August 19, 2024 • 42 mins
Host Jim Serpico interviews pizza entrepreneur Siler Chapman, discussing Chapman's journey from traditional brick-and-mortar pizza shops to a successful mobile catering business, 'King of Fire.' Chapman shares insights about his pivot to mobile catering, the challenges and benefits of mobile vs. brick-and-mortar setups, and strategies for brand building. He also talks about his experiences in the competitive pizza scene, including winning world titles and the importance of continuous learning and adapting. The conversation touches on practical advice for managing a mobile pizza business, including starting small, finding the right locations, and scaling up effectively.
SHOW NOTES
00:20 Meet Siler Chapman
01:33 Siler's Pizza Journey
03:09 Transition to Mobile Catering
06:23 COVID-19 Adaptations
07:33 Challenges and Strategies
11:08 Starting Small and Scaling Up
16:30 Brick and Mortar Considerations
18:30 Lease Negotiations and Legal Tips
19:27 A Unique Opportunity in Clover, SC
20:05 Evaluating the Market Demand
20:48 Choosing the Right Pizza Style
22:31 Catering Challenges and Creativity
24:06 Weather Impact on Mobile and Brick-and-Mortar
25:56 Promoting and Managing Mobile Locations
27:41 Catering Packages and Pricing Strategies
34:30 Training and Retaining Staff
35:39 Pizza Acrobatics and Competitions
41:42 Final Thoughts and Community Support
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jim-serpico-bread-for-the-people-sourdough-pizza-life--5704379/support.
SHOW NOTES
00:20 Meet Siler Chapman
01:33 Siler's Pizza Journey
03:09 Transition to Mobile Catering
06:23 COVID-19 Adaptations
07:33 Challenges and Strategies
11:08 Starting Small and Scaling Up
16:30 Brick and Mortar Considerations
18:30 Lease Negotiations and Legal Tips
19:27 A Unique Opportunity in Clover, SC
20:05 Evaluating the Market Demand
20:48 Choosing the Right Pizza Style
22:31 Catering Challenges and Creativity
24:06 Weather Impact on Mobile and Brick-and-Mortar
25:56 Promoting and Managing Mobile Locations
27:41 Catering Packages and Pricing Strategies
34:30 Training and Retaining Staff
35:39 Pizza Acrobatics and Competitions
41:42 Final Thoughts and Community Support
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jim-serpico-bread-for-the-people-sourdough-pizza-life--5704379/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Here's a quote from my next guest. I believe pizza
is more than food. It's a way of life. I
turned pizza into entertainment, nourishment, and a source of income
for people around the world. Welcome to bread for the people.
I'm Jim sur Pitou. I'm so excited to speak with
(00:22):
Sila Chapman today, who's actually on a road trip with
some heavy hitters and pizza in Modesto, California. I'm looking
at Siler sitting in a field now. Sila just got
off a bus, like I said, with a bunch of
pizza makers, and one of them is a very good
(00:43):
friend of mine named Augie Russo. A lot of you
guys know may know Algie. He and I are on
the Gosny Pizza Collective together. And I know Algie really well,
so I don't think he'll mind. But I've been thinking
about what is it like to be trapped on a
bus with Algie in the morning, and it probably goes
something like this, Hey, hey Shiner, I know you're sleeping,
(01:04):
but the other day I was in Brooklyn and I
saw these zucchini floretches growing out of a crack man
in an alley, and I stuck them in my pocket,
and then I went to get some collaborate Chilis and
some panco.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Man, let's make some pizza. You want to make some pizza?
Is that what it's like to hang out with Augie?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
That is perfect that he's on. How's like going today? Brother? Oh?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Things are real good, man, things are real good. I
have truly been excited to speak with you. I mean,
Syler is one of the godfathers of pizza in the
United States. He's one of the founding members of the
World Pizza Champions. He holds many awards. He has three
world titles for pizza acrobatics. He's been on television, he
(01:49):
is an ambassador of the pizza game. He's known to
be one of the nicest guys. I have been very
interested in the mobile catering business in the last two years,
and of course I came across what you're doing with
your company, King of Fire, and I mean, it's just
amazing to me.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I believe you have seven trucks at this point, right yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
And now we're saying, okay, let's get back into the
brick and mortar games. So we have a forty five
hundred square foot brick and mortar being built right now.
We'll be open around November first or the second, somewhere
in there. And then we just sold a brick and
mortar franchise in downtown Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
So that's super kidding, yep.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So that was one of the things I wanted to
get into you because I'm new at this game and
I have no brick and mortar presence. All I really
have is Instagram presence as a breadmaker and local following
doing farmers market selling bread and have gotten deep into
pizza in the last few years. And I have a
(02:53):
small bubble truck right now with a Ghosni dome in it.
But I was curious because I know you did have
a brick and mortar called Size for a while, and
now you're deep into the mobile game. You know, why
did you make the decision to go all mobile?
Speaker 4 (03:14):
So just to kind of do a real quick background,
I created Size Pizzeria and we built that the three
standalone you know, brick and mortars, and did very well
with that concept. And then in two thousand and seven,
I had one of our customers, he actually owned all
of Bow Jingles at the time, the Chicken Place, and
(03:37):
he just did a transition of selling that concept and
he wanted to go deeper into the pizza game, so
he bought all of North and South Carolina for Donado's Pizza,
which is a franchise based out of Columbus, Ohio, and.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
He wanted me to become a partner.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
And at that time we opened up twenty five stores
in the Carolinas and did very well.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
At twenty ten was very rocky for us.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
I mean, I think everybody got hit in the Carolina's
pretty hard after the eight It just took, you know,
two years to catch up to us. So we ended
up shutting ten stores down and it.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Was a lot of work.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
I mean, we were all burned out. So we ended
up selling those off and ended up I took a
non compete, didn't really do much and that you know.
I still was a part of the World Pizza Champions
and the games there at Pizza Expo, but I kind
of went off and did my own thing for a
couple of years and tried to do a different path.
(04:35):
But the pizza gods brought me back. I saw actually
here in California, I saw Justin Wadstein's mobile unit at
a winery and we were we created Me and Michael
Sheppard created Perfecting Pizza at the time in twenty fifteen,
basically around the mom and pop helping them become more successful.
And then we saw these little mobile units and I
(04:56):
was like, I fell in love and I was like,
I've got to get one of these.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
And all I want to do is do.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Some pop ups. I want to do some neighborhood things
and really just do focus on the weddings, you know,
in the private caterings. And at the time, Carmine ended
up having a little trailer too, and then my buddy
Tony Sarah Melli had a trailer, and so I went
and actually visited them all and said, hey, I want
to see what y'all are doing. And then I saw
(05:24):
the money behind Then I was like, wow, these guys
have high, high margins out of these little catering trailers.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And I said, you know what, Let's build a brand.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
And that was the birthday King of Fire in twenty eighteen,
and now we're five years into it with seven trailers.
I got super happy because at the end of the day,
I was like, Okay, we can make a brand out
of this one to the money, you know, when I
first started with me and my wife Amber. We were
making sixty five percent. So if you made a thousand bucks,
(05:57):
you're taking home six hundred and fifty bucks, food and
any help that you had, any little you know, your
payments on the trailer in the truck.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
You know, it was. It was amazing.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Then I was like, Okay, what happens if you put
a manager in your place? What happens if you put
someone in the commissary in that place? You're going to
add some expenses. Well, we got to a thirty percent
net net, and I said, you know what, we have
something here. And then COVID happened, right, and then that
was I think.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
You know, so many.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
People got affected with COVID and bless everyone out there,
but we were very blessed through COVID. And what happened
is the transition of breweries. Because we started going to breweries,
we started doing business parks. Well, the people at the
business parks started working from home, and the breweries got
shut down in the Carolinas, so nobody could do anything.
(06:50):
So my wife had this genius idea, Hey, we started
off in our neighborhood, what if we post on Facebook
to the you know, the Carolinas and say, hey, we'll
come to your neighborhood, set up at the and we'll
do you know, we'll put the pizza on the window.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
You can come and pick it up. It's all a touch.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Lists and you order online so you don't have to
change any money, because nobody at the time knew if
was money dirty?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Did it? You know track COVID, nobody knew.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Right, Yeah, that's how I started.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
By the way, during COVID, I started delivering bread to homes. Uh,
they could order online and we would cover Long Island
and we would be selling. You know, we would do
seventy homes a day.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Oh my goodness, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
People would look forward to like something fresh out of
the oven showing up at their house. The kids would
answer the door and scream, the bread guys here, and
they would love it.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
But over time that changes, right, because then that that
went away, And that's kind of where I'm at. I'm
curious to go back a little on the brand building
aspect because I've talked to a lot of people because
I I'm trying to figure out what my next step is,
and I was I was thinking pretty hard about brick
and mortar, and I've been taking classes on restaurant systems.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Do you think it's possible? Because you kind of reversed it.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
A lot of people have their brick and mortar be
the anchor, and then off of that they do catering.
