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TRUE TO HIS ROOTS

Massimo Capra talks simplicity, seasonality and day-to-day operations

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www.reiser.com Reiser Canada Burlington, ON • (905) 631-6611 Reiser Canton, MA • (781) 821-1290 2019

Volume 25 Issue 5 November/December 2019

TRUE TO HIS ROOTS Celebrated chef Massimo Capra talks simplicity, seasonality and day-to-day operations

EXPLOSION OF FLAVOURS How to balance your flavours and win over customers

20 SUMMIT HIGHLIGHTS

Get a glimpse of the fun at the Canadian Pizza Summit and Chef of the Year Competitions!

ONLINE

RANDOM ACTS OF PIZZA Learn how Alimo’s pizzeria in Calgary, Alta., made the most of a random act of kindness

ABOVE: Massimo Capra dreamed of an inclusive neighbourhood restaurant. Capra’s Kitchen in Mississauga, Ont., is the result of that aspiration. See page 12 for insights from the celebrated chef.

DEPARTMENTS 6

editor’s desk

pizza bites

the pizza chef

making dough

recipe

guest column

‘NIGHT BEFORE’ NAPOLETANA Several attendees of the Canadian Pizza Summit took a hands-on class on Napoletana pizza making led by Faema Culinary Academy’s Michael Bou-Younes and sponsored by Parmalat, makers of Galbani Professionale cheese. Students focused on the science, technique and essence of making the popular pizza style that originated in Naples. Read more about the class at canadianpizzamag.com!

CANADIAN PIZZA EXTRAS | Restaurant charges fee for reusable takeout containers; Antoninos in Windsor, Ont., opens new flagship store; Proposed N.S. law could allow alcohol delivery with takeout orders. … plus, the latest news and new products. canadianpizzamag.com

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 pizza 3

from the editor’s desk

Plant-based is here to stay lant-based foods are something pizzerias and restaurants need to learn about, explore in the kitchen and consider for their menus. I attended the first Global Summit Plant-Powered Menus in November and gained a new perspective on this trend. I wanted to see what the experts were saying about the demand for plant-based foods, what impact it will have on restaurants and foodservice and what products were out there. If you’re not sure what the plant-based trend means for you as a pizzeria – or if it even applies to you – a dose of reality may be needed. I talked with Amanda Topper, associate director of foodservice for Mintel and a featured speaker at the event. Topper gave me some straight talk about why it’s important for restaurant operators to adapt their operations to appeal to customers following a plant-based diet. The demand is there, she said, citing Mintel’s findings that 22 per cent of diners are trying to eat less meat. What’s more, almost half of Canadian consumers agree, “I plan to start eating more plant-based alternatives.” “Flexitarians and curious consumers represent a sizeable opportunity as they are open to trying more plant-based options on menus,” Topper said. Her advice: “Operators across segments should appeal to these diners with familiar and proprietary menu items diners can’t find anywhere else.” Generally speaking, two choices for restaurants emerged at the conference: either go all-in with plant-based (and internalize the philosophy) or add a unique dish to your menu. Simply creating plant-based versions of popular menu items may not be a good route for your brand, some speakers said. There are three reasons for this: One, it may devalue the original dish. Two, it

risks alienating your regular customers. And three, it’s not very practical to reinvent so many carefully developed pizzas and menu items. Typically, the focus of the marketing has been on the health benefits of a plantbased diet. But speakers at the conference overwhelmingly agreed the focus should now be on taste. I learned plant-based is a trend and a philosophy that is steadily growing. For restaurants, it could have effects beyond pushing operators to rethink their menus. For example, a representative from the BC Restaurant & Food Services in attendance said this trend was having an unexpected effect of attracting more young staff to restaurants. This is a very interesting development for an industry that is starved for talented and reliable staff. On the event’s trade show floor, I saw products to suit any step toward plantbased food you decide to take: alternative cheeses, protein-packed flours, plant-based pastas, prepackaged items for added sales at the counter, and nutrition-packed additives for bread and product development. Watch for more coverage of this event in January. Clearly, education and moderation are important. As renowned chef Massimo Capra suggests in our interview on page 12: “You need to offer the public a little bit of what they want and a little bit of what you want to give them. People who want to learn something can learn; people who just want to eat, they come in to eat.” •

6 pizza NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

November/December 2019, Vol. 25, No. 5 Editor Colleen Cross ccross@annexbusinessmedia.com 519-428-3471 ext. 261 Sales Manager Stephanie Jewell sjewell@annexbusinessmedia.com 705-826-2254 Account Coordinator Kathryn Nyenhuis knyenhuis@annexbusinessmedia.com 416-510-6753 Media Designer Curtis Martin Circulation Manager Anita Madden amadden@annexbusinessmedia.com 416-442-5600 ext 3596 Group Publisher, VP Sales Martin McAnulty mmcanulty@annexbusinessmedia.com COO Scott Jamieson sjamieson@annexbusinessmedia.com Mailing Address P.O. Box 530, 105 Donly Dr. S., Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT #40065710 Printed in Canada ISSN 1203-6838 Published five times per year (Jan/Feb, Apr/May, Jul/ Aug, Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec) by Annex Business Media Circulation email: lmalicdem@annexbusinessmedia.com Tel: 416-510-5187 • Fax: 416-510-6875 or 416442-2191 Mail: 111 Gordon Baker Rd., Suite 400, Toronto ON M2H 3R1 Subscription Rates Canada – 1 Year $ 26.50 (+ applicable tax) Best pricing (Can/USA/foreign) available online at www.canadianpizzamag.com Occasionally, Canadian Pizza Magazine will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above.

Annex Privacy Officer privacy@annexbusinessmedia.com • Tel: 800-6682374 No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. ©2019 Annex Publishing and Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. www.canadianpizzamag.com

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pizzabites BRIEFLY | Antoninos in Windsor, Ont., opens new flagship store; Proposed N.S. law could allow alcohol delivery with takeout orders | FOR MORE pizza news, check out our website, canadianpizzamag.com

Pizza Hut tests plant-based pizza in a round box izza Hut is testing a new vegetable pizza topped with a meatless Italian sausage and sold in a round pizza box. For a limited time at a test location in Phoenix, Ariz., the chain sold its new Garden Specialty Pizza topped with Incogmeato by MorningStar Farms Italian sausage. The pizza also features onions, mushrooms and banana peppers. “When we talk about feeding more possibilities we mean it – and I can’t wait to share these two new industry-changing innovations with our customers,” said Marianne Radley, chief brand officer for Pizza Hut, in a news release. Pizza Hut partnered with Zume to design the round box. The box contains less overall packaging compared to a typical square pizza box, is industrially compostable (where the service is available) and interlocks easily, Pizza Hut said. It may be rolled out more widely in the near future. All proceeds raised from the sale of the Garden Specialty Pizza and round box during the Oct. 23 event in Phoenix will be donated to a sustainability organization called Arizona Forward.

