While we were brainstorming ideas for the interior look at Mozzeria with Patty Foo Hampton, our interior designer, we wanted to create a custom look. We have been impressed with Ron Trumble's wood making skills.



Ron Trumble has been in the wood making business for 30 years, and runs his own shop in Oakland. One of his previous clients, Candy Store is located in the Russian Hill neighborhood, San Francisco. I would like to show you what he is capable of making. Above is a picture of custom made shelves that he created for Candy Store. Ron is known for making amazing wood furniture and cabinets.



We hired Ron to make table tops, an U-shaped banquette, a countertop by the window, and shelves for the bar. I also want to mention how truly beautiful when Patty, Ron, Russ and I met in person to discuss details for these wood projects, we all were able to communicate in American Sign Language (ASL). There was no third party to assist us in relaying information.

We cannot wait to see these completed products. We look forward to seeing our vision becoming alive soon.

 

 

 

We had been dining at different pizzerias in San Francisco for several years and there were times where we were prepared to stand in line for the next available table. People do not seem to mind waiting in line, even in foggy or cool weather. The thought that "They should add reservation system" never came to mind. I suppose they have their reasons why they don't bother to take reservations.

I have noticed lately, however, new pizzerias popping up who offer to take reservations. To have a competitive edge over other pizzerias, they use either OpenTable or Urbanspoon's Rezbook. When I made reservations, I admit it was convenient to know we were assured of a table being available on a specific day and time, and not having to wait in a line which is really nice.

Looking at the business side, I had not thought of offering reservations at Mozzeria as our pizzas would take 90 seconds to bake plus prepping time. I did not include downtime during the time tables are prepared for new customers. The more I think about accepting reservations, I am leaning towards putting a reservation system. Some friends told me they would love to host events occasionally and they prefer to make reservations. If I am a customer, I would prefer to do the same.

Ok… okay, what’s the pros and cons between OpenTable or Urbanspoon's Rezbook?

OpenTable has been around for 15 years and, of course, they have rather large customer base. They offer nice features for diners such as earning points every time they dine at restaurants that are affiliated with OpenTable. Diners are promoted to VIP status when they reach a certain level and could receive benefits including free appetizers or a glass of wine. Diners love these perks, and it keeps them loyal to OpenTable.


Urbanspoon was launched in 2008 with restaurant information and reviews similar to Yelp. The Urbanspoon app became one of the most popular downloaded apps. One of its features, which is so cool, is spinning - when you shake the iPhone, it will assist you in selecting a restaurant if you are undecided. In late 2010, Urbanspoon introduced its new program, Rezbook. Although it is still relatively new and has a smaller customer base, most customers are in San Francisco which makes sense as most of us are being Appleized, and we have iPhone and iPad. Rezbook works well on Apple products and even on Android smartphones. The drawback is that they do not offer diners the opportunity to earn points.

Similarities:
* 12-month commitment
* Monthly Fee - $1 per diner reservation through their own website

Differences:
OpenTable: still committed to a 12-month plan, even if the business fails.
Rezbook: can back out of commitment if the business fails, but return iPad.

OpenTable: Pay 25 cents for each reservation made through Mozzeria website
Rezbook: No charge if reservation is made through Mozzeria website

OpenTable: PC-based Kiosk with wired Internet
Rezbook: Apple iPad with 3G (after paying for 12 months, own the iPad)

OpenTable: Installation and training costs – approximately $$$
Rezbook: Set up and training- no charge

Have you experienced both OpenTable and Rezbook? How do you compare both products? If you were me, which one would you choose?

 

 

Stefano Ferrara Napoli!

Why did we go with a Stefano Ferrara Napoli oven?


In earlier post I shared our "Wood Burning Oven Dilemma" (7/28/11). Deciding which oven wasn’t an easy decision as all 3 wood burning ovens are great products. We had been thinking about pursuing Vera Pizza Napolenta certification and one of VPN’s requirements is to use a dome oven. This helped us narrow down to two products.


