By Rick Hynum
Marco’s Pizza has become the latest top 10 pizza brand to offer a New York-style pie as a limited-time offer. But, as far as we know, it’s the first major chain pizza to earn the official seal of approval from one of the industry’s most respected figures: Scott Wiener of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City.
Marco’s NY Style Pizza, unveiled today, will be available for a limited time starting at $13.99. In a press release, Marco’s said it “captures the rituals that define the style, featuring an extra-large 16-inch pie cut into six oversized, foldable slices.”
Marco’s culinary team enlisted Wiener for a private curated tour of New York City’s celebrated pizzerias to get firsthand insight into the history, craftsmanship and defining characteristics of New York-style pizza.
Tackling the New York style, typically as an LTO, has become a rite of passage of sorts for leading pizza chains focused on menu innovation. These include Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Papa Murphy’s and even Jet’s Pizza, whose primary focus is the Detroit style.
“Capturing the essence of a true NY-style pizza was our top priority,” said Chef Kathleen Kennedy, director of culinary innovation for Marco’s Pizza, in the press release. “From the structure of the dough to the brightness of the crushed tomatoes, every detail was thoughtfully developed to deliver that classic, foldable experience people expect from a New York pizzeria.”
In a video promoting the style, Chef Kennedy went into more detail. “You know, there’s a lot of different players now,” she said. “Like, there’s Connecticut and Chicago. But New York is the mountain.”
“I didn’t remember, from my days back at culinary school, what New York pizza was like,” she added. “So I felt that it was really important that we went to New York and went to the stores and understood more about New York pizza in a way that a consumer in Florida who came from New York would appreciate exactly what we’re serving.”
Renowned baker and author Peter Reinhart introduced Kathleen Kennedy to Wiener. “My first reaction was fear,” Wiener said in the video. “Because I thought, ‘Oh, no, this big company’s going to come in, put a name on something, and I’m going to have to almost argue against it when people show up on my tours.’ I didn’t change my tune on that until about two or three pizzerias in on day 1 [of the NYC pizza tour]. And that’s because the questions that they were asking had more to do with why than how.”
The company visited more than 15 NYC pizza shops and baked up more than 50 New York-style pies in their test kitchen to nail down the recipe. “We looked at different tomatoes, different cheese combinations, different dough weights,” Chef Kennedy said. “We’re using flour instead of corn meal. We’re using beautiful crushed tomatoes that are so bright and flavorful. It tastes like summer to me. We’re using our three fresh cheeses, and then we’re finishing with Parmesan on our freshly made dough stretched two sizes bigger than what we’d normally do for our traditional [pizzas].”
In the video, Wiener traveled to a Marco’s shop in New Jersey to taste the final product. “You can always tell when a pizza was made with intention by somebody who understands ingredients….It’s so balanced in the amount of cheese….This pie, to me, I mean, this is a New York slice.”
Kennedy said she wants customers “to see balance and restraint and flavor. And it’s something we’re really proud of and really happy to bring to market. The fact that I get paid to make people happy with pizza, I just feel like the luckiest chef in the universe.”
The introduction builds on Marco’s continued investment in menu innovation, said Marco’s CMO Steve Kennedy.
“NY Style pizza is iconic, with appeal that reaches far beyond its roots and synonymous with classic pizza craftsmanship,” Steve Kennedy said. “With this launch, we saw an opportunity to honor that experience and bring it to more people across the country. It reflects how we continue to innovate our menu—taking what people already love and delivering it with the quality, consistency and convenience Marco’s is known for.”
Rick Hynum is PMQ Pizza’s editor in chief.
