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Ted Rowe was way ahead of the chef-owned pizzeria pack when he opened Mulberry Street Pizzeria back in 1986. That was about 20 years in advance of the current chef-owners who’ve recently opened up some pretty trendy pizzerias in the San Francisco Bay area. I can vouch for Ted’s longevity since we’ve been friends for nearly as long as Mulberry Street has been open. Recently, I had a chance to catch up with Ted at his place where we got to spend an afternoon talking shop and tasting through his menu.
From Police Chief to Pizza Chef
Ted started out in law enforcement before coming to the culinary world. He could have ended up as a CSI, but became a police chief instead. At 29 years old, he was the youngest chief of police in California when he caught the cooking bug. So he traded in his police hat for a chef’s toque and his gun for a chef’s knife and enrolled at the California Culinary Academy. After graduating in 1983, he spent the next few years working in hotels and restaurants in and around San Francisco. By 1986, he was ready to do his own place.
Ted’s Excellent Pizza Adventure
With a California style grill in mind, Ted settled on Mulberry Street Pizzeria in Marin County. He thought he could upgrade the pizza they were currently doing at the shop and tack on his grill concept. Unfortunately, the grill part of the place did not catch on, but the newly upgraded pizzas were flying out the door. Then, out of necessity, Ted started using the ingredients he had prepared for the grill side of the place on some new specialty pizza toppings, and before long, pizza became the main focus of his operation.
No Gourmet Boutique Pizza Served Here…
When Ted opened Mulberry Street Pizzeria in the mid 1980’s, “gourmet boutique” pizza was all the rage in California. To Ted, that meant little dabs of goat cheese and tiny portions; frou frou boutique pizza was not his idea of pizza. Looking at pizza from a chef’s point of view, Ted saw pizza as a “hearty American meal all wrapped up into one pie”. He began to adapt different cooking styles, techniques and cuisines into his pies. For Ted, pizza is not a mono flavor or texture; he likes to work in the elements of color, texture, flavor and aroma on his pies. Judging from their overall response, I’d say the customers like his style. Ted is very much a pioneer of the signature pizza trend.
Best Tasting Pizza In America
Over the years, Ted has racked up a serious amount of awards, but the one he seems most proud of is winning the 2005 Food Network Challenge: Pizza Battle for Best Tasting Pizza in America with his “For The Love Of Mushroom Pizza.” The fact that appearing on the Food Network increased his business by 30 percent no doubt sweetened winning the challenge as well. You can find this recipe on page 57.
What’s On The Menu…
When I looked at his menu for the first time, it seemed pretty standard, with a good selection of items: “homemade” soup, “the best garlic bread on the planet”, Caesar salad, spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna and a calzone. The pizzas had a great selection of topping options, including a whole-wheat crust option and of course, the specialty pizzas sounded pretty compelling. Lots of pizzerias make the same claims but don’t measure up to the level of the fare prepared at Mulberry Street Pizzeria. Ted set up a tasting meal for me ust like a chef would do at a fine dining restaurant and I dutifully nibbled on all of the small plates he set before me.
A Cut Above
I was really bowled over by the sparkling freshness of his ingredients and how spot-on the seasonings were—not too heavy, and not bland. Everything was really top notch, a real cut above what you might expect to find on a casual pizzeria menu. The breads were freshly baked, the pastas were flavorful and al dente and the pizzas were simply splendid. Ted’s craft as a chef really comes through everything he makes.
Signature Pizzas
Mulberry Street Pizzeria has several hundred specialty pizzas in their repertoire, but the ones on the list have been perennial favorites for quite some time now. Like the other items on the menu, their names and descriptions belie their knockout flavors. For example, the “Three Beer Pizza” is a virtual concerto of textures, flavors and heat. The “Greek Pizza” is a masterful play of rich pepperoni, salty Feta cheese, tangy artichokes and a real kicker blend of spiced olives. Much of the time specialty pizzas have too much going on, and all of the flavors cancel themselves out—but not here, Ted makes it all work.
How To Stay On Top...
As good as the food is at this store, it does take more than that to remain on top for such a long time. It seems Ted is equally as shrewd in the marketing department as he is in the kitchen. Beyond the plaques, honors and awards that don the pizzeria walls, Ted has been consistent in growing the business at every opportunity.
Start Them Off Young…
One of the most successful programs that has worked very favorably for Ted over the years are the Mulberry Street Pizzeria field trip, organized by the local elementary school kindergarten classes. The teachers schedule a field trip for a Saturday morning and the kids come in and get to watch Ted bake pizza. They each get their own piece of dough and get to make and eat their own pizza. It’s a great experience for the kids who get to learn about how to make their favorite food and how to develop social skills around sharing meals with people in a restaurant. The kids want to come back to eat at the pizzeria and they influence their parents’ dining decisions. The teachers come back with their families and it all amounts to more business.
The Benefits of Work
Another component to the success of the pizzeria is the people who work there. Much of Ted’s staff has been with him for many years. This makes for consistency in the kitchen and an excellent service staff. Spending the extra dollars on health insurance for his workers has helped him retain his staff. The money he’s saved on training and re-training and on consistency has more than paid the difference of the insurance cost. Ted believes that his staff is an essential part of the equation. As far as Ted sees it, “People want good food, good value and competent service.”
Choosing The Best Exposure
Television ads on local cable stations have proven to be the best dollars he’s spent in advertising. The cable companies shoot the videos and he gets to choose what time periods, and in some cases, which shows they will run with. The fees usually run around 1,000 to 2,000 dollars a month, based on how many insertions per month, what time they are to be aired and what shows they are to be aired with. The spots run about 60 seconds and can be paired with popular sporting events or other programming specials—at a premium price. In other words, you’ll end up paying a whole lot more to air the spots on the Food Network during Rachael Ray at 8PM prime time, than during her re-runs after midnight. The great thing about the cable ads is that they can be aired in specific geographical locales, so you are sure to reach your target market.
Ted also favors radio ads that don’t seem like ads because they are done through a weekly food show talk host who makes the ads sound like a visit or personal experience he’s had with the place. I guess you might call these “review” ads, but you get to write and pay for your own review. The radio review/ads run about as much as the lower end cable TV ads: 900 to 1,000 dollars for two ads. (The San Francisco Bay Area is a pricey place to do business; the same type of ads might be considerably less in other areas.)
Vino Veritas
The wine list at Mulberry Street Pizzeria is pretty standard California fare, but recently, Ted has started a new wine program that brings a special selection of limited production wines at bargain prices. Now, these wines are premium wines that sell for a lot more than what Ted sells them for, but they are double what his standard wines sell for. Because his clientele is fairly wine savvy, they recognize the value and spring for the more expensive wines—and Ted gets to drink some great bottles, while making a nice profit at the same time.
Future Trends?
Always tinkering and thinking, Ted is looking at doing more with artisan-type breads and new specialty crusts based on artisan breads. He’s looking to bring in more artisan cheeses and he’s playing around more with sauces as garnishes or as finishing sauces on top of a fully baked pie. He’s currently working up some recipes that employ flavored olive oils, curried vegetables and wine reduction sauces.
After 20 years, Ted doesn’t show any intentions of slowing down. He’s doing what he wants and making a lot of people very happy in the process: it’s good to be a pizza chef. Visit them online at:
www.ReallyGreatPizza.com.
Author of the best selling pizza book in history, Evelyne Slomon met and learned the New York Style method of pizza making from the original pizza masters. You’ve seen her as the authoritative expert on the History Channel’s “America Eats”. Now you can meet her at PMQ’s Pizza Industry Information Center.