You do the complete opposite, which interests me a lot.
And maybe because I'm from selling stuff at farmers' markets
in the street, like I kind of know it already.
I know what I'm getting into, almost more so than
brick and mortar, so it doesn't scare me. But I've
(08:30):
been told it's not the smartest way to go for
which aspect to go mobile first, because that's what I'm
thinking about doing right now. They're saying, they recommend I
don't go mobile first, even though I have a small
mobile thing now, but I am looking to get like
a larger twenty five foot with a mar Forny in there, yeah,
(08:52):
and be able to do the bigger party so I
could output enough pizzas at the same time. But then
these people are telling me, you really should go brick
and mortar first.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
What do you think about that?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
So let's go deep, All right, let's go deep on that.
I love this all right.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
So with brick and mortar, you're married to the landlord
for five ten years, right, depending on the least she signed. Correct,
also the purveyor, so if you owe them back money,
you're married to them.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Right.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
With mobile, the good part is, Hey, if things starting
to go south, or you're at this one location and
it's just not doing good, guess what you can pick up.
Go to the other side of town and see how
you do there. How you know, each little pocket in
Charlotte was different for us. Some areas loved our restaurant
right in our concept. Some areas we did a quarter
(09:42):
of the numbers. The stores didn't. And the demographics are
all the same. The density was the same, everything's the same.
But why wasn't it doing good? Because it's the location.
Maybe it was hard to get into the shopping center
and we didn't.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
See that piece. So there's so many little details.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
With brick and mortar, if you don't pick the right location,
you're done right. And then, oh, by the way, now,
what used to we could build out a restaurant for
two hundred and fifty thousand, you're building out for five
hundred thousand. The little little shop that you were building
out for fifty is cost them one to fifty.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Now, the other obstacle I'm finding in that is like
that build out, it is okay, I'm buying a first
generation space. What I find when I'm looking around here
on a second generation space, it's not build out to
what I want to make, right, So I'm still paying
for assets that that aren't optimal for me. I'm paying
(10:38):
for certain types of pizza ovens that I don't want
to use. I don't want to use a Marcel oven.
Nothing against Marcel, but I'm trying to do with something different.
It's a waste of money for me, right, So don't
do that part right? Or why are they trying to
get out? Here's the whole question, Jim. If they're doing
so good, why are they getting out?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Right?
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Okay, well, maybe you got people that are older, second
generation of the family.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Did the kids not want to do it because they.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Saw how hard they're I'm going to work and yeah,
and they're miserable as a family. So again, let's start slow,
let's go mobile. Let's go around and find the pockets
that are hot. And when you find that, no matter
what time you come, you get a line.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Let me ask you a question right there when you
say start slow, I'll be perfectly honest, like I'm doing
a lot of the prep from a friend's doing me
a favor right to let me use these place as
a commissary. And that's where the health department comes and
does my inspection. It's not really suitable for big operation.
(11:45):
So when you started, where were you doing your prep
for the truck in.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
My mom's In my mom's house, Yeah, in her laundry.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
When we moved out, all the laundry equipment, moved it
somewhere else, and I made a little dovert of it. Yeah, okay,
and then I would prep all the dough and everything.
And then in the her garage we did a three
door refrigeration in it.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
And cool thing in the Carolina is you don't need
a health inspection if you're doing anything private or catering.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Right as soon as you went to the public I
needed a commissary.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
It's kind of the same here. They don't really have
a way of knowing you're doing privates. So a lot
of the guys just have a like a an often
that day tell with no hand sinks anything. I'm going
with the inspections and the three sinks, and because I
want to be able to do you know, some legit
stuff in the public, you know, right, So then.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I said, okay, let's start finding. I couldn't afford fifteen
hundred dollars at the month. I'm starting all small, right,
So I found a local church that was charging four
hundred and fifty bucks a month for rent in their commissary.
Kiting perfect, I could bring my own equipment. Had the
three door already, I needed to buy another one. They
allowed me to do that, so I had six doors.
(13:01):
So now I have room for growth. So we went
to the second trailer. We had all the space I
had parking now at this church that they were allowing us.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
So my rent went up to about seven hundred bucks.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
But at that point I could afford it, right, you know,
before starting out, it would have killed me to start
that high. And now we outgrew the church. So this
is the stages of growth. When we went to trailer three,
four and five, now we're doing fifty five to six
thousand dough balls a week in production. Well, guess what,
(13:33):
we need a bigger space. So I got lucky started
looking around. We found six thousand square feet of an
old printer place that was running like you know, they
were actually adding printer machines in there and everything. And
I dropped about ninety grand between plumbing hoods and we
made a commissary kitchen because it was there was none
(13:53):
really in Charlotte, and all the ones that were there
are all maxed out. And I did it a little different.
I said, I fifteen people other food trucks, bakers, and
let's go with them and they can help offset the rent.
The rent was only twenty five hundred bucks, but even
if we had to take it on ourselves, we had
(14:13):
the cash flow at that point because we were doing
the volume to be able to handle that rent. So
now we're renting out to fifteen other people. And I
never wanted to be in the commissary business, but it
was just the affordability of this space was perfect, big
parking in the back, so I had room for growth.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Now we're maxed out.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Three years later in this commissary, we're maxed out of
people and I have a year waiting list for people.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
To even get in.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Now, what about the employees in that jump, Because that's
something that I struggle with because I start with me
and my wife doing all the work. Then I bring
my kids in, then I bring my friends kids in,
and we don't really want people. We don't know at
this point in some of our private space, but we're
at the level where we have to do something real.
(15:01):
But then there's a big economic jump because now you're
paying someone at least one person full time. That changes
the game on a lot of levels. So did you
go out of pocket and take a risk, you.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Know, taking a calculated risk with the employees? You want
to look and project yourselves and say, okay, hey, what
can I really afford?
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Right?
Speaker 4 (15:24):
And if you take a part time person that might
just won't work at night, might just want lunch work,
you personally might be covered for the dinner shift.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
So again, what are you looking for and does that role?
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Can they roll into a full time eventually or just
jump in with one person?
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Do full time? Get them fifty hours?
Speaker 4 (15:43):
And do you do a flat you know, almost like
a salary position or do you do hourly? And I
like the hourly, We do have salaries, but the hourly
is when we do have slow tomes. You've got winner
up there right, Oh yeah, So are you going to
be as busy in the winner as you are in
the summer and the peak seasons.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
No, we won't.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah, I mean I might want to use that winter
time to do stuff in my life at this age
that I never would have done, whether it's going to
Italy to study more pizza or go try to work
with someone like you for two months.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
And that's the beauty. But that's the beauty I mobile.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
So then you're finding these pockets of what is doing
really good and what side of town is really loving
what you're putting out and they're vibing with you. Once
you find that pocket, that's where you want to do
your brick and mortar. Ah, you can start looking around
that town for Hey, this guy's going out of business.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
And here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
So many people are selling their pizzerias, right yeah, and
they're selling them between one hundred and fifty two to
fifty whatever it may be. They're just trying to get
their assets and their money back out right right.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, Well, we all know restaurant equipments thirty cents on
the dollar used, So are they even evaluating that? Are
you changing the name?
Speaker 4 (16:58):
If you change the name, you're not buying anything, correct, right,
and so it's different if you're buying a turnkey restaurant
that you don't even have to work because it's already
turned key.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
There's the difference.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
And they're just trying to get their assets out and
then it's not even the right assets for you. So
just wait for them to go out of business, call
the landlord on the back end. And I've done this
multiple times. Hey, when uh spot A goes out, I
want that spot. Please let me be the first one
to call and let's get at least together.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
That's a really good idea back where you get your
relationship with the landlord and that is at the end
of the day. That's how you get that way deeper.
But the biggest few things you're already done. Plumbing and
the HVAT. So you got to remember plumming, the brief
trap and all wrap trap, busting up all that. That's
your one of your largest EU go brick and watar
(17:56):
h is ridiculous in its now units are up thirty
three year over year right now just to get a
new so again you already have that all in place.
So that that's always been my little secret on getting
a better deal in a bang for your buck instead
(18:16):
of hey, this guy's down to Piet the place and
you're just on a stuff that you don't even need.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Well, I know one right now trying to sell. That's
asking one fifty. And I also know they only have
a year and a half left on their lease.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
So like, now, let's tell when you go to buy it, Okay,
that landlord actually can refuse you in a year and
a half and I don't want to resign you, right,
So now you're one hundred and fifty out the pocket. Right,
So knowing that what I'm telling you, now, you got
to go to the landlord and say, am buying?
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Will I get an option of another pie or another three?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Right?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (18:52):
Yes, yes, yes, well I actually know we're actually gonna
sell landlord.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Here's what, and this is really crazy, is be shopping centers.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
The sail to another Bigno has fun.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
We'll guess what they do.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
Your contract is Nolan Voyd and then they turn around
and jump your rent up.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Now it goes back to how do you structure your lease?
