campania pizza - 2008 pizzeria of the year - pizza today article - august 2008

8/9/2019 Campania Pizza - 2008 Pizzeria of the Year - Pizza Today Article - August 2008

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AUGUST 2008

LITTLE ITALYCampania Pizza, Dallas, Texas

Our 2008 Independent Pizzeria of the Year pg 72

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Smoking Bans pg 30

Pasta Cuts pg 38

Cookies pg 48

Marketing Pasta pg 62

Carryout Packaging pg 65

Handling Employee Tips pg 69


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72 Pizza Today www.pizzatoday.com A UGUST 2008

2008 Independent Pizzeria of the Year

Campania PIzza & More, Dallas, Texas

Picturedabove, from

left to right:co-owner

Miles Pennella,

generalmanager

MaurizioPrimo and

co-ownerJayJerrier.


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AUGUST 2008 www.pizzatoday.com Pizza Today 73



Story by Jeremy White

Photos by Rick Daugherty

JayJerrier glidesinto thekitchen and plops a stain-lesssteel bowlontoa

counter. Its filled withfreshmozzarella that hemade thatvery morning. Sure,hegets fior-di-lattesuppliedtohimfrom acoupleof differentsources,butsometimes helikes tomakeithimself.

Perhaps it helps remind himthat, even in an age wherecompetitors stumble over oneanother to offerthe lowest-priced end productpossible,authenticity canstill make adifference.

Jerrier is but one member ofa groupof individuals thatowns Campania Pizza &More, a two-store juggernautin Dallas. He serves as the faceof an operationthat includes

nine otherco-owners partlybecause hes at ease talkingwith members of themedia

andpartly because hes at easein thekitchen. Farfrom beinga casual investor, Jerrier hasno

formal culinary training. Buthe has a passion for pizza theway he feels it was intended tobe made and served theNeapolitan way, that is. Sure,there are variations. Hishandis more liberal when it comesto adding fresh basil to a tradi-tional Margherita, for example.But, by and large, Jerrier is apurist whoseems intent onhonoringand preservingpizza the way it isdone initsbirthplace. His establishmentis part of a small-but-growingtrend in America:Neapolitanpizzais hot andgaining trac-tion across the nation in citiesas differentas Pittsburgh andSeattle.

Even Dallas, known for itssteak and potatoesandnot itsItalian fare, is undergoing

somewhat of a pizza Renais-sance.Its nice to see, says Jerrier,

Campania offers Dallas

a welcome break from

barbecue, Tex-Mex and

steak


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who doesnt shun the competition.We werent thefirst andtheres really thislittle groupof pizzerias in Dallasthat arebringing this higher endproductto market.

By higher end Jerrier isnt just talkingabout the ingredients Campaniauses.Hesalso referring to the look and feel of hisstores. The twowill gross a combined $2.5million this year andboast an average guestcheck of $33. Despite its high volume Campania servesan average of 9,000guestspermonth the restaurants storeshave a deliberate feel to them. Far frombeing designed to rush diners in and out,the ambianceencourages patrons to taketheirtime and enjoytheirexperience.From

a plethora of ornate tile work to an invitingbar and a strongdessert menu, Campaniacaptures the slow dining feel that is asignature of upscale steak houses.

At least thats thecase at the SouthlakeTownSquare location whichcost $1.8million to build and seats 230. The originalstore, in West Village, seats up to 120 andhas more of a casual feel.

Theyare two differentstores tiedtogetherwith thesame menu, explainsJerrier. There is some tile work in WestVillageandthe Italian themeis there, it justisnt to the levelof Southlake. We were ableto get into a larger location there and thesuccess of West Village enabled us to putmore into the opening of Southlake.

In fact, roughly one-third of the South-lake stores buildout cost went to an Italiancompany that laid thetile and brought inthe chairs. All told,Jerrier says Campaniaspent nearly$600,000 on the tilework,which includes an outdoor mural on an

upstairsdining deck.We ended up going over our budget by$300,000 because of constructiondelays,Jerrier says of the Southlake buildout. Pluswe had some problems with the roof andwe hadto install an elevator.

Whilethe end result is a beautifulpizzapalace, the question begs: wasit worthit?Definitely, answers Jerrier.

Yes,because were the only pizzeriathatcanbe in this whole shopping complex,he says. Southlake TownSquare offers

dozens of upscale shops and caters to anaffluent suburban demographic thathasplenty of disposable dining income in even

these tough economic times. Even thoughwe have 5,900 square feet here, the lease isonly on 3,100 square feet and its for fiveyears withfive-yearrenewal options.Southlake is a really well-to-do area with alot of families and some of them eat outseven nights a week. Were notservingbone-in ribeyes here, so a family of four canget out of here for $30 or$40. But,at thesame time, people can still come in hereand feel like theyre in a nice restaurant.I think weve built a pretty good concept.

We just have to have good quality pizzaand treat our staff well and keep ourcustomers and our staff happy.





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add a sprinkle of grated Parmesan to it. Itdisintegratesrightinto the sauce andgivesit a real nice flavor. Since we dont put anysalt in the sauce, its an important step.