Staff at The Ottawa Hospital enjoy Gabriel Pizza during Staff Appreciation Week in Sept.

Gabriel Pizza feeds Ottawa hospital staff n September, Gabriel Pizza recently fed 14,000 nurses, doctors and support staff at five Ottawa hospitals over three days to celebrate The Ottawa Hospital’s Staff Appreciation Week. Meals are provided free of charge to the hospital network’s three main campuses – The Ottawa General, The Civic and The Riverside – as well as the Irving Greenberg Cancer Centre and its two administrative offices. The Ottawa Hospital executive team are on hand at each event to help serve slices to all staff. It typically takes 15 of Gabriel’s 41

locations to help prepare, cook and deliver 3,500 pizzas (28,000 slices), said Ray Skaff, vice-president of corporate affairs and public relations for Gabriel Pizza Franchise Corporation. Franchisees and corporately owned locations cook and deliver batches of 80 to 100 pizzas every 15 minutes over a four-hour period from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with additional drops for nightshift and overnight shifts. For the past five years, Gabriel Pizza, a chain with more than 40 locations in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, has partnered with the hospital for this community event.

Eating habits of Canadian cannabis users new service from the NPD Group provides foodservice operators with an in-depth understanding of the eating habits of Canadian cannabis users. The new data offering, which is being integrated into NPD’s Crest information service, will track consumer behaviour, attitudes, and usage motivators of Canadian cannabis users, the research firm said in a news release. In fall 2018, the federal Cannabis Act effectively legalized the sale and consumption of cannabis in Canada. When comparing cannabis users to non-users at foodservice, users tend to be younger. They are also more inclined to make

8 pizza NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

foodservice purchases through retail stores than to visit full-service restaurants. Quickservice patronage, however, remains steady among users but their brand preferences vary slightly from the average. They are more inclined to visit quickservice restaurants for pizza, burgers and sandwiches, and less inclined to visit quick-service coffee establishments. Delivery is popular, as are breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. Soft drinks, iced tea, smoothies and milkshakes are popular. Alcohol consumption is on par among cannabis users while coffee consumption is lower.

pizzabites

Pizza Pizza launches individual pizzas izza Pizza has a new line of 10inch gourmet thin-crust pizzas, featuring such ingredients as truffle sauce, blue cheese and provolone. The launch caters to Canadians who are looking for a more upscale pizza experience, Pizza Pizza said in a news release. The pizzas, priced at $7.29, are available in eight recipes: Sriracha & Honey, Creamy Truffle, Steak & Blue Cheese, Chicken Bruschetta, Pesto Amore, Sweet Chili Thai, Spinach Splendito and Chicken Romano. Blue Cheese, Habanero Cheddar and Provolone have been introduced for a limited time only for the launch of the Gourmet Thins, and will also be available for customers to order as an addon to other recipes and build-your-own pizzas. The new pizzas are available to walk-

Pizza Pizza’s Gourmet Thins 10-inch pizzas include Chicken Bruschetta, Sriracha & Honey and Pesto Amore.

in and delivery customers at more than 420 traditional locations. “The new Gourmet Thins are sized for one person, which makes them a perfect quick meal on the go,” said Paul Goddard, chief executive officer at Pizza

Pizza. “They’re also a more sophisticated option for Mom or Dad when the kids are still looking to order cheese or pepperoni, and they’re perfect for a group lunch at the office, where everyone can choose their own flavour.”

Pizza industry great Roberto Vergalito, ‘The Pizza Dude,’ dies he Canadian pizza industry has lost a champion and an icon. Roberto Vergalito, known to many as The Pizza Dude, passed away on Sept. 30. Vergalito, 48, owned and operated Roberto’s Pizza Passion in St. Catharines, Ont., for most of the past 20 years.His career had many highlights. Vergalito coached the Canadian Pizza Team for several years and was winner of the first Canadian Pizza Games in 2003. Under the title, The Pizza Dude, Vergalito wrote columns for Canadian Pizza over the years advising readers on the finer points of making pizza and pasta and running an independent pizzeria. In 2007 Vergalito was invited to Ottawa to make pizza for then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and caucus. Vergalito, heavily involved in his community of St. Catharines, Ont., founded the Facer District Merchants and Residents Association and the Facer European Festival. In 2018, he served as a judge for the Chef of the Year Competitions. In memory of Roberto, donations may be made to “Support Roberto ‘The Pizza Dude’s children” at gofundme.com. We at Canadian Pizza extend our sincere condolences to Roberto’s wife Francesca and children, Sebastian and Allegra.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 pizza 9

the pizza chef

Successful scheduling Diana Cline

ow do you know if you have enough bodies on your schedule? And how do you know if you have enough people scheduled for a particular shift? I look at whether we have enough team members on our schedule to handle the weekly sales I am projecting, keeping in mind there will be some turnover and key staff who will want time off. Key staff wanting time off should include yourself! Read that last sentence again. I use a specialized calculation to determine the appropriate number of staffs needed for our operation and our projected sales. This is a key tool I use to make sure we don’t overschedule, or conversely, understaff. It’s a delicate balance, for sure, and there are still times when even the best planning falls short. I use two different calculations to help plan our sales and schedule staff properly. First, figure out how many hours you need to schedule to cover each day. Are you a supper store and open at 4 p.m. Do you do lunch and open at 11 a.m.? Are you pick-up and delivery only or do you also have dine-in? You know your store best and only you can figure out how many hours you need to fill your schedule. Perhaps you need 400 scheduled hours in a week. This would equal 10 full-time equivalents (FTEs) as one full-time employee works 40 hours a week therefore 400 hours equals 10 fulltime employees. An FTE can also be four part-timers working 10 hours a week or two working 20 hours. This gives you an idea of how many names you need on your roster to be fully staffed but not overstaffed. Understanding how many hours you have to fill helps you calculate whether you need to hire more staff or maybe see that you have too many staff