Speaker 5 (19:12):
And that's where a good attorney really comes in place,
because you guys understand all the little behind the trick
that the least companies are doing because in screwing the
little guys like you and I, Right, that is that part, right, yeah,
But I want to tell that story, Jim. We've found
their place in Clover, South Carolina. If I'm in the
(19:33):
middle of nowhere, forty five minutes outside of Charlotte, and
a gentleman by the name of Justin came in and
both the whole Main Street, every building on Main Street
istrinch of the hepall and he's going to.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Turn the up.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Uh. It's a three story building of some sections and
he's going to convert second floors and third floors into
apartment and they needed some sort of cool anchor. Well cool,
I don't do brick and mortar. They call me and
they said, hey, we're wanting to do your build out.
We'll give you one hundred and fifty grand. You just
bring the equipment and then turn around your rent three
(20:09):
grand on the forty five hundred Quirk Club building there.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I'm like, okay, I can make our all that work,
you know. So my break even now it is eight
grand a week is break even? Right?
Speaker 5 (20:18):
So my second question coming thought, well, how do people
like us and Clover every single time we go to
Clover or Lake Wally, which is our big lake on
the south part of the Charlotte and we found out
on our trucks.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
We can't even keep up.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Wow, So that tells me people love us on that
side of count We're literally two two neighborhoods away from
each other, and we both fell out because so many
people come and follow us because they're so excited for
the restaurant to open, right, So they did, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Like, okay, so we started off.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
So we started off with two thousand squirre feet and
then me and my wife kind of judge, You're like,
realize what that other twenty five hundred because at the day,
it's like we know we're going to right right.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
And because of that, now.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
We're gonna do like the old Tony c way of
let's make it a destination spot, you know, let's give
them something that nobody else is doing in Charlotte and
make it niche. And so we said, hey, let's let's
have a wood fired oven. So people that love our South,
they're gonna get wood fired, and we're doing more Americans
as wood fired. We're using like, you know, a high
(21:25):
lint flower, a little higher high gray shed, but We're
not doing Neapolitan or neo.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
You're doing more New York style.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
We're doing more New York style, but on a tennant version,
because what is it, ninety five percent of construction of
America actually understands and loves that style pizza. We're only
five percent really understand those true crafts of Neapolitan pizza.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Charlotte wasn't ready for me to do that.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
You know, here's an old saying. If you feed the massive, uh,
you eat with the elite. If you feed the elite,
you eat with the mass. So again, I knew I
needed to beat the matter to really make good volume,
and so that's why we journey what we did.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
It might be different for me given that we are
very saturated with New York style pizza in Long Island,
and I do think enough people understand neo Neopolitan around here. Yeah,
But that being said, I do like the ability and
(22:28):
the fact that I know how to make all different
styles of pizza. I could change it up depending on
the private party. Which I heard John Idriff's podcast the
other day, I just a friend of mine. You said
something there that I just did, Like we did a
temple a Jewish temple on Saturday night they ordered me
for pizza, and then a week before they said, you know,
(22:51):
we spoke to the rabbi.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You could only do cheese pizza. Can you do sandwiches?
Speaker 1 (22:56):
So I'm a breadmaker and I looked at it as
a challenge and I did Pistrami sandwiches and turkey sandwiches
on bright bread that we baked, and we ended up
selling more sandwiches than pizza.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
And I was excited about it.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
But now tell you right here, you have a market
in you show your creativity and you're willing to do
whatever they hate.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
To get that job, stepping out of your comfort to
do it, and now you know you do it. Now
that adds to your catering menu. Hey, we can do that.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
In a weird way.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I think there's like this dopamine rush. I get out
of newness. And also like landing one off catering jobs.
And you also said on that program, you know, one
catering job leads to another. I love the feeling of
getting a job. It's something new every time. It's not
the same rope thing. Kind of like that.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
And then when you go to.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
Brick and more, guess what you have to be open.
You have to know that you got to make the light, build,
the power, build I mean everything electric.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Yeah, you know what I mean. Water You got all
those overheats now that you didn't have in mobile.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I'll say another thing about you know that the weather, right,
one of the downsides of mobile is you get rained out.
But I will tell you in brick and mortar, you're
still accepted by the weather.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
And now if you deliver in it, bringing up bide,
your delivery is picked up, you know what I mean.
But so many people have gone away from delivery from
you know, letting door dash from greet to it, and
I'm done so against that just because you know your
product being misrepresented out there, so that the whole other day.
(24:39):
But again, if you're delivering, then it picks up. But
if you're not delivering, you die right and mortar. So again,
there's so many prois and fans. It's and I've always
been the firm believer. Grow into it slowly. You might
just find your nite and mobile. And by the way,
(25:00):
you're gonna have an enclosed trailer. Now, when it rains outside,
you don't get wet inside. You see what I'm saying.
And people still come out more, don't still come pick
up pizzas out of neighborhood or at like an office
park and wanting to go to their park, get in
their car, go somewhere else the eat. They're more likely
to still.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Order for me.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
That's another good come.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
And even on rainy days for our mobile, we actually
picked up about temper strip.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Wow, never thought of that.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Now you gonna remember I started with a tip and
and a little trailers. So again I know those days
where it got really windy.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
Yet put to send down my wife's holding an umbrella
while I'm cooking pizzas because it was no way to
do it and not get lat right. So and you
still had orders that were free orders, so you had
to feed the people right, no matter what happened. But
then when we were they closed, it was third great.
I was like, oh, yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Do you ever do like pull up on a corner,
which is what we called posting up?
Speaker 3 (26:01):
So we do.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
The problem would come if we didn't promote it right.
We don't do well right, even the drive by traffic
not good enough.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
One thing that I've found with mobile is supply demand.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
If you give it to them and say you're only
going to get it at the time from this time
to the time. And oh, by the way, we have
limited supplies, no one you can go back and get
more done. People come out of that would work for
you if that people want what they can't have. So
when we do do pull up, ourselves are about half
of what they typically are.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
You work planned and promoted.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
But you could plan and promote a pull up on
a public street, right Oh yeah, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
A hundred per se.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
It's just like me doing that seven days a week
doesn't make sense because it takes away that supply demand.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
I guess what I'm trying to get at is if
if we're covering a radius of thirty miles in a circle,
and we want to cover different neighborhoods at the beginning
to get our name out there, is that one way
to do.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Well and promoting to them as a lure protect part.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
We did that for me, like, and we still have
our locations that are very successful doing that.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Like it's called mercantilege.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
We park them about the street in downtown rock Hill
at South Carolina and people literally come out of the
woodworks for it.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Right.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
So it's a very it's a thing. It's sure. You
got to find the right corner of the right pop
up and one you can find it and just start
promoting the heck out of it.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
So the kingo offire dot com website is pretty simple,
and it's kind of in two lanes. One is people
inquiring about the packages, and the other is if you
are at a location, they're able to order it in advance.
On both lanes, I have questions on the catering side.
Did people usually start there and then want to talk
(27:48):
to a live person?
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Yes, because a lot of people want to know, you know,
I want to know the priceless before I start calling
around and seeing what's available. Because I also don't want
to sound tea been wait for what a time? I
think that's out of my budget. So people when they
do call me, they already know what package they want,
how many people they are gonna do, and then it's
(28:10):
you know, it's okay, let's let's get here in front
of private tasting and I'm talking more weddings than private
like real private theory, and let taylor your menu around them.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
What you're looking for that's interesting? Wait, do you do
private tastings? You'll invite them at no charge.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
No charge, and let them customize their menu because I
have broads that are coming three hours away. Never even
had feal Clark because we'll travel no one else around travel.
Then okay, now we're at their options, right. And then
so once they try the fruit that I know they're
gonna we're gonna win them over. And they might be
(28:50):
trying the other people, the guys placed down the street
there that has a pop up you know, So again
if I put my food in their mouth, ninety nine
point nine win every single pike. So we encourage on Saturdays,
you still up, We'll set up with facebo an hour long.
You tell us what fourth pizza you want to try,
(29:11):
and then we kind of show cut throughs and show
examples of how the wedding would go and all that
good stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Right, So, I've been trying to do a minimum price
for up to twenty five people of one thousand dollars
that includes unlimited pizza, the destination fee, four styles of pizza,
and so on.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
So if they get nineteen people, it's still that same price.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
But then I find for some of these office things
during the day, my question is is it okay to
have party packages on prime nights like Friday and Saturday,
and do a special for office group and team buildings.
Speaker 5 (29:53):
Nose because there's the old mentality in the head all
you're jacking it up because it's the wedding right. Easy
for you to talk to the office person and sot hole,
by the way, what's your budget. Here's what prices. So
when you give us buck, you just just count it.
Got it what they're saying. So then you're not you're
not changing anything. It's hey, I got a budget event.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Cool.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Mat If I'm a little war within your budget, your
vote we're gonna do. You're not That same person will
call you a year when her daughter is getting married.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
In means of the prices, I'm having to fight back
and forth. Will you cut it? And heard you did this?