Michael Fairholme, the consultant for wood burning ovens has been impartial in pointing out differences between each product. He had read my Blog, and strongly recommended Stefano Ferrara Napoli because the oven is produced in Naples while the other one is made in Northern Italy. Stefano Ferrara Napoli oven also has type hood II built in which would eliminate the need to install a separate type II hood above the pizza oven.

In order to make our final decision, we went to Michael's warehouse to look at Stefano Ferrara ovens. My gosh, model 130 is huge. We also saw his wood burning oven trailer and we would to get one. Maybe next phase.


We placed the order through Michael and settled on a model 120 because of its size. At this very moment, our oven has just been shipped out of Naples, Italy. We cannot wait for it to arrive in Oakland, California next month. In the meantime Patty Foo Hampton, our interior designer, is working on the outer shell design. It is going to be a fun project for us!

 

 

 

We found someone to restore and stain our Douglas Fir flooring. These people are Michael E. Sharnow and Samuel Reynolds. They formed their company to specialize in hardwood flooring. Michael has worked on hardwood flooring for 12 years while Samuel was practically in diapers helping his Dad, Randy sanding, restoring and installing hardwood flooring.

They began repairing some areas in the Mozzeria dining room. Bear in mind that the building is just over a hundred years old and the original subfloor was showing signs of wear.


After completing phase one, they moved to sanding the floors. We could see the difference between the old, worn out floor and the newly sanded floor. It was like they were giving the floor a brand new life.


After they stained the floor, my gosh... it is beautiful! The color turned out just the way we wanted.

We are so glad we went ahead with the Douglas Fir flooring choice. Michael and Samuel did an amazing job!

 

 

 

One of our requirements while searching for the ideal Mozzeria site is that the liquor license be included in the package. But as you know, you don't always have the luxury to have all wants and needs in the same basket. Unfortunately the space at 3228 16th Street didn’t come with the liquor license.

The previous tenant, before we took over the space, was an Italian restaurant. It went down in April 2010 and their liquor license was apparently sold to someone else. Dang! That didn't, however, stop us from signing the lease.

We have applied for a new liquor license through the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) in California. I have heard some stories about the application process and how brutal their regulations are.

But the ABC is not the only one we need to deal with. Locals in the neighborhood can raise objections to our license application. We were worried about not being licensed to serve beer and wine at Mozzeria, and needed a consultant to help us navigate the application process.

Carrie Peters, of Beard and Peters (petersandbeard.com) is now representing us and will help us obtaining the liquor license. Exciting!

Types
41  On-Sale Beer and Wine for Bona Fide Public Eating Place (beer and wines only)
47  On-Sale General for Bona Fide Public Eating Place (hard liquor, wine and beer)

In the Mission District, there are many bars with type 41 licenses. The City is trying to limit the numbers of establishments applying for type 41. We are applying for type 41 as beer and wine goes well with our pizzas and other dishes.

Carrie has informed us of the great news that Mozzeria’s application has been filed. The next step is to send notification cards within the neighborhood. We are hopeful that they wouldn't object to Mozzeria getting the type 41 license. If things go well, Mozzeria can expect to get the license in few months.

Below is the chart showing you how the procedure works. Fascinating… isn’t it?

Alcoholic Beverage License - Application Process<link to PDF>

 

 

 

 

Demolishing is pretty much done, thanks to Russ and his crew. Now what will we do next?

Common sense would dictate us to start sanding the existing Douglas fir flooring, and then polish the floor in lacquer. We could then move onto putting up drywall on the walls and paint the walls. That is what you would have done, right?

Then someone advised us to hold off these plans until the pizza oven arrives… because of its weight. What if someone is careless and scratches the floor while hauling a "5,000" pound pizza oven over the freshly sanded and polished floor. Wouldn’t you feel so sick if that happened?