on the schedule. Since labour is most will help you determine your most prolikely your largest expense, you need to ductive staff and when your most probe careful with your schedule and not ductive hours are. overstaff as that is very expensive. You These tools can also help you to detershould also calculate your labour over- mine what impact any additional labour head and add this number to your la- costs will have on your bottom line. If bour dollar projections. Typically, this you know that you need 400 hours to fill is an extra 10 to 11 per and the minimum wage cent. Here is a breakdown just went up 50 cents per of the overhead: four per hour (400 hours times 50 cent vacation pay, six to Measuring your cents equals $200, plus 10 seven per cent for emper cent overhead equals productivity ployment insurance and $220), and the majority will help you Canada Pension Plan conof your team members are tribution. This means that determine your paid minimum wage, then every dollar you pay your you know you need to cut staff is actually $1.11. If most productive about 20 hours off your you aren’t factoring this staff and when schedule (assuming an avinto your labour dollars, erage wage of $11.65 per your most you will be spending hour) and increase promore than your budgeted ductivity just to stay even. productive amount and this can eat Some operators think up your cash flow. cutting their labour hours hours are. The second calculation means they themselves I use is a measure of proought to work more of the ductivity called sales per on-the-floor-hours, but labour hour. This is a straightforward this is counterproductive and quickly calculation and is very easy to figure leads to burnout. The restaurant busiout. Here is an example. During your ness is not a business of one, and when supper rush you bring in $1,500 in you know these two calculations it’s sales between five and six o’clock. You much easier to keep labour in check. have 10 people scheduled during that If you aren’t planning for your busihour. Divide your sales of $1,500 by the ness to succeed, then who is? • number of staff during that hour to give you a measure of productivity. $1,500 Diana Cline is a two-time Canadian Pizza magazine Chef of the Year, three-time winner of “Canada’s Best divided by 10 equals $150 in sales per Pizza Chef” at international pizza competitions, a man-hour. This number allows you to judge for international pizza culinary competitions in determine how many hours you need to Las Vegas, Italy and France, and a partner with Diana’s Cucina & Lounge in Winnipeg. In addition to creating schedule to do a certain amount of sales. award-winning recipes, Diana is a consultant to other By using these tools you will be able owner/operators in menu development, creating systems to more effectively fill your schedule to run a pizzeria on autopilot, along with marketing and positioning to help operators grow their business. with as many staff as needed and as few She is available for consulting on a limited basis. Conas possible. Measuring your productivity tact her at diana@dianascucinaandlounge.com

10 pizza NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

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profile

True to his roots Celebrated chef Massimo Capra talks simplicity, seasonality and day-to-day operations in a special Q-and-A BY COLLEEN CROSS

n the culinary world, Massimo Capra has done it all. The celebrated chef’s impressive resumé includes positions at the famous Trattoria dall’ Amelia near Venice, the Hotel Savoy and Drei Tannen restaurant in San Martino di Castrozza and Gallia Hotels in Milan. Capra came to Toronto in 1982 and received accolades for his work as a chef at Prego della Piazza before opening Toronto’s famous Mistura Restaurant in 1997 and Sopra Upper Lounge in 2006. He is, literally, a big name, having licensed his name to the Rainbow Room by Massimo Capra at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Niagara Falls, and he is chef and brand owner of Boccone Trattoria Veloce and Boccone Pronto at Pearson Airport. He has written award-winning cookbooks. But he may be best known to many Canadians for his TV work on the Food Network as a judge on Chopped: Canada and Top Chef Canada and as an expert advisor on Restaurant Makeover. I am fortunate to meet Massimo Capra in person at his restaurant, Capra’s Kitchen, which opened in 2016 in his home neighbourhood of Clarkson Village in Mississauga, Ont. The gregarious, warm and busy entrepreneur graciously sits in a booth at the back of his restaurant – as the relaxed, jazz-infused place steadily fills before the lunch hour – sharing his thoughts on what food should be. Tell us about your time growing up in Italy and how it shaped your appreciation for food. I grew up in rural Italy until I was five or six years old, then moved to a nearby town, Cremona, in the Po Valley in Northern Italy southeast of Milan, which

“Consistency is the key but you have to know exactly what to be consistent on,” says Massimo Capra, seen here at Capra’s Kitchen in Mississauga, Ont.

has about 80,000 people. It was farmland with very few factories. The area used to grow wheat and corn and we used to have a massive dairy industry. Provolone, grana padana, gorgonzola – all of the cheeses we now take for granted are all from that area. My father used to work for a farm owner and he was quite successful. After

12 pizza NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

the Second World War, he was in charge of a farm. He found his calling was to be with dairy cows and he tended a flock of dairy cows. He was very serious about it in terms of the feeding and all that. He was an old-fashioned guy – he was born in 1912 – but he was very modern in the way that he thought: he never really

profile bought into the modernization of farming that has happened ever since. The farm he worked for was a relatively small farm but it was owned by someone who believed in organic and all of the beautiful words we use nowadays, including crop rotation for the animal feeds. Beautiful milk sold to local cheese makers and local co-operatives so they could make local cheese. My father was also an amazing gardener. He tended his own plot of land at our house and he grew almost everything. It was fantastic. My mother loved tending animals – chickens and rabbits, quails, geese, ducks and turkeys – you name it. Cremona itself is not well known for its food but the food is similar to what you find in Emilia-Romagna and Mantua – stuffed pasta, ravioli, lots of egg noodles, lots of rice. We’re very close to the rice lands of Italy. Also, beef, veal, pork, chickens, any type of birds and lots of wild meats. There was always somebody going hunting. You describe Capra’s Kitchen as a ‘fresh and approachable’ restaurant. In what ways is it so? The place that we created here, it definitely does have a downtown feel. We are in the suburbs of Mississauga, which is amazing. It is a completely detached from Toronto, but in terms of food quality, there are a lot of beautiful ethnic restaurants and you can eat very, very well here. What I try to do, I try to stay true to my roots. I offer things that are actually relevant and make sense and are current. My goal was to bring a restaurant here that was approachable, that was modern, that was family-style, that evoked a downtown feel and way of living. Given the demographic, which is changing rapidly, it’s also very inclusive. My menu is very, very large. I have a lot of items. You have to have pasta, pizza, antipasto, some main courses – so you’re up to 35 items, whether you like it or not. I want to try to get as much of the community that surrounds me as possible. This restaurant is geared to have a couple with their kid wanting to share a pizza or a pasta and have a glass of water, or a business-minded person, or a “foodie.” (Editor: He rolls his eyes at the last word.) We don’t take shortcuts in anything. We stuff our own ravioli and

agnolotti, we make our own gnocchi and our potatoes are soft – the way they’re supposed to be. Everything is made fresh in house and because it’s an Italian restaurant, you can always ask for something different than what’s on the menu. We have all the ingredients. We have the ability to serve everyone: vegans, vegetarians and those who don’t eat pork. We are inclusive – and I think that’s a good restaurant. You can’t be too strict about your menu. My chef is instructed to come up with a vegan special every week. And by nature, Italian menus are very vegetarian-friendly. The cheese can be omitted; butter, we don’t use a lot. I want to offer a better choice. When you run a big restaurant and you want to have numbers, you have to offer a little bit of everything.

have a big place and you’re trying to feed the general public. You need to offer the public a little bit of what they want and a little bit of what you want to give them. People who want to learn something can learn; people who just want to eat, they come in to eat.

