Story and Photos By Brian Hernandez
Editor’s note: This Q&A with Michael Athanasopoulos is an extended version of the article appearing in the June-July 2024 print issue of PMQ Pizza Magazine.
Hailing from Korydallos, Greece, Michael Athanasopoulos, known to his U.S. Pizza Team colleagues as The Wolf, prowls the streets of Southern Oklahoma, ready to pounce on the hungry and unsuspecting from his mobile truck, The Lamb & The Wolf, with his Greek-inspired flavors and pizza-fueled passion. Fluent in the language of pizza, both the Greek and Italian versions, The Wolf talked to PMQ about his menu and shared advice on starting your own pizza truck—and why it’s harder than it looks.
Brian Hernandez: Tell us about how you got into pizza.
The Wolf: I’ve been working in the restaurant industry since I was 7. I started working with pizza in 1991 at a big restaurant down in Greece, and I just fell in love with the product. Pizza keeps things interesting. In 2010 I opened my first place in Greece. I’ve had a few others since then, leading up to my food truck.
Hernandez: How did you join the USPT?
The Wolf: I guess you can blame Gino Rago. He used to scout for the team, and I called him after I saw him, Lenny Rago, Bruno Brunetti and Leonardo Giordano winning at the USPT competitions in Chicago. I called Gino and asked how to become a part of it. He asked me if I can win. I told him about coming in last in Pizza Pizzazz, but then in 2014 I came in first in my division in Vegas. Then I took first with my pizza cones in Vegas the next year. So, in 2016 I competed at the USPT Western Pizza Trials at Dominic’s Italian Restaurant in Oceanside, California. I came in first there and won my spot on the team. The next year we went to Parma.
Hernandez: Does your menu have a strong Greek influence?
The Wolf: Because I work the truck completely by myself, I wanted to keep it simple. My menu has five appetizers, two salads, seven different flavors of pizza, four different wraps and two Greek desserts. I also have specials, depending on the area I’m selling at. I do have a cheese and pepperoni, but that’s for the kids. As stated on my last menu, I deal in pizza for adults and “notorious” Mediterranean food, and you can take “notorious” to be bad or good. I do have a pizza for the Oklahoma crowd called the Wild West, featuring Buffalo chicken, spicy feta and diced tomatoes. That’s the closest I have to U.S. flavors right now. The rest are on the Greek side.
Hernandez: Give us a couple of examples.
The Wolf: One of our best sellers is The Old Chicago. Basically, it’s everything you would find in a gyro wrap, but on a pizza. You can choose to have your tzatziki sauce on the pizza or on the side. For another flavor, which I just used at the Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup in Orlando, I transformed spanakopita into a mousse, a flaky phyllo dough filled with spinach and feta.
Hernandez: Do you think someone should always try to transform an ingredient or dish, or just straight-up throw it on a pizza?
The Wolf: There is always a way to make it interesting instead of just putting it on a pizza. The main thing to remember is, you don’t need to have a hundred things on your menu. You just need six or seven things that are amazing and that people will want to come back for. But whatever those seven things are, they need love and quality ingredients, and the results will come.
Hernandez: What are some general tips for anyone wanting to start a pizza truck?
The Wolf: It’s hard. Very hard. I know firsthand. But what comes from life without the desire, the love and the guts to keep going? In anything? The main thing is to believe in yourself, and no matter what’s going on, don’t give up.
Make sure [the food-truck business] is what you think it is and what you want to do. Be serious if you try it. So many people come in thinking it’s an easy way to make money. They jump in, but they actually create damage to the market. It’s way harder than a brick-and-mortar. You have to set up every day. You have to do all the cleaning every day, usually with little help or by yourself. I go through three times more inspections as any brick-and-mortar does.
When people go out and start losing money, they start bringing in low-quality foods and processes and give the rest of the food trucks in the area a bad name. That also drives away the limited customer base. So focus on doing one thing right to keep your customers coming back. The customer will pay for quality. Don’t buy frozen stuff. Do it all the right way with quality, fresh ingredients, and people will notice. They will come out in 100° weather or the snow to get that one thing they can only get from you. I make all my dough by hand now for this reason. I noticed how much better the dough behaves when it hasn’t been abused by a mixer. And my customers noticed, too. Now I do 50 doughs a day, and when I’m out, I’m done. But the quality makes it all worth it.