In our case, we can’t do anything but "wait" for the pizza oven which had been scheduled to arrive at the end of this month. The crew is getting restless. Then, we just found that the shipment has been delayed and will now arrive next month. Whhhhhaattttt????

Ok, that is enough, and we are not going to wait any longer. We will go ahead and begin sanding and polishing the softwood flooring as originally discussed. We have come up with another way to protect the floor when the oven arrives and is moved across the floor. We checked with Michael Fairholme, the wood burning oven consultant, and he has agreed with the back-up plan. Whew.

We hope there won't be many hiccups along the way.

 

 

 

We have been going back and forth on a flooring issue and it has gotten to the point where I would "scream" if I hear any more issue about it.

Really, it gets ridiculous. Let me tell you what we have been through on the flooring issue alone.

We wanted to give the Mozzeria restaurant space a new and fresh life. The previous restaurant had older reddish ceramic tiles. Our vision for Mozzeria didn't really blend in with these red ceramic tiles. We also had other reasons for removing the ceramic tiles, so we removed all ceramic tiles.

While discussing where to place the pizza oven, we checked what was under the cement board and discovered TWO things: original Douglas fir flooring that was quietly lying under high traffic ceramic tiles for years. Secondly, when Russ checked what was under the Douglas fir flooring, we were surprised to see a crawl space across most of the space. Uh-oh, that wasn't good news, as our pizza oven weighs almost 5,000lbs!

Janet Campbell, our architect called a structural engineer to check underneath the proposed pizza oven area. The structural engineer reported to us that we needed to build posts in the crawl space to support the pizza oven. Ok. This isn't bad, and we have Nathan Dingel for this project.

The structural engineer pointed out that Douglas Fir flooring is actually sub flooring and with San Francisco being on San Andreas fault - in other words, earthquake prone - ceramic tiles wasn’t appropriate due to the weight on the floor.

We went through a limited list of choices on what we could do with our flooring. No polished concrete, hardwood or ceramic tiles. Only a few choices of commercial vinyl sheets are approved. We were wondering about Douglas fir flooring. As it turns out, Douglas fir is considered softwood, not hardwood and we need to be careful when sanding it. The hardwood contractor showed me ‘before and after’ photos of actual Douglas fir and it was truly beautiful.

We hope to tackle the flooring issue soon for everyone's sake.

 

 

 

Thor, X-Men, Green Lantern and Captain America have already hit the theaters, and they are America's fictitious Heroes. We have our own version of heroes here.

After surveying the Mozzeria space with Janet Campbell, our architect and Patty Foo Hampton, our interior designer, we determined that we need to make several major adjustments in order to bring the entire space in compliance with both current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and building codes. We have begun renovation, and our main focus is to bring everything up to current codes then we can move into the next phase of beautifying the space.

We have hired Nathan Dingel, a recent graduate of Electrical Program at Wyotech. I have known Nathan for a long time as we have been classmates and friends since 1980. Nathan is “Mr. Can-Do-Anything” and he works fast. He and his wife, Heidi are expecting a baby girl anytime so we appreciate his making time to squeeze us into his busy schedule. We are thrilled to have him on our team.

We are thankful to family members and friends who lent their hands to help at Mozzeria’s new home.  Robbie, Russ' mom, flew in from Austin, Texas and stayed with us for 2 and 1/2 weeks. She is a cleaning guru and can make every appliance look brand new! She wasn't afraid to pick up the hammer and, before you knew it, she was hammering away! Ron and Betty Ann also kept insisting on helping us, and they are such a sweet couple. They helped us apply primer to the walls.

They are truly our heroes. :)

 

 

 

We were told, at first, that we may not be able to install the wood burning oven at Mozzeria because we needed to obtain approval from tenants above the restaurant. Having the wood burning oven is not an issue but, in order to install it, the City requires proper venting. In our situation, we would need to install an exhaust pipe in the back of the building.