How and where do you find interesting, high-quality ingredients? I go to farmers markets. Thirty years ago, I used to have to travel all the way to St. Jacobs (near Kitchener-Waterloo) for a big farmers market. Now they’re all over the place. The variety and the quality you find in a farmers market is very exciting. They tend to have a much more seasonal viewpoint and different varieties that are not just standard supermarket quality. It’s beautiful that in the grocery store, What does seasonal cooking mean to you? we can get vegetables from all over the I grew up in a time and a place where sea- world. But can you get the icicle radishsonality was the key. You couldn’t have es, can you get 16 varieties of radishes? That’s what’s exciting. Or certain things if it wasn’t cucumbers. You go to the the right time of year. supermarket now, what do When I was a kid I used to You basically you get? The mini six-in-ago out and look for frogs ate what the package and the English – and little fish in the ditches, other cucumbers have because we had irrigation land gave you, the almost disappeared. When systems. The ditches were full of fish, so you put a and in season. you go to a market, you might find it’s got the little net down, grab whatever tiny cornichons or it’s got comes up and then you eat the pickling cucumbers. them fried. I collected my own snails: in every garden in my home- You might find Hungarian white peptown there is a box made of cement with pers, not just bell peppers. – your mind a net on top. When you pick up lettuce starts going. I’m looking for something from your garden, you take a few leaves different and the flavour is completely that are dirty, feed them, give them some different. corn – make them nice and plump, and then you eat snails. Once or twice a year What do you think of all the different you’d have a snailfest. Those are things pizza styles – such as Napoletana and Roman – that have become popular in that I do miss immensely. You basically ate what the land gave Canada in recent years? Do you have a you, and in season. That gives you a dif- favourite you are experimenting with? ferent sense of responsibility for living: Pizza is an incredible food. You have so it’s a totally different way of life and the many different varieties: New York-style flavours are completely different. Local, to Chicago-style, Detroit, Montreal does a organic, in season – those are your guide- style. With Roman-style, in the old days, lines. In the wintertime you use pulses, my baker used to make pizza on Saturday. dried vegetables, root vegetables – there’s It was in a tray, about an inch thick, with so much to work with. Be flexible. There anchovies, capers, olives, some cheese, and you used to buy it by the slice. Every is beautiful stuff out there. To cook in a restaurant with local ingredients is a tall order, especially if you CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

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Explosion of flavours How to balance your ingredients and win over customers BY NATANAEL GAMMAROTA

y ideal pizza is beautiful – full of colour with a generous amount of ingredients. I take it in my hand and slowly bring it to my mouth, smelling the aroma of freshly baked bread coming from the oven. My tongue touches the dough base and I feel that touch of salt that the dough brings in and of itself. My teeth bite into it easily and I feel the crunchiness and softness of the ingredients. The portion will separate easily without pulling. When chewing the first piece, I feel the sweet taste of the sauce wrapping my palate and the mozzarella creating the sensation of fusion. All ingredients come together to create an explosion of flavours in my mouth. To be able to excel in the world of pizza, attract new customers and make your product consistent, your product needs to be of such high quality that your customers fall in love with their first bite. When the client tells you “You ruined the way I eat pizza!” it means you are on the right track. It means you gave your customers an experience so good that they don’t want to eat any other pizza besides the one you offer. How do we give our customers one of the most pleasant experiences of life when they eat our pizza? We do it by offering a pizza full of love and balanced ingredients. When you create recipes for your pizzas, divide the ingredients into three categories: basic ingredients, main ingredients and signature ingredients. 1. BASIC INGREDIENTS The first category consists of the basic ingredients that determine the flavour of

When you create recipes for your pizzas, divide the ingredients into three categories: basic ingredients, main ingredients and signature ingredients.

the pizza. These are sauces, dairies and fats. The sauce you choose has to leave a sweet taste in your mouth, like, for example, the sweetness of San Marzano tomatoes. No matter what the sauce is, it can be tomato, pesto, white sauce, barbecue, etc. The important thing is to make sure the sauce isn’t too acidic, but

16 pizza NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

has closer to a sweeter flavour. It is not easy to use acidic ingredients in pizza, but if you do, you must know how to contrast them with sweet ingredients. Otherwise, you alter the taste that a pizza should have. Unless you choose them as a main ingredient, dairy products should have an

feature unsalted flavour. They should not over- choosing fats, keep in mind the taste of whelm the taste of the pizza. Rather they extra virgin olive oil: strong with a fruity should accentuate the main ingredient aroma. In short, if you can eat it alone you are going to place on your pizza. with bread, then it is the perfect fat to put on a pizza. Just think about the mozTo help you select these zarella fior di latte. It is three basic ingredients such a perfect dairy prodThe signature that determine the taste uct in Italian pizzas that of your pizza, remember when used for the classic ingredient the taste of the margheriquattro formaggi (fouris like the ta pizza. The margherita is cheese pizza) it is able to the most famous pizza in highlight the mixture of signature on the world and it is not a other cheeses such as Paryour work of coincidence that it serves mesan and fontina, and as the base of many pizgive the gorgonzola (the art: it must be zas. Its ingredients are San main ingredient) a unique small but full of Marzano tomato sauce, flavour. fior di latte or buffalo The fat can be a liquid value. mozzarella, and extra virsubstance such as olive gin olive oil. oil or a thicker substance Although different sauces, such as cream or mayonnaise. It can be mixed directly into the dairy products and fats are used, the basauce or crust or drizzled on top as a sic flavour of the pizza should mirror the garnish before or after cooking to give margherita for these reasons: the acidity that touch of shine to the pizza. When of its tomato sauce does not bother the

stomach, its dairy accentuates the other ingredients and its fat brings brightness and flavour. WEIGHT The quantity of the basic ingredients you need to apply is balanced with the weight of the pizza dough you are using and the diameter of the disc that you want to obtain. For example, if I have a dough ball of eight ounces, the balanced diameter that I can get to put the basic ingredients on without problems is 12-13 inches. Otherwise, if I extend the diameter of the pizza, the disc would get thin, and I would have to use fewer ingredients. Looking at this another way, the heavier the ingredients are, the more dough you should use to support the weight. GEOMETRY If the pizza is round, the sauce should not be layered evenly but should leave small spirals throughout. If the pizza

