC is usually cut into even slices at pizzerias like Merilu Pizza Al Metro (located in Hell’s Kitchen), but Pie by the Pound (Greenwich Village) serves the traditional Roman method. The dough is rolled extremely thin and topped delicately with simple ingredients. I always go for combinations like cherry tomatoes and mozzarella di bufala or potato and rosemary, but they also have popular standbys such as Margherita and pepperoni for the less adventurous.

The second version is called pizza al taglio, or “pizza by the cut.” This one is also rectangular with a thickness somewhere between pizza al metro and Sicilian pizza. Like its thinner Roman counterpart, pizza al taglio is usually cut with scissors and reheated to order. The owner of Pizza Roma on Bleecker Street stresses the fact that pizza al taglio utilizes a very wet dough to combat dehydration experienced during the reheat process. The dough at Pizza Roma is allowed to ferment for 96 hours so the base is extremely light and flavorful, with a beautiful crunch on the underside.

Both varieties are traditionally baked in electric ovens because natural gas is far too expensive in Rome. It also allows for an extremely consistent bake over the exaggerated length of the pizzas. Pizza al metro is usually baked directly on the oven floor, whereas the thicker pizza al taglio is baked in shallow pans. Most pizzerias I’ve seen serving Roman pizza are doing so exclusively, with the exception of Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco, where you can get Roman-style pizza al metro in a sit-down atmosphere. Tony makes use of the pizza’s length by creating a cohesive three-course meal, including antipasto, entrée and dessert sections. It’s a deliciously ingenious way to adapt the style to a tableside format.

If you like the upscale, artisanal nature of Neapolitan pizza, think of Roman pizza al metro and pizza al taglio as its by-the-slice counterparts. Slices usually sell for $3 to $5 and pair well with wine and beer. There’s also lots of opportunity for topping experimentation because the Roman formats are too new to America to be stuck in stifling traditions like New York slices. We’re only just beginning to see Roman pizza bubble up in the streets of New York, but keep your eyes peeled because it has the potential to become the take-away answer to pizza’s ever-growing profile. u

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.  

I recently witnessed a serious crime at my local corner pizzeria. Upon receiving his slice, a customer proceeded to mindlessly dump the contents of every spice shaker within reach onto its glistening surface. Ever since pizza infiltrated American soil in the 1900’s folks have been customizing their slices with an array of powders and flakes, which I refer to as toppers. Unlike toppings, toppers are consumer-controlled. The ritual of topper application is as much a part of eating a slice as the paper plate upon which it is served, but my traumatic experience made me question why pizzerias are allowing themselves to lose control of their carefully designed flavor profiles at the hands of topper abuse.

Eating a slice without the option of dried oregano and crushed pepper flakes would feel incomplete, but there are some pizzerias going beyond the norm in their topper selections. Pizzerias like Fornino and the modestly titled Best Pizza in Brooklyn both offer infused olive oil. It’s as simple as adding peppers, herbs, seeds or any other spices to a bottle of oil. (Just be careful with roots like garlic, which must be pre-treated to limit risk of botulism.) I’ve also seen unusual pizza toppers such as marjoram and sesame seeds. Brooklyn’s Pete Zaaz even created their own exclusive topper called “Cheesy-Herby-Spicy Goodness,” which contains a mix of pickled jalapeños, dried Thai basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano and crushed Cheez-Its. Unique toppers are a great way to extend your shop’s personality while maintaining control after handing a pizza over to your customer.

Even if you stick to the usual suspects (grated cheese, garlic powder, pepper flakes and oregano), you can maintain quality by carefully choosing ingredients. I was horrified last week when I tasted some grated cheese only to find it was one step above pure salt. Anyone who makes the mistake of dumping it onto his or her slice is probably going to blame you. Good ingredients aren’t cheap, but there are ways to protect your investment. John’s and Lombardi’s in Manhattan keep their Parmesan in the back kitchen to prevent people from overusing it. Pizza Box, also in Manhattan, chains their cheese shakers to the wall to prevent theft. Don’t forget that even though they are on the customer’s side of the counter, these are still your ingredients.

Now that you have unique and/or high quality ingredients on your tables, consider the shakers themselves. I’m amazed every time I see generic supermarket containers of garlic powder at pizzerias. It sends a clear message that this ingredient is not a priority. You don’t have to get too fancy; I love it when pizzerias use baby food jars and Snapple bottles with holes poked in the lids in place of store-bought shakers. If it works for your room, go with it. Just as toppers are ingredients, the shakers themselves are part of your décor.