Hernandez: You mentioned your firsthand experience with hardship. You were based in California but have since relocated to Oklahoma after a devastating wildfire in 2019.
The Wolf: That has a couple sides to it. While it affected my whole life greatly, others lost their life, and I have to keep that perspective. That is actually the second wildfire in as many countries that have burned up my businesses. They are following me. But [in California], my truck was at its peak. I was doing great, but then I got a phone call. I head to my truck, can’t see anything, all the roads are blocked. Through satellite pictures I can see my trailer is still there. So on the third day I snuck in. I couldn’t even recognize the streets to find my truck. I finally found it. The miracle is that my propane tank didn’t explode. The truck burnt up on the inside, but, outside, nothing. Even the propane station it was stored at exploded. But my truck was drivable. It was unusable, but I got it out. I knew a friend with a home safe that melted, so I was very lucky in some respects. But that was the point where things started going downhill for me.
I was booked six months ahead at this point, so now I can’t make any of these appointments. I was trying to buy a new truck, but I was getting quotes of two to six months for a new one. I was able to get it after three, but that’s still a lot of lost business that was never recovered. Then, 20 days after getting my feet back on the ground, COVID happened. But I have to remind myself: The most valuable thing in life is time. You can replace things, but you can’t buy more time, so I am thankful for that. You must keep your smile. My children are my reason [to live], especially my son. He taught me patience, and he’s why I don’t give up.
Hernandez: What is one piece of advice you would give to anyone who’s getting into pizza making competitions?
The Wolf: Have fun, but always try to stand out. If you don’t go to have fun or be extraordinary, then you’re just another one in the line. I read the rules, I ask my questions, and I try to do something outside of the box. Even if I don’t make it good, I try. And that’s the main thing in this business. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to win; it matters that you never give up.
The Wolf: I want to take all the knowledge and techniques I’ve learned from all these USPT members and other competitors and take it over to Greece. I know a big pizza guy in Greece. He used to own a couple of pizzerias in Australia. He opened a pizza place where I used to live, and he is so in love with making pizza in Greece. He keeps asking me to come back. I would love to take what I’ve learned here over there. I was visiting my son recently, and I noticed they have Americanized all the food over there. I pulled my hair out when I saw ranch dressing in Greece. So, I know our style of pizza over here will be accepted over there. But I know we can do better than just USA pizza over there.
Hernandez: What should everyone know about The Lamb & The Wolf?
The Wolf: I’ve been in Oklahoma for a year now, and I couldn’t work for three months because of the weather. I hate the cold. I hate ice and snow. Put me outside in 110° weather, and I’m smiling through the sweat, but anywhere in the 30s, no, thank you.
I will say you know you are getting ahead when people start asking for you. But I don’t wait for my customers; I go find them. That’s what I love about the food truck. I can go where the business is.
I did want to say something about [starting a pizza truck]. Make sure it is what you think it is and what you want to do. Be serious if you try it. So many people come in thinking it’s an easy way to make money. They jump in, but they actually create damage to the market. It’s way harder than a brick-and-mortar. You have to set up every day. You have to do all the cleaning every day, usually with little help or by yourself. I go through three times more inspections as any brick-and-mortar does.
When people go out and start losing money, they start bringing in low-quality foods and processes and give the rest of the food trucks in the area a bad name. That also drives away the limited customer base. Focus on doing one thing right to keep your customers coming back. The customer will pay for quality. Don’t buy frozen stuff. Do it all the right way with quality, fresh ingredients and people will notice. They will come out in 100° weather or the snow to get that one thing they can only get from you. I make all my dough by hand now for this reason. I noticed how much better the dough behaves when it hasn’t been abused by a mixer. And my customers noticed too. Now I do 50 doughs a day, and when I’m out, I’m done. But the quality makes it all worth it.