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feature is square, it should have vertical lines giving space for the other ingredients. In the case of a pizza that doesn’t have cheese, you have to distribute the tomato sauce evenly so the dough doesn’t burn. Even when someone asks for extra sauce, the sauce should be added with a balanced measure on the base and the other ingredients on top. Extra sauce should go on top of everything. A good tip for applying the basic ingredients is to use a measuring scoop. Once you have an idea of how you are going to apply the basic ingredients – sauce, dairy and fats – it’s time to focus on the main ingredient. 2. THE MAIN INGREDIENT Pizza is like a white canvas that an artist wants to paint. In this canvas you are free to put on everything you want and give space to your creativity. The important thing is your love for the ingredients and your ability to use them with balance. You must respect your main ingredi-

ent. Know its origin, how it is preserved, how it is cooked, how it is presented and which is the best ingredient to pair it with. The main ingredient should be placed in an organized way with the goal that the person eating it should get the same amount when the slice is cut as when the piece is bitten. The other toppings are the sides. They fill each empty space, they increase the volume and they improve the presentation of the pizza. Remember to be generous with your main ingredient. 3. THE SIGNATURE INGREDIENT The third category is the signature ingredient. This is the final touch of your dish. It is like the signature on your work of art: it must be small but full of value. Potential signature ingredients include pink salt, truffle, special chili sauce, balsamic glaze, coconut flakes, Parmesan cheese, special oils and aromatic spices. What is your signature ingredient? I currently work at Liberty Kitchen, where

our signature ingredient is the Grana Padano cheese. The signature ingredient in Napoli, the place where pizza was born, is the extra virgin olive oil applied in the shape of the letter P creating the pizzaiolo’s signature. My personal signature is the one and only lemon zest. With it I could take to another level the most classic pizza in North America, the pepperoni pizza. Its ingredients are tomato sauce, fior di latte, salame toscano or Spanish chorizo, parsley, garlic and lemon zest. I’m sure if you try it, you won’t eat pepperoni pizza anywhere else! • Nathanael Gammarota, known as Natalino, is a Contemporary Master Pizza Chef from Italy. He is trained in all styles of pizza, including pizza acrobatics. He is currently kitchen manager and part of the Liberty Kitchen’s opening team and trainers in South Surrey, B.C., the new branch that Browns Restaurant Group has launched focused on pizza and pasta. He travels often for private caterings, cooking classes and pizza business consulting mostly in Canada, California and Italy.

For more cooking tips and trends, visit canadianpizzamag.com

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Six ways to prepare for the holidays Diane Chiasson

he countdown is on! As a pizzeria owner, you have entered the most profitable time of the year. The holiday season offers a huge opportunity for pizza restaurants of all sizes, but the competition for customers has never been more intense. Here are six things you should do to prepare your pizzeria for the holidays. 1. BE READY WITH YOUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN Before your jump into any planning for the holidays, review last year’s campaign to see how you did. Try to identify your previous successes or failures in order to determine areas where you can improve. You can then start planning special holiday menus, advertising strategies and flyers to give out to customers. It’s always a good idea to have something to hand out. You should post on a daily basis some great photos of your pizzeria’s products on Facebook and Instagram. Posting photos on a regular basis will remind your customers to order that special pizza or to check out a new deal. It will help get them through the door. Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords) is also a great place to get your seasonal message across. You can create a campaign targeting the holiday shoppers. 2. CHECK YOUR INVENTORY “Out of stock” means a lost sale. When it comes to holiday retail, one of the biggest mistakes a pizzeria owner can make is not having enough inventory to stock shelves or lacking some ingredients during the holiday season. A well-established pizzeria should prepare for an even bigger crowd than usual for the holidays, particularly during these peak hours. Trust me, it’s always better to have too much supply than too little!

3. CONTACT YOUR BEST CLIENTS The key to optimizing holiday sales is to start communicating with your customers as soon as possible. The bulk of your sales will likely come from your regular customers, but you certainly want to also attract new customers during the holiday season. By November, you should be ready to start promoting your pizzeria’s holiday offerings. Get in touch with all of last year’s customers who ordered special treats for their office, catering events or special functions. Be more active via email this season. Communicate your seasonal plans to your customers in your database using an email campaign or social media campaign, post signage throughout your store and make sure your website is up to date. 4. GIVE BACK The winter holidays are a great time for community giving and charity. The holidays tend to bring out the best in people when it comes to lending their time, money or assistance to charitable causes. Get involved in your community to make the season brighter for those less fortunate. Donating unused food to a food bank or supporting a local shelter are great ways to support your community and demonstrate your brand values. Playing an active role in the cycle of food rescue is a great way to give back and check out the many local programs in your area. What about taking a platter of some special mini pizza treats to a nursing home or a senior living centre? 5. PLAN YOUR STAFF SCHEDULE One of the most important operational aspects of being successful during the holidays is scheduling your staff effectively to provide the best possible customer service.

If you want to offer quality service during your busiest season, you must hire additional staff and train them properly. The holidays are busy for everyone, including your staff. Will your staff be adequate for large holiday parties and increased business? It’s always a good idea to schedule more staff than you usually need. Start planning now if you need to hire additional people for your pizzeria before your competitors scoop up the most reliable talent. Many university students are home for the holidays and want to make some extra money before returning to school. To save time, call former employees who left for university and see if they will help you out during the holiday season. 6. PROMOTE, SELL GIFT CARDS Don’t wait until the holidays to decide you need a gift card for your pizzeria or online store. Your pizzeria will definitely increase sales with a gift card program. When you offer such a program, it brings at least two customers into your restaurant – the giver and the receiver. Your gift card program should include plastic gift cards as well as electronic gift cards. Let your customers give the gift of your pizza during the holiday season. Think about setting up a big display area at the front of your restaurant. Package each gift card in a box or gift bag with a bow and ribbons. Make sure you include a blank holiday card with the gift card. • Diane Chiasson, FCSI, president of Chiasson Consultants Inc., has been helping foodservice, hospitality and retail operators increase sales for over 30 years by providing innovative and revenue-increasing food service and retail merchandising programs, interior design, branding, menu engineering, marketing and promotional campaigns. Contact her at 416-926-1338, toll-free at 1-888-926-6655 or chiasson@chiassonconsultants.com, or visit chiassonconsultants.com

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 pizza 19

PHOTOS BY MORIAH CAMPBELL

feature

Summit highlights Canadian pizza chefs brought their personal best pizzas from across Canada BY CANADIAN PIZZA STAFF “

made the best version of my pizza ever,” was a comment we were happy to hear from many Chef of the Year competitors in October. This year we focused squarely on the competitions, making for an exciting day. Two pizza chefs share the title of Canadian Pizza Chef of the Year. Chef of the Year (Traditional) is Rodolfo Santo, executive chef at Mastro Roberto Trattoria in Woodbridge, Ont. Chef of the Year (Open) is Michele Casale, owner of Redipizza in Montreal. Santo’s Pizza di bosco (Pizza from the woods) is a pepperoni pizza featuring wild forest mushrooms, ricotta-infused mozzarella

and fresh herbs, while Casale’s winning entry, Pizza del bel paese (Pizza from the beautiful country), is a Roman al taglio style of pizza topped with sun-dried cherry tomatoes, burrata cheese basil and pesto. Santo and Casale each receive a trip to Las Vegas to compete in the International Pizza Challenge in March 2020 and $500. Jason Pizzolongo, owner of Restaurant Fuoco in Varennes, Que., a suburb of Montreal, took second place in the Traditional; Maurizio Mascioli, owner of Maurizio’s Inc. in Parry Sound, Ont., placed third. Thomas Schneider, owner of Timmy Tom’s Pizzeria in Winnipeg, took second place in the Open; Sunny Singh, manager

at Lina’s Italian Market in Calgary took third place. In answer to requests to hold a fun competition along the lines of Chopped Canada. Our answer was the Mystery Ingredient Challenge! Three brave and creative chefs stepped up to create signature pizzas in our first challenge: Seth Drogemuller of Zen’Za Pizzeria in London, Ont.; Dean Litster, owner and partner in Armando’s Pizza in Windsor, Ont.; and Jason Seitanidis, owner of Matador Pizza and Steakhouse in Calgary. They had 45 minutes to plan, prepare, bake and present a pizza that featured the Mystery Ingredient. They chose from a list of ingredients shared two

TOP: Michael Bou-Younes has the oven ready for Thomas Schneider’s Spicy Honey pizza, which was awarded second place in the Open.