As there are 2 exhaust pipes already in the back, we were worried that the tenants may object to adding a third exhaust pipe which may block their view. We don’t blame them and considered an alternate option – to install a gas fired oven. It was a bit disheartening as our vision always included the wood burning oven.

We met with the tenants and, to our relief, agreed that we would attach the third exhaust to the existing exhaust pipes. Janet Campbell, our architect came to our rescue with this solution to make it work for both parties. Yahoo! There will be a wood burning oven at Mozzeria!

Now we face another challenge.

San Francisco is known for its small spaces. After all, San Francisco is just 49 square miles. When friends from other states visit us, they noticed that most restaurants here are rather small. We told them yes, that is often the case in big cities.


Our restaurant entrance is a single door measuring 32" wide. How do we bring the pizza oven into the restaurant?

Which Pizza Oven?
We looked at several pizza ovens and met spoke with consultants and salespersons for each manufacturer. We weighed pros and cons for 3 different pizza ovens.


Mugniani is located in Watsonville, California. They carry a wood burning oven, Valoriani which is certified by Vera Pizza Napoletana (VPN). The Valoriani oven can fit through standard doorways. Many restaurants in San Francisco and Bay Area have standard Mugniani ovens, but I haven't seen the Valoriani dome oven version in San Francisco.

Woodstone, a Washington based company, sells their ovens to well-known restaurants and grocery chains including California Pizza Kitchen and Whole Foods Stores. Their wood burning oven is also certified by VPN and can fit through standard doorways. They don't, however, have the dome oven.


Stefano Ferrara Napoli is a hand-built oven imported from Italy. The distributor is located in Concord, California. They request 10-week lead time to produce the Stefano Ferrara Napoli oven. I have seen 2 Stefano Ferrara Napoli ovens in San Francisco, and they are beautiful ovens. The oven, however, won't fit through the standard door which would cost us a fortune to either build from pieces at Mozzeria, or remove the outside façade. This would require approval from the Tenant in Common (TIC) board. The building Mozzeria is in is also recognized as a historic building by City of San Francisco which could present another issue.

Mmm... we definitely have a dilemma. We are seeking an impartial consultant specializing in wood burning oven who does not work for one of these oven companies to advise us. We cannot wait to build our pizza oven at Mozzeria soon.

 

 

"What? You must be kidding..." was our response to learning about San Francisco building codes. The codes are really complicated and we have to be very careful to abide, or we wouldn't be able to open our restaurant on schedule. Reading and understanding the codes is like a foreign language to us.


We need someone to help us navigate, and make sure we follow the current codes to avoid any costly mistakes. We hired Janet Campbell of Campbell and Associates because of her tremendous expertise in that area and impressive resume. She has run her private practice in San Francisco since 1991 and has 33 years of experience in doing architectural projects in Atlanta, GA and the Bay Area. Her work was published in several publications and more recently, will be recognized in the Dwell Magazine.

Her past clients included Humphrey Slocombe, Canyon Market and Candy Bar. Humphrey Slocombe was so grateful for Janet’s services that he created wall art to show their appreciation (see the photo below).


As soon as we signed the lease for our new restaurant, we surveyed the space. One of our main goals is to bring the restaurant up to codes. The bathroom was found to be slightly out of compliance with American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Installing equipment in the existing wine bar inside the restaurant, would reduce passage making it inaccessible to staff members. We will need to make major adjustments to make that area accessible.

We were surprised with some items that we needed to redo. For example the cove base on the kitchen floor is 4 inches in height. We learned that, according to the codes, they needed to be 6 inches high. It is easy to get overwhelmed and we are fortunate to have Janet as our architect to look out for our interests.



We are excited to have Janet on our team and she has been working hard. Welcome to the team, Janet!

