By Charlie Pogacar
The International Pizza Expo kicked off in Las Vegas Tuesday, March 25. PMQ has had boots on the ground over the past two days, attending educational sessions, watching pizza makers compete, and networking with the fine people who make up the pizza community.
Here are two things that caught our eye Wednesday morning—two things that may give you a taste of what we’re seeing and hearing at the show.
Philippians 4:2
A PMQ reporter was crying in the crowd, and he wasn’t the only one. In fact, there might not have been a dry eye toward the end of Wednesday morning’s keynote speech at the International Pizza Expo. The speech was delivered by Eric Redfield, owner and operator of Camporosso Wood Fired Pizza in Northern Kentucky, and it was centered around building your business by giving back to the community.
To give a feel for the type of customer service one might receive at Camporosso, Redfield read aloud a letter he and his wife, Amy, had once received. The customer had brought his wife out to Camporosso to celebrate their anniversary. He worried a pizza shop might not be “good enough” for the occasion, but money was tight, he explained. He shouldn’t have worried: His wife had the night of her life at Camporosso, the letter-writer said. She loved the food, but she was especially appreciative of the pizzeria’s customer service, and the fact that Redfield had treated the couple to dessert.
Then, the letter’s bombshell: This wasn’t some average anniversary dinner. It was the last anniversary dinner the couple would ever share together—the customer’s wife had terminal brain cancer. She passed away six months later. The customer felt compelled to write the Redfields to let them know how much that dinner had meant to him and the woman he loved.
“So that is my challenge to you,” Redfield said. “Starting today, no matter how big or small the gesture, make somebody’s day, because that isn’t hard. [In this case] all that took was a $1.50 dessert pizza and five minutes at a table showing somebody respect and dignity. That ain’t hard.”
The Redfields founded Camporosso in 2017. They had a very simple mission statement, based on Philippians 4:2, which reads: “Look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others.” Camporosso team members have that passage written on the backs of their shirts. Eric Redfield quite literally wears that quote on his sleeve.
This grace is not just extended to members of the community via customer service, but also to team members. Camporosso has established itself as an employer of choice in its community by being the living embodiment of its founding principle. Case in point: In December 2020—during the heart of the pandemic’s unique kind of craziness—the pizzeria dedicated all of its profits to its team members. Redfield played a clip from a news story that a local television station ran that month and pointed out that these types of stories can have a massive effect on your business. For one thing, it boosts team morale. It also endears the restaurant to the community.
“Our business almost doubled overnight,” Redfield said. He mentioned that the pizzeria has earned plenty of media attention during its eight years in business, but nothing has achieved the buzz that a story about being a great employer does. He also encouraged pizzeria owners to reach out to the local news media, saying they might be surprised to find out how often reporters are looking for great stories about local businesses—something PMQ can attest to.
The Mad Gastronomist
Long before Wylie Dufresne opened Stretch Pizza in Manhattan in 2023, he was a fine-dining chef earning Michelin Stars. And prior to that, he was cutting his teeth at famed fine-dining restaurants like Jean Georges and 71 Clinton Fresh Food.
During Dufresne’s educational session, titled “A Blueprint for Better Pies: The Science of Flavor, Taste, and Texture Can Build a Better Pizza,” he told the story of how he became one of the leaders of molecular gastronomy, or the movement to incorporate food science into cooking techniques and plate presentation. When a young Dufresne would ask world-famous chefs why they used certain techniques, he got one of three answers, he told the crowded room:
1) Because that’s the way we’ve always done it;
2) I don’t know;
3) Because that’s the way I told you to do it.
“We eat food every day, but it’s still full of mystery,” Dufresne said. “What makes food so delicious? Why does food taste good? It turns out when we talk to some other people outside of the kitchen, we can begin to see some of these answers. Deliciousness can be achieved.”
Related: How Wylie Dufresne Became One of NYC’s Most Fascinating Pizza Chefs
In Dufresne’s mind, knowing the how and why behind what makes a food taste so good leads to more consistent results. Some of these components—like texture, acidity, sweetness and how those things interact—are probably fairly familiar to most pizzaiolos. But, Dufresne insists, there are many other layers to this proverbial onion. Elevating your understanding of food science can punch up what the finished products mean to the diner.
“Different temperatures, textures, emotions, personal memories—these are things that we can all take advantage of, use these different layers into the experience of the diner,” Dufresne said. “More layers, more experience, the more you grab people’s attention. And that’s really important: How can you grab diners’ attention?”
Employing Dufresne’s unique approach to pizza, Stretch Pizza has become known for its offbeat pies. During his speech, Dufresne highlighted some examples, including “Freestyle,” a recently menued pizza with lemon pepper chicken. The menu item simply started with the idea: How do we turn something familiar—in this case, lemon pepper chicken—into a pizza?
The Freestyle features chicken thighs marinated in black pepper with lemon slices on top, then baked. The pie is finished with Parmesan and parsley. And why is it named “Freestyle?” Because that’s the name of a Drake song where he mentions lemon pepper chicken. “[The name of your pizza] is another opportunity for hospitality, to engage the diner,” Dufresne said.