20 pizza NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

feature Year title. Judging the new Mystery Ingredient Challenge were Marina Rondinelli, chef, consultant and former owner of Rondo’s Pizza Plus in Bright’s Grove, Ont.; Giorgio Taverniti, owner of Frank’s Pizza House in Toronto; and pizza historian Alex Hughes, of York University, who is completing his PhD on the pizza industry in Toronto and Buffalo, N.Y. More than ever, this event was a family affair, with several families and colleagues attending and competing. The Lorefices, who run Trecce in Toronto, brought their team, and Nina and Lucy competed in separate divisions, with Sabrina and Lucy participating in the Great Pizza Box Fold-Off. Zen’Za Pizzeria out of London, Ont., were there in full force, with co-owner Wayne de Groot opening minds with his vegan version of Philly ’za and team member Seth Drogemuller competing in the Mystery Ingredient Challenge. Josh and Jeremy Paone, the entrepreneurial brothers behind The Lock pizzeria in Port Colborne, Ont., competed in separate divisions, while Angela Risi and her husband Doug George of Maria’s Pizza West in Brantford, Ont., boldly competed in the Traditional division. Attendees were glued to the action like wet pizza dough stuck to a cutting board, taking photos and cheering them on. A few bursts of applause followed particularly interesting and impressive-looking pizzas. If you took a good photo of the chefs at work, please share it with Canadian Pizza and we may include

Raj Sivasothy of The Good Son in Toronto carefully cuts into his steamy, hot Salame Piccante Pizza during the Traditional division.

weeks’ earlier and provided by organizers. Bases included tomato sauce, barbecue sauce and mustard; cheeses included mozzarella, ricotta and cheddar; meats included bacon and mortadella; as well as a selection of vegetables and seasonings. The Mystery Ingredient was dill and garlic pickled green beans. The Pork and Pickley Beans Pizza, created by Dean Litster, owner and corporate chef at Armando’s Pizza in Windsor, Ont., was deemed the favourite. Litster, our 2019 Chef of the Year (Open), said he was pleased when he learned the secret ingredient as it fit in with his plans for his pizza. Participants were given a list of about 20 ingredients to mull over two weeks before the competition. They worked from a communal table of ingredients provided for them by the show. Participants took turns folding 10 boxes while they were timed by Canadian Pizza and heartily cheered on by attendees. James Timothy of Zen’Za Pizzeria in London, Ont., defended his title as winner of the Great Pizza Box Fold-Off. Timothy folded 10 large boxes in 42.55 seconds, besting his time last year of one minute, 3.7 seconds. Judges for the event were Joe Leroux, owner of Amadio’s Pizza in Port Credit, Ont.; Tom Stankiewicz, owner of Bondi’s Pizza in London, Ont.; Diana Cline, partner in Diana’s Cucina and Lounge in Winnipeg; and John Chetti, managing partner in Queen Margherita Pizzeria and FBI Pizza in Toronto. Cline, Stankiewicz and Leroux are former holders of the Chef of the

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feature

Jason Pizzolongo, owner of Restaurant Fuoco in Varennes, Que., displays the Bufala, which earned him second place in Traditional.

Marco Caveglia of Tuscan Wolf Pizzeria in Whitby, Ont., made a pizza using a double dough filled with stracchino cheese.

it in an online photo gallery on Facebook, a post on Instagram or in future coverage in the magazine. Watch the magazine and website for details of next year’s Canadian Pizza Summit and Chef of the Year Competitions, sign up for our enewsletter to keep up to date and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (canadian_pizza_magazine). Tag us (@CdnPizzaMag) in your photos posted online or send photos to the editor at ccross@annexbusinessmedia.com On the Sunday before the Summit, a “Night Before Napoletana” pizza class was led by Michael Bou-Younes, Faema Culinary Academy’s head instructor. Bou-Younes talked about the unique tradition of pizza coming out of Naples, demonstrated traditional techniques and allowed participants to take a turn at opening, stretching and sampling the results. The class was sponsored by Parmala/Galbani and featured a demonstration of the company’s Professionale cheese by chef Daniele Uccheddu. Exhibitors provided information on a variety of products and services designed with restaurants and pizzerias in mind: • Faema: Moretti Forni ovens and Culinary Academy pizza, pasta and barista classes • Parmalat/Galbani: Professionale specialty Italian shreds • Stanislaus Food Products: Variety of tomato products including strips, ground, pureed and whole-peeled • Ardent Mills: Flours such as Primo Mulino Neapolitan-style; free of treatments and additives • Uber Eats: Delivery services to help restaurants extend their reach online • MenuSano: Online nutrition analysis software that lets you print and export nutrition labels.

• •

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• •

Lallemand Baking: Yeast and fermentation products Mealsy: Online ordering systems, including cloud-based POS and self-ordering Chicago Metallic/Bundy Baking Pans: Pans, coatings and services including Smart pan tracking Sabrina Foods: Distributor with a wide variety of sauces, cheese, toppings, spices and beverages including imported products from Italy, Spain and Greece

