An Exciting Time For Pizza
The New Wave of Entrepreneurs have hit the ground running.
Fast casual, locally sourced, artisan pizza, organic and build your own are the buzz words being tossed about and of course there is the "Chipotle of Pizza" dream being expressed by the media but some ingredients are universal in the latest "Gold Rush" of pizza. First and foremost is the idea of building your own or designing your own pizza. Although it's not a new idea to such Industry standards as Goodfella's from Staten Island New York which in known for it's Vodka pie, the open counter display of ingredients through a glass partition where the customer choose the toppings, thus "building" his own pizza" is now the predominant part of many of the new concepts. The artisan part of pizza making is being reinterpreted to mean choose your toppings and hand made instead of hand made dough which is then hand stretched and cooked by a skilled pizza man in an authentic brick oven but customers are not that choosy yet as the competition is still evolving. Speed is foremost at this time but is not making it necessary to sacrifice product at places using the revolving brick ovens to cook hand tossed dough at such an amazing rate of speed and consistency that it would make a Neapolitan Pizza Man smile. Organic ingredients are a bonus for some places looking to offer a healthier pizza, while local growers are being utilized as an incentive to be part of the community. Trendy places with exciting themes are taking the place of the old mom and pop slice places and offer somewhere different from the typical Pizza Franchise to take the family on pizza night. With the market share of fast casual pizza increasing by leaps and bounds it is anyone's guess as to who will be the "Chipotle of Pizza". Regardless of who dominates the market it is a win-win for all pizza lovers.