 

 

 

Here we are… doing the HAPPY DANCE!  What's up with the address in the headline? That is our new address for Mozzeria!! Whoo Hoo!! Yep, after a long search for home base, and seeing many different properties, we couldn't believe our luck in finding this location.

I had mentioned that we made the offer on a previous property and we were so GLAD that that deal fell apart because that led us to 3228 16th Street!

3228 16th Street is located in Mission Dolores! Mission District is one of my top choices and, as I mentioned in a previous post, Mission District is known for diversity and offers a wide variety of cuisines at reasonable prices. What's even more interesting is that no Bay Area or San Francisco neighborhood has more Zagat-rated eateries than Mission District. It is definitely a foodie zone with some of the best dining experiences.

What lured us to that specific address? Other than the fact that it is located in Mission District, the restaurant space didn't need a major renovation. It does have few areas that are not currently up to codes like the ADA bathroom and ADA ramp. One of the key factors is the landlord. Our seller/landlord, Max Wang who runs Crazy Sushi next door, is really a nice guy and having a relationship with the landlord is important. Unlike the other property where I would have had to deal through the landlord’s property manager and waiting for responses, a complicated communication channel... I didn't want that. We are so relieved that Max isn't like the other guy.

We couldn't believe how fast the process took, and it took us about 2 weeks from making the first offer to closing the deal. We were even able to squeeze in a meeting with Tenants in Common (TIC), and I'm telling you that we are so blessed with having wonderful tenants!


Now that we have found a home for Mozzeria, we are gonna be super busy with getting the renovations started. Sign Up at Mozzeria.com to receive the latest on our progress... all the way to our OPENING DAY! Thank you for your amazing support!

 

 

 

Who would come to our rescue when we needed someone to fight and "get" what we wanted out of the deal? Answer: Attorney. We needed an attorney to help us negotiate several issues. When a friend recommended Douglas Hutchinson, we arranged a face to face meeting at a café with an interpreter.

At our first meeting when we shared our concerns and questions, Doug responded at ease and seemed to be knowledgeable. We asked him about his background as we could not google him and wanted to know a bit more about the person before hiring him or her.

Doug grew up in Sedona, Arizona and after high school graduation, spent 3 years working in construction trades. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering at Arizona State University. Then he moved to California to study law. He first practiced in Oakland, and then moved to San Francisco. He has 25 years of experience and specializes in business advising and business transactions. He has participated in many transactions involving purchase and sales of large and complicated real estate holdings - office buildings and shopping centers. In addition, he also helps with purchase and sale of businesses, primarily car dealerships and restaurants/bars.

We hired him immediately and were worried about issues that may arise while negotiating with the seller. We made our first offer on a restaurant space with Doug’s assistance. He made sure we were kept in the loop and also warned us to continue looking for other restaurant space in case the offer didn't work out. His reasoning was that he didn't want the other party to think we were desperate and that their space was the only one we wanted.

He was really smart because eventually the first offer didn't work out the way we wanted. Then we made an offer on another restaurant space. To make a long story short, we stumbled into unresolved issues with the seller/landlord. The seller/landlord suggested we meet with both attorneys present, which we did. We were in awe, and I am telling you... Doug did a brilliant job there. He led the meeting and made sure that both parties felt comfortable with terms. All of us ended up leaving the meeting feeling contended. It was a win-win situation for all of us.

You know the infamous lawyer talk, "Trust me. I'm the lawyer". You know what? We trusted him completely. If you ever need the attorney to handle a business transaction, HIRE DOUG!

 

 

 

Mark Twain:

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”

That's true. Russ uncovered the truth about the number of hot days in San Francisco. Can you guess how many days in San Francisco that would reach above 75 degrees? 30 days out of 365 days

There are hundreds of neighborhoods in San Francisco but a certain few neighborhoods are more likely to be blessed with warmer climate especially in the summer time. This includes Mission Dolores, which is one of my favorite neighborhoods. Mission Dolores has been changed into this vibrant, ever-changing community in the last few decades. You would expect to meet San Franciscans from all walks of life in beautiful Dolores Park on weekends with frequent sunny days luring picnicking families, sunbathers, athletes, dog lovers, and hipsters recovering from the night before. This tight-knit neighborhood is a favorite for shoppers, foodies and night owls.