You have the power to maintain control of your food even after it crosses the boundary of your slice counter. Think of those spice shakers as your pizza’s final ingredient and you’ll limit the risks of topper abuse.u

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

What do your customers really want? It’s the single most important question a restaurant owner can ask — yet you could spend your entire career chasing the answer. Even with instant feedback on Twitter, Yelp!, Facebook and similar sites, it’s nearly impossible to sift constructive criticism from the endless pages of noise. In an effort to solve this dilemma, we went directly into the root of the matter and interviewed customers at some of New York’s most popular pizzerias. The survey consisted of one simple question: “What are the most important characteristics in a pizzeria?” We polled dozens of people from cities across the U.S., asking them to write down their top three responses. The result will give you a window into the minds of your pizzeria’s most valuable asset: your customer base.

A warm atmosphere is an absolute must. Of the 88 people we polled, 53 mentioned a restaurant’s atmosphere as one of their top concerns. That’s over 60 percent, so if you haven’t put serious thought into your physical space you might want to revise your game plan. Phrases like “homey setting,” “warmth” and “old-world ambience” were common responses, suggesting that earthy tones and dim lighting are preferable to settings that are bright and flashy. Alex Lasker from Manalapan, New Jersey, wants to see a “big oven in a dimly lit pizzeria.” This directly reflects the ever-growing Neapolitan trend, with its attractive wood-burning ovens suggesting the traditional hearth while simultaneously providing a visual focal point that creates continuity between the kitchen and dining room.

Even though hole-in-the-wall spots are intriguing to some pizza lovers, the overall cleanliness of the space is clearly of concern. Ten people responded with notes about maintenance of restrooms and dining areas. Just be careful not to confuse cleanliness with sterility, because several comments pertaining to atmosphere noted an aversion to restaurants that feel like chains.

More than 37 percent of the people we interviewed listed restaurant staff as crucial to their dining experience. Your customers’ personal interactions have just as much to do with their comfort level as does the restaurant’s ambiance. Several indicated a preference for “mom and pop” pizzerias with one participant directly suggesting a “friendly family run staff.” This isn’t to suggest you hire your third cousin, but the staff culture is clearly perceptible to customers. Kevin Lewis from Seattle wants “to feel like I’m sitting down with family,” reinforcing the notion that people want to feel like guests in your home rather than customers of your business.

There’s also a noticeably positive view of owner interaction within our survey responses. Guyer McCracken said, “It creates a warm atmosphere when I know the owner.” People love to receive attention from the person whose name is on the outside of the building. Paulie Gee’s in Brooklyn gets high ratings because of their food, but nearly every review comments on how Paulie Gee himself visits each table in the restaurant. Seeing the face behind the name induces a level of comfort that can overcome the stress of a forgotten drink or botched order.

Variety isn’t just the spice of life — it’s also an essential component of a successful restaurant. Considering the ever-growing sea of dining options, it should be no surprise that our poll indicates customer interest in variety. Issues of food and drink selection were mentioned in 36 percent of responses, with the majority of participants showing interest in alcoholic beverages. Beer was mentioned more often than wine and the availability of hard liquor seems to be of no concern to those we interviewed. Survey respondents did show a clear interest in drink pairings, particularly with regard to beer. If you don’t currently suggest beverage pairings via servers or menus, you may want to consider it as a way to boost both your customers’ experience and ticket totals. This is a particularly suitable method for introducing your customers to local and craft brews that aren’t familiar to your customers.

As far as food is concerned, several interviews revealed a desire for multiple crust options. Several families polled experienced internal disputes over the preference for thick or thin crusts, with younger respondents preferring the prior and older customers the latter. The vast majority of surveys mentioned “Neapolitan,” “thin” and “light” as desirable attributes for pizza bases. Nancy from Beulah, Colorado, wants “a chewy crust with real flavor.” Although nobody made direct requests about whole wheat, gluten free, organic or other health-oriented options, the general preference seems to be for keeping things on the lighter side.

Most wish lists considered best-case scenarios for pizza eating situations, such as family outings and date nights, but a strong contingent of 22 percent embraced the reality of busy schedules by including delivery and take-out among their top concerns. Technology is making ordering a pizza easier than ever, yet only a few survey participants mentioned online ordering or mobile apps as priorities. If you have these systems in place, be sure to let customers know about them.

Financial convenience was not a great concern for most, with words like “cheap” and “value” appearing on only 11 percent of customer surveys. The current trend of $1 slices (or even cheaper) in New York seems to cut more into the fast food segment than pizzerias, proving that sales made on price point create little interference with those made on quality-based assessments. Perhaps value campaigns like coupons and daily deals are only giving your customers a discount on food they were already planning to purchase.