You did that? Cool?
Speaker 5 (30:30):
But you had a unfortunately had a budget here at
your offense, So I well, I can I can tweak
it here and there.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
One thing we do for ours is we have an
eight hundred dollars lunch minimum and we have eleven hundred
dinner minimum. So because I've got more staff at dinner,
I need I need that extra minimum.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
And I also know I can get to a neighborhood
and make almost double that no matter what.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
Right, So that's kind of how we adju justify hey
once because we know they're going to have a tighter
budget and if those tay to go with the fire
with just office packages, but don't promote it on your website.
Now here's here why I say that. We had one
of the big financial insertations. Charlotte call Us looked at
the package just didn't even blinking on it was twenty
(31:17):
two grands in one day, two hours, twenty two thousand dollars.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (31:24):
Now, yeah, I brought five trailers and a lot of employees,
you know what I mean. And we set up buffet
and and we crushed it. Nobody nobody didn't.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
We had so many pizzas out there was insane.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
So we had to feed seven hundred people and starting,
you know, and it was within our two hour spance.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
When you take the orders in advance, you're using some
type of coos is did that POS system build the
entire website?
Speaker 5 (31:53):
No, No, that's a word for us website. We used
a plug in that's made for food truck are so
then and then you on the back end and downloads
so we're using Square and then you take that square
a lean and you drop it in turn. So when
you go to take an order or you see the
neighborhood name, it says order now, it actually puts it
(32:14):
under that location for Square, uh Revens. I've been working
very closely one on one with Food and we're about
four weeks out from launching something very similar where you
can do that there catering piece on troupe.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, that's what I was thinking about. It was using
them for the catering part.
Speaker 5 (32:33):
Yeah, and so they have a beautiful catering prodec so
that'll take a lot of hand. And they have a back
end CRM now so so you can keep up with
you has done what the reminder, you know what I mean,
there's so much convenient they can pay online and all
through the website. Now, those have come a long way
(32:55):
for the mobile and the tall guy. So I've been
working one of the belt and yet we're about four
weeks from launching the little kinship where where was really.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Cool because you can do unlimited MOHI.
Speaker 5 (33:10):
So if I set up that neighborhood and it has
its own location, so when I go to that location,
I walk in of that location and then I see
all my pre order, right, but it doesn't up any
of the other trucks.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Are you using a rotating oven?
Speaker 5 (33:24):
You know, I'm great, I'm using all the trailers having
money on them, which is just straight up wood fired oven.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Now, a couple questions on that doesn't would usually burn
hotter and harder to control the tempt I know you're
an expert.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
A hundred one hundred perpet. That is their number one
thing on our staff.
Speaker 5 (33:45):
And uh, how do they keep the oven right? How
do you how do we get one hundred and an
hour out of that? You know, one hundred and twenty
center there? You know out out?
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Do you do that? Well?
Speaker 5 (33:56):
Every thirty minutes you're having to swap the fire back
and forth, you know, well that toddle that side.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Yes, so you have to wart a cool down for about.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
Three minutes, you know, before you can, you know, start
wanting a ton of poles in there.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Right.
Speaker 5 (34:09):
So they're very crafty all that, right, But that was
our that was our specialty on it, and that's what
made us who we are, that that little different piece
of being. With fired, we slowed the temperature down, so
we wandering anywhere from I'd say six seventy five to
theft is where where our sweet spot is.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Isn't it hard to find?
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Train with people and you invest the time you're going
to want them to stay with you.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
You can't keep turning all from You pay them a
little more, and then people don't want to pay. But
unfortunately in today's society, like I've got a lot sixteen
year olds or make anywhere from twenty five for thirty
dollars an hour with tip, that's including stuff. So I
start off to grit at thirteen, and they when they
(35:00):
get to fifteen, but they're making anywhere from seven to
eleven dollars an hour based up. And then our training
program as the very worst day after orientate and they
have to learn how to stretch fifty know, they put
the saus on, and then they want one pizza at
a time, and so the wood pard oven and then
they learn how to rotate at Bennett and then obviously
(35:23):
we talked that people they make another one and do
we waste product that way, absolutely, But that's how we
get our people praying as fast as possible, and we
work them a harder things.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Port we don't teach them the easiest part.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I want to switch for a minute to pizza acrobatics.
I've seen a bunch of videos of you doing it.
It's an amazing skill. I had fun watching you and
a bunch of the guys. Is that a teachable skill?
Because I can't. I could barely toss a new or pizza.
(36:03):
How how does one become good at this?
Speaker 5 (36:05):
A lot of practice and you know the downtown or
downtown and a restaurant has always two to four, and
that time was always my timber.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Actually take the rubber? Does that everybody make?
Speaker 5 (36:16):
We'll sit down and spend fenpen and just work on
these tracks. And so I call myself the husband of
acrobatics now because some of you get there are absolutely
a mate. Took me about six months every day taking
up a piece of dough whether it was real rubber,
and just spending right and just take forever to learn,
(36:37):
but once to get it's like riding a bike cycle out.
So I can go all year not throw and pick
up a dough and be just like as soon as
I was.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
When I won't see all right, I had to ask
a really naive question.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
I've never heard of a rubber dough before.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
Okay, So I think the company thinking on PMQ dot com, uh,
Pizza Marketing Quarterly has uh they sell them, and I
don't know. I think their brand of thro do he
used to we used to have pro dough and throw
Dough were the.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
Too big compet companies that would do it.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
But I'm pretty sure there's this throw dough and you
just order them off the website and uh, they'll simple
see you and then it'll come with like uh frame.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
You can get stringing videos.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
Bought of stuff on YouTube now, but when I started,
there was no usages. Right. We used to have like
DVD's and vhs because that turning used to mate uh
to learn how to throw.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
So I've seen those videos. They're still online.
Speaker 5 (37:39):
Yeah, yeah, it's very good times, you know.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
And then and then so back then, ain't Tony told me?
Speaker 5 (37:49):
Here was like, look how we got to stop being
known for the acrobatics and we've got to start cooking, right,
And it's taken me a long time. But you know,
I just won the Caprudo crops and they and I
don't get to compete attack Folk because we run the game.
So the only time I really get to compete is
in Pharma or Naples. And so about four weeks ago,
(38:12):
I just finally won my first world title as a chef,
and you know, so that that was a big thing
for me and probably a big changing point for my
career as being Chefrevin instead of being known as the
acrobatic kids, you know that I've always been known for us.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Got it interesting. I'm interested in trying the competitions. You know,
it can't hurt.
Speaker 5 (38:38):
So many people get nervous about it and saying, oh
my gosh, I don't want to compete.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
I don't know how I'm gonna do.
Speaker 5 (38:44):
Do it for the fun and the camaraderie of everybody
that's around me. We answered some of the best pizza
makers in the world coming out and just to get
some knowledge and learn little new things. And hey, you know,
even at this trip, I've warned so much from talking
to all these other people. And Aggie he's an amazing
(39:07):
instagrammer and beat Piola, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
Like, hey, you know, who would ever dream that I
got to be on the bus with you?
Speaker 5 (39:14):
You know, but I'm also here with a guy inmed
Avery that has a six million dollar restaurant, you know,
And I'm like, oh, well, how do you even get here, bro, Like,
you know one store doing that volume.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
I mean you understand you're in the top one percent.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
The place And we didn't even talk about this.
Speaker 5 (39:31):
The average pizza place, So four hundred eighty two thousand
a year the average pizza place to make fix percent.
So that's twenty four thousand dollars is what the average
pizza place. So when I'm hanging out with guys that
are in the one percent club, it's like, holy smoke,
Like you're doing stuff that nobody's even heard of.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
And then Tony Yine has taken.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
Nobody understands this, but he's going through held them back
to learn this industry. Nobody he's a familiars. They all
see this the class, but he killed more times than
he's never won, okay, And so to go out to
a competition and be around people like that, and now
he's got a restaurant because he's been around others that
have done the numbers. He's going over a million dollars
(40:15):
in one restaurant a month, right in a month. Crazy
And so that's for me today. That didn't just happen
because of the location. How do you go to these competitions.
Don't be scared to just go out and have fun
and compete. Okay, you're gonna learn something and you're gonna
be able to bring it back. And oh, by the way,
if you do with he can get in the top five.
(40:37):
That is marketable. Right, you can go back your rest
the same. Jim from this little town just got third place.
And you know the international piece of competition. You know,
all of a sudden, yourselves go from they go up
double for the first next three to four weeks. It's insane.
Yourselves just go through the roof.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
Well, my goal is to do that.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
I don't know if it'll be a Pizza Kahn in
Philly or a Pizza Expo or Naples next year, but
within the next twelve months.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
Do all three.