Serious Foodies can be found eating at many well-known eating places in Mission Dolores. Pizzeria Delfina was the first of its kind to invade San Francisco with its famous pizzas. If you have a weakness for pastries, you have to get your morning bun and breading pudding with seasonal fruits at Tartine Bakery. My favorite ice-cream, Salted Caramel is located at Bi-Rite Creamery. Many bars are very close to each other, and it is perfect for bar-hopping. In earlier times, Mission Dolores wasn't a popular dining destination but up-and-coming chefs, who couldn't afford the rent in Downtown or Cow Hollow/Marina, were attracted to cheaper rent in Mission Dolores. These chefs were instrumental in helping to turn Mission Dolores into a popular neighborhood.

At first my vision for Mozzeria was to find a space in Mission Dolores. Finding vacant space within Mission Dolores, however, is sometime impossible as it is most sought after among chefs and restaurateurs. The walk score for Mission Dolores is 100 percent. Locals in their 20’s and 30’s usually don't own cars, but like to spend time on foot around in Mission Dolores.

We have been eyeing Mission Dolores and on the lookout for, and hoping to grab, vacant space that may pop up in near future.

 

 

 

Some restaurants in San Francisco have been slapped with ADA lawsuits. Many restaurant owners were neglecting to make their restaurants accessible to their customers in wheelchairs as required by federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations.

The City of San Francisco enforces regulations that require restaurants to meet these ADA requirements. If there is a step you need to take before entering the restaurant, you are required to install or build a ramp. I thought it is great that San Francisco wants to make everywhere accessible to everyone.

When I was taking a tour of a restaurant in a prime location, I observed tiny space on the main floor which could seat perhaps 6 people with a staircase leading to the main dining room that seat 30 people comfortably. It did not have provision or access for wheelchair users. If you want to use the restroom, you need to take the step. What about the restaurant’s customers in wheelchairs? The kitchen is split into 2 rooms with the cooking room located upstairs, and the prep room downstairs.

My immediate response was that it wouldn't do us any good because if it was me, I couldn't tolerate carrying food upstairs and downstairs. It immediately raised a red flag. I began to see issues related to Worker's Compensation. I asked the seller about these conditions, and he responded that he had no complaints since he ran his restaurant with a "grandfather" clause which presents a loophole.

I recalled from my conversation with Darren Weiss, the deaf restaurateur in Manhattan Beach, in sharing his previous experience with a restaurant he owned before opening Darren's which was a two- floor building that was inconvenient for his staff. He didn't want to repeat that experience at his next restaurant. I took his advice to heart.

It would be ironical if I went ahead and purchased that multi-level restaurant when I am an ADA advocate! I told the seller I wouldn't consider his restaurant because it is not ADA friendly. I wanted all customers to have the equal access to Mozzeria.

 

 

 

As we ponder our choices of locations for Mozzeria, we need to analyze what it would take to succeed in the location. Should our restaurant be in a residential area, or in an area frequented by tourists?

Being in a Residential Neighborhood

With 113 neighborhoods in San Francisco – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki Neighborhoods_in_San_Francisco - you would think there are plenty of choices for making a home base for Mozzeria. San Francisco locals are known for radical thinking and declare their love and huge support for local clothing stores, restaurants and coffee houses. In fact some neighborhoods even do not allow Starbucks to operate because these giant corporations hurt local businesses. Besides that, locals like the idea of spending money on local businesses and also knowing that their hard-earned money stays in San Francisco, and not going to Seattle (where Starbucks headquarters is located). Their fierce loyalty lies with the “local business” concept, which is great for neighborhood restaurants. That is where we get loyal customers.