However significant the previously mentioned factors may be, none came close to the widespread demand for good food. An incredible 95 percent of responses listed food quality as a top priority. Even though your service is perfect, your restaurant is spotless, the beverage list is unstoppable and deliveries reach their destinations within minutes, it’s meaningless if the food isn’t delicious. Tammy V. from St. Louis went so far as to say, “I honestly don’t care if it is a hole in the wall as long as it is good.” This short survey proves that food quality prevails even in a harsh economic climate with deals and gimmicks coming from every angle. If this is a shock, you may need to reevaluate more than just your restaurant.

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City. 

My heart sank as I reached the front door, only to realize that the worst was true. The usual line was nonexistent; the lights inside were dim and the front gates were down. My only clue was a small yellow notice on the front door. Apparently the New York City Department of Health and Human Hygiene had deemed this beloved pizzeria unfit to open. The reputation of an over 80-year-old pizzeria was on the line, and I was forced into the delicate position of defending its honor.

I could feel the text messages, voice mails and tweets piling up as friends and colleagues looked for answers upon hearing the news, but the challenge at hand was to explain to my pizza tour group why I was planning to feed them slices from an “unsanitary” restaurant. My tour wasn’t forming a great first impression of this landmark pizzeria, so it instantly became my job to play publicist and clean up the messy situation as we walked across the street to a pizzeria that had been spared by the DOH.

The first thing I had to do was explain the DOH grading system and how its standards impact the city’s fabled pizza culture. As in many other cities, letter grades reflect a certain number of points that are deducted for violations. Pizzerias fight an uphill battle because product is often staged in display cases, prompting instant deductions. I’ve seen pizzerias go so far as to tag the exact time and temperature of each pizza as it hits the counter yet still shiver in fear at the thought of a health inspector. Every pound of “contaminated” food earns even more deductions. So one hole in a 50-pound bag of flour can be lethal for a restaurant’s score.

Education is the best way out of a sticky situation, but be careful how you present information to your customers. I’ve heard lots of pizzeria managers say it’s impossible for bacteria to survive the high temperatures of a pizza oven — but that can sound like an excuse to let hygiene slide. I’ve also heard the charges that health inspectors are just looking for reasons to pull your score down because they want to make a name for themselves. Hear this through a customer’s ears and it sounds like a pile of unfounded excuses. Try instead to explain clearly what went wrong and how you intend to fix it. People love hearing about all the ways you’re going to improve their dining experience, so make this an opportunity to highlight the future rather than attempting to cover up the past.

A health department closing leaves a bitter taste in your customers’ mouths before they even have a chance to sample your food. Its punch is far more powerful than a few days of lost business; it’s a scarlet letter in the eyes of your customers. Do everything you can to educate your customers and it will soften the blow delivered by an unplanned closing.

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.

After my fifth sub-$1 tip, I decided to stop keeping track altogether. I wasn’t doing this for the money, but if I were I would have been horribly disappointed. I was delivering pizzas for one of the Big Three national chains. Despite being a huge fan of all things pizza, I had never actually worked in a pizzeria — so last winter I initiated a long-term project of working a variety of jobs within the industry. First, I worked the line at a neighborhood pizzeria on a busy Saturday night. Then I slung slices at a New York pizzeria during the lunch shift. But the job that surprised me the most had little to do with food. Over the course of three weeks I experienced the ins and outs that come with being the pizza industry’s unsung hero –– the delivery driver.

My first shock was that I was being paid more than the folks who actually made the pizza. As I got to know my coworkers, I realized that older staff members were making deliveries, while students and other part-timers with fewer bills were in the kitchen. This sent a clear message that delivery was important to this company. With most orders being placed via mobile devices and online, the delivery driver was often the pizzeria’s only direct point of contact with a customer. What I always thought of as a menial position was turning out to be far more valuable than I anticipated.

The financial benefit of my gig quickly decreased when I realized how much of the money I was making would end up going into auto maintenance, but some unexpected responsibilities arose as I worked more shifts. Customers would ask questions normally directed toward an in-store manager, but since I was flying solo in the delivery car I was forced into a crucial position.
There were several instances in which my limited training left me unprepared to tackle problems, and the worst time to seek guidance from my superiors was on those busy Friday nights when I needed them the most. Management may have thought I was just a delivery boy, but in reality I was the company’s sole representative on the doorstep of every customer.

The stereotypical disheveled pizza delivery boy I’d always seen in movies driving a beat-up car with candy bar wrappers on the floor who couldn’t care less about the three large pies and two bottles of soda he’s dragging across town was far from the reality of my job. As much as the pizza snob in me hates to admit it, I even felt a sense of pride while wearing my uniform. It made me feel like part of a team, rather than a lowly messenger.

A delivery driver is not only part of your team, but in many ways the most crucial position when it comes to non-kitchen staff. Do as much as possible to prepare them to represent you out on the road and the benefits will be felt throughout your business — especially in the driver’s tip cup.

Scott Wiener owns and operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.