Speaker 5 (41:07):
It looks good. Yeah, let's do it, man, let's make
it happen. You said you want to start traveling. I
do you deserve it? I do with your bread. Your
bread look amazed. And you know, as a pizza guy,
you can look at a pizza and say, hey, I
can look good. Right, Yeah, as a bread guy, I
looked at this stuff and I'm like, man, you're putting
out phenomenal product, and it looks amazing.
Speaker 3 (41:30):
I can't wait to get my hands on it.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
By the way, Aggie has some secret pictures of my
bakery that I don't let people see. Ask them to
show it to you, ask him to show it to.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Ye, definitely will, I definitely will. Well.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
This is really really enlightening for me and inspiring and
gave me a lot to think about and chew on
as I go through my journey.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
So I appreciate you sharing so much with me and.
Speaker 5 (41:55):
Litten brother, You've got my number. I won't you to
call me any of course. We are now family and
for anything that I can ever do for you. And
if I don't have the answer, I guess to what.
We got a network of people that we can get
the right answer. Wow, that's the beauty of this community.
I can't thank you enough. And I can't thank you
enough for taking the time on the Stanislovt tour to
(42:16):
sit in the field and seriously and talk to me.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
I really appreciate it absolutely.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Yeah, thank you, buddy, and have a great day out there.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Crack two you too, Bye bye.
Here's a quote from my next guest. I believe pizza
is more than food. It's a way of life. I
turned pizza into entertainment, nourishment, and a source of income
for people around the world. Welcome to bread for the people.
I'm Jim sur Pitou. I'm so excited to speak with
(00:22):
Sila Chapman today, who's actually on a road trip with
some heavy hitters and pizza in Modesto, California. I'm looking
at Siler sitting in a field now. Sila just got
off a bus, like I said, with a bunch of
pizza makers, and one of them is a very good
(00:43):
friend of mine named Augie Russo. A lot of you
guys know may know Algie. He and I are on
the Gosny Pizza Collective together. And I know Algie really well,
so I don't think he'll mind. But I've been thinking
about what is it like to be trapped on a
bus with Algie in the morning, and it probably goes
something like this, Hey, hey Shiner, I know you're sleeping,
(01:04):
but the other day I was in Brooklyn and I
saw these zucchini floretches growing out of a crack man
in an alley, and I stuck them in my pocket,
and then I went to get some collaborate Chilis and
some panco.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Man, let's make some pizza. You want to make some pizza?
Is that what it's like to hang out with Augie?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
That is perfect that he's on. How's like going today? Brother? Oh?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Things are real good, man, things are real good. I
have truly been excited to speak with you. I mean,
Syler is one of the godfathers of pizza in the
United States. He's one of the founding members of the
World Pizza Champions. He holds many awards. He has three
world titles for pizza acrobatics. He's been on television, he
(01:49):
is an ambassador of the pizza game. He's known to
be one of the nicest guys. I have been very
interested in the mobile catering business in the last two years,
and of course I came across what you're doing with
your company, King of Fire, and I mean, it's just
amazing to me.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I believe you have seven trucks at this point, right yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
And now we're saying, okay, let's get back into the
brick and mortar games. So we have a forty five
hundred square foot brick and mortar being built right now.
We'll be open around November first or the second, somewhere
in there. And then we just sold a brick and
mortar franchise in downtown Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
So that's super kidding, yep.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So that was one of the things I wanted to
get into you because I'm new at this game and
I have no brick and mortar presence. All I really
have is Instagram presence as a breadmaker and local following
doing farmers market selling bread and have gotten deep into
pizza in the last few years. And I have a
(02:53):
small bubble truck right now with a Ghosni dome in it.
But I was curious because I know you did have
a brick and mortar called Size for a while, and
now you're deep into the mobile game. You know, why
did you make the decision to go all mobile?
Speaker 4 (03:14):
So just to kind of do a real quick background,
I created Size Pizzeria and we built that the three
standalone you know, brick and mortars, and did very well
with that concept. And then in two thousand and seven,
I had one of our customers, he actually owned all
of Bow Jingles at the time, the Chicken Place, and
(03:37):
he just did a transition of selling that concept and
he wanted to go deeper into the pizza game, so
he bought all of North and South Carolina for Donado's Pizza,
which is a franchise based out of Columbus, Ohio, and.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
He wanted me to become a partner.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
And at that time we opened up twenty five stores
in the Carolinas and did very well.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
At twenty ten was very rocky for us.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
I mean, I think everybody got hit in the Carolina's
pretty hard after the eight It just took, you know,
two years to catch up to us. So we ended
up shutting ten stores down and it.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Was a lot of work.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
I mean, we were all burned out. So we ended
up selling those off and ended up I took a
non compete, didn't really do much and that you know.
I still was a part of the World Pizza Champions
and the games there at Pizza Expo, but I kind
of went off and did my own thing for a
couple of years and tried to do a different path.
(04:35):
But the pizza gods brought me back. I saw actually
here in California, I saw Justin Wadstein's mobile unit at
a winery and we were we created Me and Michael
Sheppard created Perfecting Pizza at the time in twenty fifteen,
basically around the mom and pop helping them become more successful.
And then we saw these little mobile units and I
(04:56):
was like, I fell in love and I was like,
I've got to get one of these.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
And all I want to do is do.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Some pop ups. I want to do some neighborhood things
and really just do focus on the weddings, you know,
in the private caterings. And at the time, Carmine ended
up having a little trailer too, and then my buddy
Tony Sarah Melli had a trailer, and so I went
and actually visited them all and said, hey, I want
to see what y'all are doing. And then I saw
(05:24):
the money behind Then I was like, wow, these guys
have high, high margins out of these little catering trailers.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And I said, you know what, Let's build a brand.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
And that was the birthday King of Fire in twenty eighteen,
and now we're five years into it with seven trailers.
I got super happy because at the end of the day,
I was like, Okay, we can make a brand out
of this one to the money, you know, when I
first started with me and my wife Amber. We were
making sixty five percent. So if you made a thousand bucks,
(05:57):
you're taking home six hundred and fifty bucks, food and
any help that you had, any little you know, your
payments on the trailer in the truck.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
You know, it was. It was amazing.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Then I was like, Okay, what happens if you put
a manager in your place? What happens if you put
someone in the commissary in that place? You're going to
add some expenses. Well, we got to a thirty percent
net net, and I said, you know what, we have
something here. And then COVID happened, right, and then that
was I think.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
You know, so many.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
People got affected with COVID and bless everyone out there,
but we were very blessed through COVID. And what happened
is the transition of breweries. Because we started going to breweries,
we started doing business parks. Well, the people at the
business parks started working from home, and the breweries got
shut down in the Carolinas, so nobody could do anything.
(06:50):
So my wife had this genius idea, Hey, we started
off in our neighborhood, what if we post on Facebook
to the you know, the Carolinas and say, hey, we'll
come to your neighborhood, set up at the and we'll
do you know, we'll put the pizza on the window.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
You can come and pick it up. It's all a touch.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Lists and you order online so you don't have to
change any money, because nobody at the time knew if
was money dirty?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Did it? You know track COVID, nobody knew.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Right, Yeah, that's how I started.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
By the way, during COVID, I started delivering bread to homes. Uh,
they could order online and we would cover Long Island
and we would be selling. You know, we would do
seventy homes a day.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Oh my goodness, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
People would look forward to like something fresh out of
the oven showing up at their house. The kids would
answer the door and scream, the bread guys here, and
they would love it.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
But over time that changes, right, because then that that
went away, And that's kind of where I'm at. I'm
curious to go back a little on the brand building
aspect because I've talked to a lot of people because
I I'm trying to figure out what my next step is,
and I was I was thinking pretty hard about brick
and mortar, and I've been taking classes on restaurant systems.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Do you think it's possible? Because you kind of reversed it.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
A lot of people have their brick and mortar be
the anchor, and then off of that they do catering.
You do the complete opposite, which interests me a lot.
And maybe because I'm from selling stuff at farmers' markets
in the street, like I kind of know it already.
I know what I'm getting into, almost more so than
brick and mortar, so it doesn't scare me. But I've
(08:30):
been told it's not the smartest way to go for
which aspect to go mobile first, because that's what I'm
thinking about doing right now. They're saying, they recommend I
don't go mobile first, even though I have a small
mobile thing now, but I am looking to get like
a larger twenty five foot with a mar Forny in there, yeah,
(08:52):
and be able to do the bigger party so I
could output enough pizzas at the same time. But then
these people are telling me, you really should go brick
and mortar first.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
What do you think about that?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
So let's go deep, All right, let's go deep on that.
I love this all right.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
So with brick and mortar, you're married to the landlord
for five ten years, right, depending on the least she signed. Correct,
also the purveyor, so if you owe them back money,
you're married to them.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Right.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
With mobile, the good part is, Hey, if things starting
to go south, or you're at this one location and
it's just not doing good, guess what you can pick up.