The Canadian Pizza Summit and Chef of the Year Competitions are brought to you by Canadian Pizza magazine with support from Platinum sponsor Moretti Forni, distributed by Faema Canada; Gold Plus sponsor Parmalat/Galbani; Gold sponsors Ardent Mills and Stanislaus Food Products, Bronze sponsor Uber Eats, attendee bag sponsor MenuSano and lanyard sponsor Lallemand Baking. Our sponsors will be part of a trade show along with other pizza-focused suppliers. Canadian Pizza would like to thank Faema Canada for hosting the event at their showroom in a renovated Ford plant in Toronto, and head chef Michael Bou-Younes and staff for helping facilitate the day’s events. Special thanks go also to Parmalat/Galbani for donating a prize of its Professionale cheese to the Mystery Ingredient Challenge winner; and to Sabrina Foods for donating two prizes of arugula-spiced cheese to the two top chefs. Look for a gallery of pizza chefs and profiles of the Chefs of the Year in 2020 editions. • For more on ingredients, visit canadianpizzamag.com

profile

True to his roots CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

town in Italy makes a pizza style that’s Roman-style. Obviously, now we are a little bit more specific and we have a few pizzerias in Rome that have developed the style. That is beautiful. I’ve eaten those since I was 14 years old going to cooking school. In Italy they’ve redefined Roman and I’m really glad they did that because it is absolutely delicious. It has a little bit more crispiness to it now and is a little bit more approachable. I don’t want to overthink pizza. Pizza is street food that went crazy. It’s amazing the way that pizza has taken over this continent and everywhere around the world. Even in my hometown, there are four pizzerias with four different styles and they all do well. I did experiment with Napoletana-style pizza. It’s very labour intensive. Unless you have a wood-burning oven and unless you make dough and ferment it for two days, it’s a big labour-intensive thing. I take my hat off to people who do that and go that route. When I was 18, I operated a pizza oven for seven months and I understand wood-burning ovens. To bring it up to 900 degrees is not the whole key of making good pizza. A pizza oven has a certain way of showing you when it’s ready to bake and you need to be really mindful of that. Otherwise, you’re going to get a piece that’s scorched and is not cooked in the middle. The cheese has to be almost melted but not melted: it’s got to be still visible. If the cheese starts boiling, it’s not good. I agree with all that, but that’s not conducive to my quickserve style. It’s a bit too strict for me.

What can an independent pizzeria operator do to thrive in a competitive market? Independents have an advantage, in a sense, because they have only one or two locations and they can develop their own style. The style is something they have to invent themselves or learn it from somewhere, then stick with it and perfect it. Consistency is the key – in everything. The quality of the dough, the consistency of the cooking and the quality of the ingredients on top. After that, what you put on it depends on your style. Making pizza dough is the most difficult part, cooking the pizza is the next most difficult but the toppings are just a function of the ingredients. Once you have developed a style that is actually successful, the clientele will let you know about it. Then you have to be consistent. You also have to be open to advice and listen to what the customers are telling you. A lot of restaurants fail because they are cooking for themselves and their knowledge is very limited. Pizza is not easy: it’s a very, very difficult thing to do. Consistency is the key but you have to know exactly what to be consistent on. A lot of small operators, they kind of lose touch. We’re not in business to please ourselves; we’re in business to please others – then we can be pleased. •

To read a longer version of this interview, visit canadianpizzamag.com

Tell us about your pizza. My pizza is more like a standard pizza. I don’t care for the Napoletana-style pizza – too doughy, too wet. I’m going to be straightforward about it because I lived in Italy for 22 years and I lived in the Naples area for quite some time. In North America, we’ve been given the idea that Napoletana pizza is supposed to be wet inside. That’s not true. Napoletana-style is not supposed to be crispy – I agree with that. I find Napoletana-style pizza really heavy and I’ve gone with a much lighter, crisper pizza style. It’s only 65 to 70 per cent moisture in the dough. Tell us about some of your staffing challenges and priorities. Hiring is the top issue for restaurants – finding staff who actually want to stay. The reality is that there is a new mindset in the workers of today. They like to work somewhere for six months, then go (somewhere else) for six months, then move on, and they end up opening their own place. What we are lacking is people who want to develop a career doing something and doing it well – for someone else. It is very difficult to find people who will stay with you and actually develop their skills. There is no hierarchy – everyone wants to be the top. Nobody wants to spend time and learn. They think that once they know how to stretch 10 pizzas to 12 inches all the same, they know all they need to know. A lot of people working in the industry don’t spend time trying to understand the chemistry and learn the craft behind doing something right.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 pizza 23

feature

Kindness in the form of pizza A simple ordering mistake ignited #RandomActsOfPizza in Slave Lake, Alta., and beyond BY COLLEEN CROSS

PHOTO COURTESY ALIMO’S PIZZERIA

limo’s Pizzeria is having a moment. The 15-year-old family-run pizzeria in Slave Lake, a town of about 7,000 people northwest of Edmonton, took an order mix-up and turned it into a feel-good campaign. Co-owner Moe Mouallem wants to continue the snowball effect by carrying out random acts of kindness and encouraging others to pay forward good deeds. Mouallem is the co-owner of Alimo’s with his brother Ali. Their names combined form the pizzeria’s branding. For those who didn’t see the headlines carried in many news outlets, here’s the short version. A firefighter for the Lesser Slave Regional Fire Service was asked to order 18 pizzas from Alimo’s for first responders. He accidentally placed the order with Alamo Pizza in San Antonio, Texas. When the mix-up was discovered, the Alberta department paid to have the pizzas delivered to San Antonio first responders. Word got back to Alimo’s, who kept the goodwill going. Mouallem created a colourful graphic and posted it on social media with the hashtag #RandomActsOfPizza. The post stirred the community to donate money to the pizzeria, starting with a $200 donation that Alimo’s matched. More requests came in to deliver pizzas to the community – to specific people or unspecified people deemed deserving. He hit the streets armed with pizzas. Close to $2,000 worth of pizza was delivered in one day to schools, seniors homes, police stations, hospitals, homes and businesses. “We’d stop people on the street

#RandomActsOfPizza strikes the Slave Lake Healthcare Centre where staff enjoyed pizzas courtesy Alimo’s Pizzeria. Moe Mouallem, right, delivers.

and go into some businesses asking if they wanted a free pizza. People were so surprised. We’d also leave little messages of positivity on the boxes,” he adds. Mouallem himself was surprised to see the post take on a life of its own on social media. They had attention from around the world. Alimo’s was interviewed by CBC, CNN, NBC and many other news outlets and the #RandomActsOfPizza campaign was included in publicity for a major Hollywood movie, Playing With Fire. The mix-up has inspired a specialty pizza – the San Antonio Screwup – with pepperoni, bacon, mushroom, green peppers and banana peppers. For every pizza sold, Alimo’s donates $2 to Friends for Learning, a fundraising group that helps four public schools run extracurricular activities. Alimo’s has built a strong relationship with the fire department. “They gave us permission to poke fun at the situation,” he says. And they’ve started a friendship with

24 pizza NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

Alamo Pizza in San Antonio. “We hope to run #RAOP every October as it coincides with both this specific event and National Pizza Month,” Mouallem says. “The days get shorter and people may feel a big depressed going into winter.” “The campaign works with who we are as people and as a business,” Mouallem says. A bit of history: their parents, Abdul and Chafica Mouallem, emigrated from Lebanon in the 1970s and ran several businesses, including a successful bar and grill. After winding down the bar and grill, they kept getting requests for the pizza. In response, Moe and Ali developed a business plan and opened Alimo’s in 2004. “To be successful in a small town, you need a lot of things to go right,” he says. “We can’t turn a blind eye to the needs of our community.” • For more community-focused stories, visit canadianpizzamag.com

recipe

Coppa and Burrata Pizza By Port Restaurant, Pickering, Ont.