Or should we be in a Tourist Neighborhood?

Tourism is San Francisco's No. 1 revenue-generating industry. San Francisco attracted 15.9 million visitors in 2010. Wow, that is a lot. I would love to feed Neapolitan pizza to these 15.9 million visitors. :) Sure, the number looks very attractive if you do open a restaurant in a tourist site. You would, however, have to spend a lot of money on marketing because there would also be other restaurants in these tourist areas competing for visitors. This may be a cut throat business, but there are some upsides.

You will not only attract the tourists, but also shoppers especially if your restaurant is in a location like Union Square. These shoppers could also include locals. During the holiday season, many locals flock to Union Square to do their holiday shopping because it is easy for them to browse from store to store within walking distance. In these such settings, you have 3 kinds of potential customers: tourists, shoppers, and locals.

In conclusion, it is very hard to be picky with locations because not all restaurants are alike and you would have to fight hard when more than one prospective buyer is interested in a specific location, leading to a bidding war. You have to be absolutely open-minded, and also keep an eye on all issues related to that particular location.

In the last few months of scouting locations, I don't really have the luxury of selecting the location because of timing and money. I am inclined, right now, towards locations that are close to tourist areas with a good number of long-term residents because of convenient transportation available in the locality i.e. MUNI Bus/Light Rail and BART for East Bay folks.

 

 

 

Who Loves Groupon? Groupon.com, a social buying site, is worth “boatloads of love”! I first heard about Groupon through a friend two years ago and once I tried groupon.com, I got hooked to their fantastic deals. Then Living Social and other similar sites started popping up.

I still buy the great deals through these sites and often look for restaurant deals because it gives me the opportunity to try out new restaurants that I had never heard of. Getting a discount makes it worth giving them a try. If I like their food, I would come back knowing the money would be well spent.

Various news magazines have reported that Groupon.com is now valued at nearly 1 billion dollars. Whoa! 1 billion dollars! Can you believe that? Yeah, that is some serious love there.

This is what I had thought until I researched social buying sites for Mozzeria. Some businesses uncovered the downside after trying Groupon or similar sites. At first, they expected Groupon to help bring exposure to their business through Groupon’s large base of followers.

How does it work for businesses? A Groupon representative would meet with the business to explain their procedures. The representative would state that customers respond well to 50% discount which is true. As they discuss the what’s and how’s, if they agree on a ($6 for $13) offer, Groupon keeps 100% of any deal under $10. The representative would also state that the customer would be more likely to end up ordering more than $13 worth food so the business would be able to keep the additional money above $10. If you want a $20 for $40 deal, for example, both Groupon and the business would split 50%.

This means if Mozzeria decides, for example, to go with a ‘$20 for $40’ pizza deal, we are providing $40 worth of food for $20. Groupon starts promoting the deal on their website, and gets $10 leaving Mozzeria with just $10. In reality, Mozzeria is providing $40 worth of food for $10. Keep in mind that Mozzeria needs to cover overhead – rent, payroll, utilities, etc. Mozzeria would lose money – counterproductive to Groupon’s claim to helping businesses?

Realizing this has been a valuable lesson that we need to look at the bottom line. All social buying sites, fortunately, are not like that. Scoutmob.com allows businesses to keep more of the money, and does not require customers to pay upfront. We need to be wary and research these sites extensively and talk to other businesses about their experiences. Now that you see both sides – we need to support businesses by coming back, even after you already used your coupon. If you were me, would you go for Groupon, or other similar sites?

 

 

 

We are soooo excited to share the news with you all....

If you have been following our progress, you know the ups and downs we have experienced in finding the needed funding to open the restaurant…  but guess what?

HOORAY!!!! We can hardly contain our excitement! We are ecstatic at having confirmed funding through private lenders. Yeah!!!