Go to the other side of town and see how
you do there. How you know, each little pocket in
Charlotte was different for us. Some areas loved our restaurant
right in our concept. Some areas we did a quarter
(09:42):
of the numbers. The stores didn't. And the demographics are
all the same. The density was the same, everything's the same.
But why wasn't it doing good? Because it's the location.
Maybe it was hard to get into the shopping center
and we didn't.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
See that piece. So there's so many little details.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
With brick and mortar, if you don't pick the right location,
you're done right. And then, oh, by the way, now,
what used to we could build out a restaurant for
two hundred and fifty thousand, you're building out for five
hundred thousand. The little little shop that you were building
out for fifty is cost them one to fifty.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Now, the other obstacle I'm finding in that is like
that build out, it is okay, I'm buying a first
generation space. What I find when I'm looking around here
on a second generation space, it's not build out to
what I want to make, right, So I'm still paying
for assets that that aren't optimal for me. I'm paying
(10:38):
for certain types of pizza ovens that I don't want
to use. I don't want to use a Marcel oven.
Nothing against Marcel, but I'm trying to do with something different.
It's a waste of money for me, right, So don't
do that part right? Or why are they trying to
get out? Here's the whole question, Jim. If they're doing
so good, why are they getting out?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Right?
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Okay, well, maybe you got people that are older, second
generation of the family.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Did the kids not want to do it because they.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Saw how hard they're I'm going to work and yeah,
and they're miserable as a family. So again, let's start slow,
let's go mobile. Let's go around and find the pockets
that are hot. And when you find that, no matter
what time you come, you get a line.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Let me ask you a question right there when you
say start slow, I'll be perfectly honest, like I'm doing
a lot of the prep from a friend's doing me
a favor right to let me use these place as
a commissary. And that's where the health department comes and
does my inspection. It's not really suitable for big operation.
(11:45):
So when you started, where were you doing your prep
for the truck in.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
My mom's In my mom's house, Yeah, in her laundry.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
When we moved out, all the laundry equipment, moved it
somewhere else, and I made a little dovert of it. Yeah, okay,
and then I would prep all the dough and everything.
And then in the her garage we did a three
door refrigeration in it.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
And cool thing in the Carolina is you don't need
a health inspection if you're doing anything private or catering.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Right as soon as you went to the public I
needed a commissary.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
It's kind of the same here. They don't really have
a way of knowing you're doing privates. So a lot
of the guys just have a like a an often
that day tell with no hand sinks anything. I'm going
with the inspections and the three sinks, and because I
want to be able to do you know, some legit
stuff in the public, you know, right, So then.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I said, okay, let's start finding. I couldn't afford fifteen
hundred dollars at the month. I'm starting all small, right,
So I found a local church that was charging four
hundred and fifty bucks a month for rent in their commissary.
Kiting perfect, I could bring my own equipment. Had the
three door already, I needed to buy another one. They
allowed me to do that, so I had six doors.
(13:01):
So now I have room for growth. So we went
to the second trailer. We had all the space I
had parking now at this church that they were allowing us.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
So my rent went up to about seven hundred bucks.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
But at that point I could afford it, right, you know,
before starting out, it would have killed me to start
that high. And now we outgrew the church. So this
is the stages of growth. When we went to trailer three,
four and five, now we're doing fifty five to six
thousand dough balls a week in production. Well, guess what,
(13:33):
we need a bigger space. So I got lucky started
looking around. We found six thousand square feet of an
old printer place that was running like you know, they
were actually adding printer machines in there and everything. And
I dropped about ninety grand between plumbing hoods and we
made a commissary kitchen because it was there was none
(13:53):
really in Charlotte, and all the ones that were there
are all maxed out. And I did it a little different.
I said, I fifteen people other food trucks, bakers, and
let's go with them and they can help offset the rent.
The rent was only twenty five hundred bucks, but even
if we had to take it on ourselves, we had
(14:13):
the cash flow at that point because we were doing
the volume to be able to handle that rent. So
now we're renting out to fifteen other people. And I
never wanted to be in the commissary business, but it
was just the affordability of this space was perfect, big
parking in the back, so I had room for growth.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Now we're maxed out.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Three years later in this commissary, we're maxed out of
people and I have a year waiting list for people.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
To even get in.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Now, what about the employees in that jump, Because that's
something that I struggle with because I start with me
and my wife doing all the work. Then I bring
my kids in, then I bring my friends kids in,
and we don't really want people. We don't know at
this point in some of our private space, but we're
at the level where we have to do something real.
(15:01):
But then there's a big economic jump because now you're
paying someone at least one person full time. That changes
the game on a lot of levels. So did you
go out of pocket and take a risk, you.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Know, taking a calculated risk with the employees? You want
to look and project yourselves and say, okay, hey, what
can I really afford?
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Right?
Speaker 4 (15:24):
And if you take a part time person that might
just won't work at night, might just want lunch work,
you personally might be covered for the dinner shift.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
So again, what are you looking for and does that role?
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Can they roll into a full time eventually or just
jump in with one person?
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Do full time? Get them fifty hours?
Speaker 4 (15:43):
And do you do a flat you know, almost like
a salary position or do you do hourly? And I
like the hourly, We do have salaries, but the hourly
is when we do have slow tomes. You've got winner
up there right, Oh yeah, So are you going to
be as busy in the winner as you are in
the summer and the peak seasons.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
No, we won't.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah, I mean I might want to use that winter
time to do stuff in my life at this age
that I never would have done, whether it's going to
Italy to study more pizza or go try to work
with someone like you for two months.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
And that's the beauty. But that's the beauty I mobile.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
So then you're finding these pockets of what is doing
really good and what side of town is really loving
what you're putting out and they're vibing with you. Once
you find that pocket, that's where you want to do
your brick and mortar. Ah, you can start looking around
that town for Hey, this guy's going out of business.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
And here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
So many people are selling their pizzerias, right yeah, and
they're selling them between one hundred and fifty two to
fifty whatever it may be. They're just trying to get
their assets and their money back out right right.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, Well, we all know restaurant equipments thirty cents on
the dollar used, So are they even evaluating that? Are
you changing the name?
Speaker 4 (16:58):
If you change the name, you're not buying anything, correct, right,
and so it's different if you're buying a turnkey restaurant
that you don't even have to work because it's already
turned key.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
There's the difference.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
And they're just trying to get their assets out and
then it's not even the right assets for you. So
just wait for them to go out of business, call
the landlord on the back end. And I've done this
multiple times. Hey, when uh spot A goes out, I
want that spot. Please let me be the first one
to call and let's get at least together.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
That's a really good idea back where you get your
relationship with the landlord and that is at the end
of the day. That's how you get that way deeper.
But the biggest few things you're already done. Plumbing and
the HVAT. So you got to remember plumming, the brief
trap and all wrap trap, busting up all that. That's
your one of your largest EU go brick and watar
(17:56):
h is ridiculous in its now units are up thirty
three year over year right now just to get a
new so again you already have that all in place.
So that that's always been my little secret on getting
a better deal in a bang for your buck instead
(18:16):
of hey, this guy's down to Piet the place and
you're just on a stuff that you don't even need.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Well, I know one right now trying to sell. That's
asking one fifty. And I also know they only have
a year and a half left on their lease.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
So like, now, let's tell when you go to buy it, Okay,
that landlord actually can refuse you in a year and
a half and I don't want to resign you, right,
So now you're one hundred and fifty out the pocket. Right,
So knowing that what I'm telling you, now, you got
to go to the landlord and say, am buying?
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Will I get an option of another pie or another three?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Right?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (18:52):
Yes, yes, yes, well I actually know we're actually gonna
sell landlord.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Here's what, and this is really crazy, is be shopping centers.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
The sail to another Bigno has fun.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
We'll guess what they do.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
Your contract is Nolan Voyd and then they turn around
and jump your rent up.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Now it goes back to how do you structure your lease?
Speaker 5 (19:12):
And that's where a good attorney really comes in place,
because you guys understand all the little behind the trick
that the least companies are doing because in screwing the
little guys like you and I, Right, that is that part, right, yeah,
But I want to tell that story, Jim. We've found
their place in Clover, South Carolina. If I'm in the
(19:33):
middle of nowhere, forty five minutes outside of Charlotte, and
a gentleman by the name of Justin came in and
both the whole Main Street, every building on Main Street
istrinch of the hepall and he's going to.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Turn the up.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Uh. It's a three story building of some sections and
he's going to convert second floors and third floors into
apartment and they needed some sort of cool anchor. Well cool,
I don't do brick and mortar. They call me and
they said, hey, we're wanting to do your build out.
We'll give you one hundred and fifty grand. You just
bring the equipment and then turn around your rent three
(20:09):
grand on the forty five hundred Quirk Club building there.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I'm like, okay, I can make our all that work,
you know. So my break even now it is eight
grand a week is break even? Right?