To celebrate National Pizza Month, Pickering’s Port Restaurant is sharing a recipe for Coppa and Burrata Pizza. Executive chef Jesse Vallins has created a quick comfort-food recipe for the chillier season using Coppa – a delicately spiced version of prosciutto

YIELD • Makes one 12-inch pizza

originating in southern Italy – and creamy burrata. INGREDIENTS • 1 225 g (8 oz.) package pizza dough • cup (100 ml) San Marzano tomatoes, drained and crushed • 4 oz. (113 g) burrata cheese

• • • • • • •

cup dried mozzarella, grated 1 tbsp grana padano, grated 6-8 slices coppa, thinly cut 1 sprig fresh basil, torn 1 sprig fresh oregano, torn 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil All-purpose flour for dusting

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The Port Restaurant in Pickering, Ont., was founded in 2008 by restaurateur Todd Morgan. It is rooted in his hospitality and business management experience gained across North America and combined with his passionate focus to bring an elevated, “can’t wait to return” dining experience to the East Greater Toronto Area.

EQUIPMENT

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TIPS 1. Preheat oven to 550 F. 2. On a well-floured surface, gently push and flatten the pizza dough to a 12-inch round. 3. Spread crushed tomatoes evenly, leaving room for a crust. 4. Add mozzarella cheese and spread coppa slices. 5. Break burrata into small dollops and place around pizza. 6. Put pizza onto a pizza stone (or pan) and place in oven, cooking for three to five minutes or until the crust is well browned and the cheese is melted. 7. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. 8. Top with the grated grana padano and fresh herbs, and drizzle with the olive oil. 9. Cut and enjoy!

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Faema Company (Canada) Ltd. / Euro-Milan Inc....................................................28 Finica Food Specialties Ltd. ....................................................................................17 Ford Motor Company .................................................................................................7 Middleby Marshall....................................................................................................11 Mimi Food Products Inc...........................................................................................25 Olymel ......................................................................................................................27 Pizza Today / Pizza Expo ...................................................................................14,15 Reiser / Robert Reiser & Co. .....................................................................................2 Ricco Food Distributor .............................................................................................23 Routhier & Fils .........................................................................................................25 Springer’s Meats Inc. ...............................................................................................21 Stanislaus Food Products ......................................................................................4,5 Wellbake Equipment Inc. .........................................................................................18 Use these advertiser contact numbers to find out more about a product advertised in this issue or to place an order. This index is provided as a service. Canadian Pizza Magazine is not liable for errors or omissions.

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 pizza 25

guest column

Cornering the gluten-free market Lindsey Yeakle, Gluten Intolerance Group re you considering adding gluten-free pizza to your menu? Already offering gluten alternatives but wondering if you’re serving everything correctly? If a diner with celiac disease sent a salad with croutons back to the kitchen, would your staff know what to do? Questions like these are common for restaurants who want in on the growing gluten-free market but aren’t sure how to safely prepare and serve dishes without gluten. Offering gluten-free menu items is particularly appealing for pizzerias who must adapt to changing tastes. While volume and dollar sales of pizza have declined in recent years in Canada, demand for gluten-free pizza is rising thanks to increased diagnoses of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity and a desire for healthier options, particularly among millennial professionals, young mothers, and college students. According to a report by Grand View Research, Inc. the international gluten-free pizza crust market size is anticipated to reach $3.1 billion US by 2025. To accommodate growing demand, pizzerias are rolling out no-gluten menu items, but franchises appear to have the edge when it comes to capturing consumer dollars. In 2015, North American franchises earned $23.5 million in revenue compared to just $14.9 million for independent operators. To compete with big-name franchises, independent pizzerias will need to build a loyal following among local customers. Offering gluten-free pizza is a good bet to attract not only diners who have eliminated gluten from their diets, but their loved ones as well. Sharing pizza is a weekly ritual for many families and Canadian diners are even more likely than their U.S. diners to buy gluten-free products if someone in the household is gluten sensi-

tive, according to FoodNavigator-USA. For independent operators looking to add gluten-free pizza to the menu, getting great recipes and quality ingredients is just the beginning. All too often, the best of intentions fall apart when it comes to executing a gluten-free menu. A single incident of cross-contamination can have serious consequences for someone with gluten sensitivity, including physical symptoms like gas, bloating, diarrhea and rashes as well as mental symptoms like anxiety, irritability and “brain fog.” In severe cases, trace amounts of gluten can send someone to the emergency room. Gluten contamination can also have severe consequences for restaurants. When someone gets sick from cross-contamination, they are unlikely to return to your business. What’s worse, they are likely to tell friends and family about their experience and poor word of mouth can be bad for business. Don’t rely on procedures created on the fly and stored in somebody’s head. Fortunately, developing written policies and procedures doesn’t have to be complicated. Writing procedures on lined notepaper and placing notes in a binder is a great start. Making sure that staff are properly trained in best practices for gluten-free food preparation and storage is equally important. Having an employee shadow an experienced staff member and take notes is a simple way to orient new hires to kitchen procedures. A good training program will also provide kitchen staff with the opportunity to get some handson experience implementing best practices and test staff members on their knowledge before pizzas leave the kitchen. Training is also essential for front-ofhouse staff, who need to answer questions

26 pizza NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

about menu items thoroughly and accurately. It can include direction on proper etiquette when serving customers with gluten sensitivity. Anyone asking for gluten-free options should be treated with respect. Staff shouldn’t be asking questions about the customer’s health, whether or not they have gluten intolerance or just prefer gluten-free foods. If you’re considering offering a gluten-free menu, third-party certification can be an invaluable resource. During the assessment process, the certifying organization can provide guidance on best practices for safe food handling and storage procedures. It can assistance in developing an effective training program. A qualified organization also can serve as a resource if any questions come up following certification. When evaluating certifying organizations, make sure they offer on-site assessments and on-site audits. On-site audits ensure your procedures adhere to high standards for food handling and provide powerful validation for savvy diners who want to know that you can meet their dietary needs. Independent pizzerias face unprecedented challenges due to changing tastes and competition in the marketplace. Offering gluten-free pizza is an excellent way to differentiate your business, but knowing best practices for preventing cross-contamination is essential. Developing written procedures, training staff and enlisting expert guidance are the key ingredients to safe, delicious gluten-free pizza and a great return on investment for restaurants looking to build a loyal following of gluten-free patrons and their loved ones. • Lindsey Yeakle is Gluten-Free Food Service (GFFS) Program and Quality Control Manager, Food Safety, for the nonprofit Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG). For more information, visit gffoodservice.org.

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