We are now READY to move to the next phase. We want to express thousands of gratitude to our private lenders for supporting our dream and goals -
Thank you!  Danke!  Merci!   Gracias! Todah Rabah!  谢谢  (Xie Xie)!

We want you to know this: It is not easy to find money to support your dream or business. Money can be available somewhere, but with the current economy we are facing right now, everyone is cautious in the type of business they loan money to, and it needs to meet their criteria.

There are different types of investors. Angel Investors typically invest in technical companies and expect equity ownership or large return on investment. Venture Capitalists are often a group of individuals who come together to invest in large corporations. Private lenders could be individuals or businesses who agree to make unsecured loans.

The bottom line is: if you don't give up on your dream, your passion will carry you to the finish line. You will be bound to meet some people who believe in you.

 

 

 

While looking at different restaurants, the owner of an Italian restaurant asked me what concept I was going with my restaurant. I told him Neapolitan pizza. He suggested I get the book, ‘American Pie’.

I downloaded American Pie  on my iPad. The book was written by Peter Reinhardt who also wrote 'The Bread Baker's Apprentice'.  American Pie shares his quest to seek answers to the world's best pizza, and digging up the origins of pizza.

As I read the book, I felt like I was also participating in the search with him. He described his experiences traveling to parts of Italy, going to the origin of Focaccia in Genoa, the origin of Neapolitan pizza in Naples, and he shared his opinions on taste, crust, sauce, and toppings.

Peter then continued research on pizza in America starting out in New York City. I never knew there were many Ray's pizzerias in NYC - and none of them really stood out according to him. He explained that coal ovens are used on the East. Coal ovens can cook up to 1200 degrees whereas wood burning ovens holds up to 1000 degrees. Electric pizza oven are limited to 650 degrees. Some pizzerias, however, manage to cook right with a different cooking method.

I had heard a lot about Pizzeria Bianco in Arizona. Reinhardt met with Chris Bianco, the owner, and asked what his secret to making his restaurant wildly successful was. Chris responded that people would assume it was the crust, tomato, or cheese. Some even wanted to license his pizzeria concept in other cities. Chris wasn’t interested and when asked what his secret was, Chris said the secret is.........him! What..him?

Chris explains the secret is, Yes, being Chris and nothing else... Do you know why?  Chris has devoted time and passion to making pizzas, and no one can ever buy his passion. If you want to franchise his pizzeria, your pizzeria won't be the same without his passion!

The San Francisco Bay Area is covered in Peter's book. He is familiar with the area as he once taught bread baking classes at California Culinary Arts in San Francisco for many years. Pizzetta 211 is his favorite pizzeria.

I enjoyed reading American Pie.  If you are a pizza hunter, American Pie is perfect for you.

 

 

 

Yay! I found tomato under my pillow! No, I am kidding. If that was true, my pillow will be stained forever with tomato. :) See the photo above. Yes, that's right. Not the one, SEVERAL different kinds of tomatoes have their purposes. They can be made specifically for the pizza or/and pasta.

What do you see behind the scenes in a restaurant that makes for a great pizza? The secret to perfect pizza are dough, cheese and tomato sauce. We are searching for perfect tomato product.

I’ve been busy trying out different tomato products through contacts made at Pizza Expo, the local San Francisco restaurant scene, following up on suggestions from others in the industry, and some old fashioned research.

Since my trip to Pizza Expo, the tomato fairies have been stopping by my house to deliver tomato products. We have been busy trying out different tomato products and keeping an open mind. There are all sorts of tomatoes - may it be San Marzano tomatoes, those imported from Italy, Italian style tomatoes, or organic tomatoes from California.

Finding vendors is key to the success of Mozzeria. As we sample their products, we have this opportunity to develop great relationships with them. These vendors are a great help when it comes to having questions about the products and recipes.

We are so close to finding the right tomato products for Mozzeria and we cannot wait to have you try our sauces! May the Tomato Fairy thrive?