Speaker 5 (20:18):
So my second question coming thought, well, how do people
like us and Clover every single time we go to
Clover or Lake Wally, which is our big lake on
the south part of the Charlotte and we found out
on our trucks.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
We can't even keep up.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Wow, So that tells me people love us on that
side of count We're literally two two neighborhoods away from
each other, and we both fell out because so many
people come and follow us because they're so excited for
the restaurant to open, right, So they did, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Like, okay, so we started off.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
So we started off with two thousand squirre feet and
then me and my wife kind of judge, You're like,
realize what that other twenty five hundred because at the day,
it's like we know we're going to right right.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
And because of that, now.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
We're gonna do like the old Tony c way of
let's make it a destination spot, you know, let's give
them something that nobody else is doing in Charlotte and
make it niche. And so we said, hey, let's let's
have a wood fired oven. So people that love our South,
they're gonna get wood fired, and we're doing more Americans
as wood fired. We're using like, you know, a high
(21:25):
lint flower, a little higher high gray shed, but We're
not doing Neapolitan or neo.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
You're doing more New York style.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
We're doing more New York style, but on a tennant version,
because what is it, ninety five percent of construction of
America actually understands and loves that style pizza. We're only
five percent really understand those true crafts of Neapolitan pizza.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Charlotte wasn't ready for me to do that.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
You know, here's an old saying. If you feed the massive, uh,
you eat with the elite. If you feed the elite,
you eat with the mass. So again, I knew I
needed to beat the matter to really make good volume,
and so that's why we journey what we did.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
It might be different for me given that we are
very saturated with New York style pizza in Long Island,
and I do think enough people understand neo Neopolitan around here. Yeah,
But that being said, I do like the ability and
(22:28):
the fact that I know how to make all different
styles of pizza. I could change it up depending on
the private party. Which I heard John Idriff's podcast the
other day, I just a friend of mine. You said
something there that I just did, Like we did a
temple a Jewish temple on Saturday night they ordered me
for pizza, and then a week before they said, you know,
(22:51):
we spoke to the rabbi.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You could only do cheese pizza. Can you do sandwiches?
Speaker 1 (22:56):
So I'm a breadmaker and I looked at it as
a challenge and I did Pistrami sandwiches and turkey sandwiches
on bright bread that we baked, and we ended up
selling more sandwiches than pizza.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
And I was excited about it.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
But now tell you right here, you have a market
in you show your creativity and you're willing to do
whatever they hate.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
To get that job, stepping out of your comfort to
do it, and now you know you do it. Now
that adds to your catering menu. Hey, we can do that.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
In a weird way.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I think there's like this dopamine rush. I get out
of newness. And also like landing one off catering jobs.
And you also said on that program, you know, one
catering job leads to another. I love the feeling of
getting a job. It's something new every time. It's not
the same rope thing. Kind of like that.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
And then when you go to.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
Brick and more, guess what you have to be open.
You have to know that you got to make the light, build,
the power, build I mean everything electric.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Yeah, you know what I mean. Water You got all
those overheats now that you didn't have in mobile.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I'll say another thing about you know that the weather, right,
one of the downsides of mobile is you get rained out.
But I will tell you in brick and mortar, you're
still accepted by the weather.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
And now if you deliver in it, bringing up bide,
your delivery is picked up, you know what I mean.
But so many people have gone away from delivery from
you know, letting door dash from greet to it, and
I'm done so against that just because you know your
product being misrepresented out there, so that the whole other day.
(24:39):
But again, if you're delivering, then it picks up. But
if you're not delivering, you die right and mortar. So again,
there's so many prois and fans. It's and I've always
been the firm believer. Grow into it slowly. You might
just find your nite and mobile. And by the way,
(25:00):
you're gonna have an enclosed trailer. Now, when it rains outside,
you don't get wet inside. You see what I'm saying.
And people still come out more, don't still come pick
up pizzas out of neighborhood or at like an office
park and wanting to go to their park, get in
their car, go somewhere else the eat. They're more likely
to still.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Order for me.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
That's another good come.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
And even on rainy days for our mobile, we actually
picked up about temper strip.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Wow, never thought of that.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Now you gonna remember I started with a tip and
and a little trailers. So again I know those days
where it got really windy.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
Yet put to send down my wife's holding an umbrella
while I'm cooking pizzas because it was no way to
do it and not get lat right. So and you
still had orders that were free orders, so you had
to feed the people right, no matter what happened. But
then when we were they closed, it was third great.
I was like, oh, yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Do you ever do like pull up on a corner,
which is what we called posting up?
Speaker 3 (26:01):
So we do.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
The problem would come if we didn't promote it right.
We don't do well right, even the drive by traffic
not good enough.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
One thing that I've found with mobile is supply demand.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
If you give it to them and say you're only
going to get it at the time from this time
to the time. And oh, by the way, we have
limited supplies, no one you can go back and get
more done. People come out of that would work for
you if that people want what they can't have. So
when we do do pull up, ourselves are about half
of what they typically are.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
You work planned and promoted.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
But you could plan and promote a pull up on
a public street, right Oh yeah, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
A hundred per se.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
It's just like me doing that seven days a week
doesn't make sense because it takes away that supply demand.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
I guess what I'm trying to get at is if
if we're covering a radius of thirty miles in a circle,
and we want to cover different neighborhoods at the beginning
to get our name out there, is that one way
to do.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Well and promoting to them as a lure protect part.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
We did that for me, like, and we still have
our locations that are very successful doing that.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Like it's called mercantilege.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
We park them about the street in downtown rock Hill
at South Carolina and people literally come out of the
woodworks for it.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Right.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
So it's a very it's a thing. It's sure. You
got to find the right corner of the right pop
up and one you can find it and just start
promoting the heck out of it.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
So the kingo offire dot com website is pretty simple,
and it's kind of in two lanes. One is people
inquiring about the packages, and the other is if you
are at a location, they're able to order it in advance.
On both lanes, I have questions on the catering side.
Did people usually start there and then want to talk
(27:48):
to a live person?
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Yes, because a lot of people want to know, you know,
I want to know the priceless before I start calling
around and seeing what's available. Because I also don't want
to sound tea been wait for what a time? I
think that's out of my budget. So people when they
do call me, they already know what package they want,
how many people they are gonna do, and then it's
(28:10):
you know, it's okay, let's let's get here in front
of private tasting and I'm talking more weddings than private
like real private theory, and let taylor your menu around them.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
What you're looking for that's interesting? Wait, do you do
private tastings? You'll invite them at no charge.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
No charge, and let them customize their menu because I
have broads that are coming three hours away. Never even
had feal Clark because we'll travel no one else around travel.
Then okay, now we're at their options, right. And then
so once they try the fruit that I know they're
gonna we're gonna win them over. And they might be
(28:50):
trying the other people, the guys placed down the street
there that has a pop up you know, So again
if I put my food in their mouth, ninety nine
point nine win every single pike. So we encourage on Saturdays,
you still up, We'll set up with facebo an hour long.
You tell us what fourth pizza you want to try,
(29:11):
and then we kind of show cut throughs and show
examples of how the wedding would go and all that
good stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Right, So, I've been trying to do a minimum price
for up to twenty five people of one thousand dollars
that includes unlimited pizza, the destination fee, four styles of pizza,
and so on.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
So if they get nineteen people, it's still that same price.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
But then I find for some of these office things
during the day, my question is is it okay to
have party packages on prime nights like Friday and Saturday,
and do a special for office group and team buildings.
Speaker 5 (29:53):
Nose because there's the old mentality in the head all
you're jacking it up because it's the wedding right. Easy
for you to talk to the office person and sot hole,
by the way, what's your budget. Here's what prices. So
when you give us buck, you just just count it.
Got it what they're saying. So then you're not you're
not changing anything. It's hey, I got a budget event.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Cool.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Mat If I'm a little war within your budget, your
vote we're gonna do. You're not That same person will
call you a year when her daughter is getting married.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
In means of the prices, I'm having to fight back
and forth. Will you cut it? And heard you did this?
You did that? Cool?
Speaker 5 (30:30):
But you had a unfortunately had a budget here at
your offense, So I well, I can I can tweak
it here and there.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
One thing we do for ours is we have an
eight hundred dollars lunch minimum and we have eleven hundred
dinner minimum. So because I've got more staff at dinner,
I need I need that extra minimum.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
And I also know I can get to a neighborhood
and make almost double that no matter what.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
Right, So that's kind of how we adju justify hey
once because we know they're going to have a tighter
budget and if those tay to go with the fire
with just office packages, but don't promote it on your website.
Now here's here why I say that. We had one
of the big financial insertations. Charlotte call Us looked at
the package just didn't even blinking on it was twenty
(31:17):
two grands in one day, two hours, twenty two thousand dollars.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (31:24):
Now, yeah, I brought five trailers and a lot of employees,
you know what I mean. And we set up buffet
and and we crushed it. Nobody nobody didn't.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
We had so many pizzas out there was insane.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
So we had to feed seven hundred people and starting,
you know, and it was within our two hour spance.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
When you take the orders in advance, you're using some
type of coos is did that POS system build the
entire website?