Many of the pizzas receive a drizzle ofolive oil before they go into the oven.

Though most Italian pizzerias prefer to addfresh basil after the za comes out of theoven, Campaniatakes a different approach.While he realizesit isnt conventional toaddthe basil beforehand, Jerrier says,we do it that way because we think itmakes it a little more aromatic.

Panini, calzones, pasta and dessert roundoutthe menu.

We runthree or four pasta specials eachday, saysJerrier. Thelasagna Bolognese isprobably our best seller. Its really, really

popular. Theres no ricotta in it, andI thinkthat appeals to a lot of people.

The daily pasta specials make use of vari-

oussauces, ranging from Alfredo to tomatovodka.Growing in popularity is the pesto,which is made in house and is character-ized by a uniquely sweet flavor.

The pasta, meanwhile, is cooked justshort of al dente every morning and then

finishedto order.Besides havinga more luxurious feel, the

Southlake Town Square location has twomore keydifferences from the WestVillagestore. Production wise, West Villagehasdeck ovens whileSouthlakefeatures thewood-burning variety. Jerrier says the latteris his preference, but the West Village storesimplydoesnt have the space to accommo-date them.Thesecond difference is animportantprofit center: thebar. While WestVillage doesnt have one (subsequentlyits check average is about $12lower thanSouthlakes), alcohol accounts for27





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percent of sales at the Southlake shop.It makes a huge difference, says Jerrier.Our bar gets real busy and youll see a

lot of beer and wine on our tables when

were packed.Thetopselling beer is imported Peroni.

I thinkits because were an Italian restau-rant andpeople want that experience whenthey come here.

In fact, beer sells so well that Jerrier says,If I knew when weopened whatI knownow, I would have put in a lot more taps.

Accordingto Jerrier, Campaniapaysbetween 50 and 75 cents for 16 ounces ofdraft beer and between 80 and 90 cents fora typical 12-ounce bottle.

We pay less for the draft and chargemore forit, he says. Thats whywerelooking to addfive more taps.

In all, Campania offers 16 beers and43 wines (15 whites and 28 reds). The topsellers are the usual suspects: pinotgrigioand chianti.

We wanted to put together a big winelist, so we put a lot of thought into it, saysJerrier. We wantedto be sure we offered alot of Italian wines.

Glasses are priced between $7 and$13,while most bottles are below $40.

We could mark up our wine more, butwere trying to get people into them, so wehavepriced it very reasonably, Jerrier says.

One of the ways Campania is striving tomove its customers deeper into thewineculture is by educating its front-of-the-house staff so they can better upsell theproduct.

Wine reps do classes with our serversonce a month, says Jerrier. And our beer

AUGUST 2008 www.pizzatoday.com Pizza Today 79




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distributors show ourservers how to pourthe beer so it has a good head on it.

In fact, Jerrier says liquor distributorscanbe oneof a restaurants most valuablebusiness partners.

We boughta lotof differentglasswarein the beginning, he explains, but thenwe pretty much discovered that the beervendors will give youprettymuch whateveryou want glasses, napkins ... whateverwill help them sell their product to you.

Campania is in the enviable position

of not having to market much to

produce big sales.Thanks in part to its authenticity and

pacesetting ways in Dallas, theconcept has

garnered plenty of positive local press. Infact, D Magazine even named Campaniaoneof Dallas best new restaurants. Theword of mouth hascreated considerable

buzz made more valuable by the factCampanias ownerswent so far over budgeton the Southlake buildout.

We do a lot of community outreach,Jerrier says of Campanias marketingprogram. We donate a lot of gift cards tolocal high schools andstuff flyers intogoodiebags at events. Well get involvedwith charity auctions andotherevents thatgive back like that.

One of the thingswe reallylike todo iswhat we call Pizzaiolo fora Day. Whoever

wins an auction for charity gets to come infor two or three hours and prep stuff. Theymake mozzarella,make sauce,makedough, make fresh pasta. They cook a fewthings and then they get to have theirfriends come in at five oclock and eat whatthey worked on making that day.

Besidesthat, Jerriersayswinetastings haveworkedtobringinnewcustomersaswell.

Another thing we do is pick a slow day,usually a Mondayor a Tuesday, and teamup with a charity. They do all the work byspreading the wordfor the event and wedonate10 percent of sales for that eveningto the charity. That works out well and wedont have to do anything to promote it.

Jerrier adds that the gift card donationsCampaniamakes have a high redemptionrate and usually work to cultivate newregulars. He tracks theirusage on thecompanys point of sale system, whichhe says is indispensible to operatorsinthis day and age.

I dont know how anybody runs abusiness without one,he says. Itgivesyou instant data and Im a big believerthat what gets measured gets managed.You dont have to wait until the end of themonth to track trends,track inventory,track your gift cards or loyalty program.Its so easy to load your customer info intoa databaseandtrack their recent ordersand how often theyre in here. As you canprobably tell, I like to be hands-on andsee the data in a certain way.O

JeremyWhite is editor-in-chief at PIZZATODAY.




campania pizza - 2008 pizzeria of the year - pizza today article - august 2008

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