Speaker 5 (31:53):
No, No, that's a word for us website. We used
a plug in that's made for food truck are so
then and then you on the back end and downloads
so we're using Square and then you take that square
a lean and you drop it in turn. So when
you go to take an order or you see the
neighborhood name, it says order now, it actually puts it
(32:14):
under that location for Square, uh Revens. I've been working
very closely one on one with Food and we're about
four weeks out from launching something very similar where you
can do that there catering piece on troupe.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, that's what I was thinking about. It was using
them for the catering part.
Speaker 5 (32:33):
Yeah, and so they have a beautiful catering prodec so
that'll take a lot of hand. And they have a back
end CRM now so so you can keep up with
you has done what the reminder, you know what I mean,
there's so much convenient they can pay online and all
through the website. Now, those have come a long way
(32:55):
for the mobile and the tall guy. So I've been
working one of the belt and yet we're about four
weeks from launching the little kinship where where was really.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Cool because you can do unlimited MOHI.
Speaker 5 (33:10):
So if I set up that neighborhood and it has
its own location, so when I go to that location,
I walk in of that location and then I see
all my pre order, right, but it doesn't up any
of the other trucks.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Are you using a rotating oven?
Speaker 5 (33:24):
You know, I'm great, I'm using all the trailers having
money on them, which is just straight up wood fired oven.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Now, a couple questions on that doesn't would usually burn
hotter and harder to control the tempt I know you're
an expert.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
A hundred one hundred perpet. That is their number one
thing on our staff.
Speaker 5 (33:45):
And uh, how do they keep the oven right? How
do you how do we get one hundred and an
hour out of that? You know, one hundred and twenty
center there? You know out out?
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Do you do that? Well?
Speaker 5 (33:56):
Every thirty minutes you're having to swap the fire back
and forth, you know, well that toddle that side.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Yes, so you have to wart a cool down for about.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
Three minutes, you know, before you can, you know, start
wanting a ton of poles in there.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Right.
Speaker 5 (34:09):
So they're very crafty all that, right, But that was
our that was our specialty on it, and that's what
made us who we are, that that little different piece
of being. With fired, we slowed the temperature down, so
we wandering anywhere from I'd say six seventy five to
theft is where where our sweet spot is.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Isn't it hard to find?
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Train with people and you invest the time you're going
to want them to stay with you.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
You can't keep turning all from You pay them a
little more, and then people don't want to pay. But
unfortunately in today's society, like I've got a lot sixteen
year olds or make anywhere from twenty five for thirty
dollars an hour with tip, that's including stuff. So I
start off to grit at thirteen, and they when they
(35:00):
get to fifteen, but they're making anywhere from seven to
eleven dollars an hour based up. And then our training
program as the very worst day after orientate and they
have to learn how to stretch fifty know, they put
the saus on, and then they want one pizza at
a time, and so the wood pard oven and then
they learn how to rotate at Bennett and then obviously
(35:23):
we talked that people they make another one and do
we waste product that way, absolutely, But that's how we
get our people praying as fast as possible, and we
work them a harder things.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Port we don't teach them the easiest part.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I want to switch for a minute to pizza acrobatics.
I've seen a bunch of videos of you doing it.
It's an amazing skill. I had fun watching you and
a bunch of the guys. Is that a teachable skill?
Because I can't. I could barely toss a new or pizza.
(36:03):
How how does one become good at this?
Speaker 5 (36:05):
A lot of practice and you know the downtown or
downtown and a restaurant has always two to four, and
that time was always my timber.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Actually take the rubber? Does that everybody make?
Speaker 5 (36:16):
We'll sit down and spend fenpen and just work on
these tracks. And so I call myself the husband of
acrobatics now because some of you get there are absolutely
a mate. Took me about six months every day taking
up a piece of dough whether it was real rubber,
and just spending right and just take forever to learn,
(36:37):
but once to get it's like riding a bike cycle out.
So I can go all year not throw and pick
up a dough and be just like as soon as
I was.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
When I won't see all right, I had to ask
a really naive question.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
I've never heard of a rubber dough before.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
Okay, So I think the company thinking on PMQ dot com, uh,
Pizza Marketing Quarterly has uh they sell them, and I
don't know. I think their brand of thro do he
used to we used to have pro dough and throw
Dough were the.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
Too big compet companies that would do it.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
But I'm pretty sure there's this throw dough and you
just order them off the website and uh, they'll simple
see you and then it'll come with like uh frame.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
You can get stringing videos.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
Bought of stuff on YouTube now, but when I started,
there was no usages. Right. We used to have like
DVD's and vhs because that turning used to mate uh
to learn how to throw.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
So I've seen those videos. They're still online.
Speaker 5 (37:39):
Yeah, yeah, it's very good times, you know.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
And then and then so back then, ain't Tony told me?
Speaker 5 (37:49):
Here was like, look how we got to stop being
known for the acrobatics and we've got to start cooking, right,
And it's taken me a long time. But you know,
I just won the Caprudo crops and they and I
don't get to compete attack Folk because we run the game.
So the only time I really get to compete is
in Pharma or Naples. And so about four weeks ago,
(38:12):
I just finally won my first world title as a chef,
and you know, so that that was a big thing
for me and probably a big changing point for my
career as being Chefrevin instead of being known as the
acrobatic kids, you know that I've always been known for us.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Got it interesting. I'm interested in trying the competitions. You know,
it can't hurt.
Speaker 5 (38:38):
So many people get nervous about it and saying, oh
my gosh, I don't want to compete.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
I don't know how I'm gonna do.
Speaker 5 (38:44):
Do it for the fun and the camaraderie of everybody
that's around me. We answered some of the best pizza
makers in the world coming out and just to get
some knowledge and learn little new things. And hey, you know,
even at this trip, I've warned so much from talking
to all these other people. And Aggie he's an amazing
(39:07):
instagrammer and beat Piola, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
Like, hey, you know, who would ever dream that I
got to be on the bus with you?
Speaker 5 (39:14):
You know, but I'm also here with a guy inmed
Avery that has a six million dollar restaurant, you know,
And I'm like, oh, well, how do you even get here, bro, Like,
you know one store doing that volume.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
I mean you understand you're in the top one percent.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
The place And we didn't even talk about this.
Speaker 5 (39:31):
The average pizza place, So four hundred eighty two thousand
a year the average pizza place to make fix percent.
So that's twenty four thousand dollars is what the average
pizza place. So when I'm hanging out with guys that
are in the one percent club, it's like, holy smoke,
Like you're doing stuff that nobody's even heard of.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
And then Tony Yine has taken.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
Nobody understands this, but he's going through held them back
to learn this industry. Nobody he's a familiars. They all
see this the class, but he killed more times than
he's never won, okay, And so to go out to
a competition and be around people like that, and now
he's got a restaurant because he's been around others that
have done the numbers. He's going over a million dollars
(40:15):
in one restaurant a month, right in a month. Crazy
And so that's for me today. That didn't just happen
because of the location. How do you go to these competitions.
Don't be scared to just go out and have fun
and compete. Okay, you're gonna learn something and you're gonna
be able to bring it back. And oh, by the way,
if you do with he can get in the top five.
(40:37):
That is marketable. Right, you can go back your rest
the same. Jim from this little town just got third place.
And you know the international piece of competition. You know,
all of a sudden, yourselves go from they go up
double for the first next three to four weeks. It's insane.
Yourselves just go through the roof.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
Well, my goal is to do that.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
I don't know if it'll be a Pizza Kahn in
Philly or a Pizza Expo or Naples next year, but
within the next twelve months.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
Do all three.
Speaker 5 (41:07):
It looks good. Yeah, let's do it, man, let's make
it happen. You said you want to start traveling. I
do you deserve it? I do with your bread. Your
bread look amazed. And you know, as a pizza guy,
you can look at a pizza and say, hey, I
can look good. Right, Yeah, as a bread guy, I
looked at this stuff and I'm like, man, you're putting
out phenomenal product, and it looks amazing.
Speaker 3 (41:30):
I can't wait to get my hands on it.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
By the way, Aggie has some secret pictures of my
bakery that I don't let people see. Ask them to
show it to you, ask him to show it to.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Ye, definitely will, I definitely will. Well.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
This is really really enlightening for me and inspiring and
gave me a lot to think about and chew on
as I go through my journey.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
So I appreciate you sharing so much with me and.
Speaker 5 (41:55):
Litten brother, You've got my number. I won't you to
call me any of course. We are now family and
for anything that I can ever do for you. And
if I don't have the answer, I guess to what.
We got a network of people that we can get
the right answer. Wow, that's the beauty of this community.
I can't thank you enough. And I can't thank you
enough for taking the time on the Stanislovt tour to
(42:16):
sit in the field and seriously and talk to me.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
I really appreciate it absolutely.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Yeah, thank you, buddy, and have a great day out there.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Crack two you too, Bye bye.
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