“If we really want to grow, we needed to take a step back”
In hospitality, March is the real new year. Teams grow and change, days get brighter, the energy naturally shifts in pizzerias. The industry starts to come out of hibernation, shake off Christmas and *shudder* January. More inspiration, more enthusiasm. If you’re looking for the opportunity to introduce new skills into the pizzerias, March is it.
We had a menu overhaul this time last year, but it’s not a planned yearly event (like most things). As we start locking in and recruiting for the year, we have to look under the hood and see what really makes Pizzarova, Pizzarova. Think of it as spring cleaning not just the menu but the business it’s self… time to Marie Kondo this shit and see what we’re left with.
So where do you even start?
We know that people go out for a “brand name” … a Nandos, a Dominos or even an M&Ms (Bristol ones know). If your mate suggests “going for a Pizzarova” what does that mean, what do you expect?
We want Pizzarova to trigger thoughts of sourdough crust, local ingredients and ngl, our sweet roasted garlic mayo. It’s Tom’s job to make a menu that reflects who we are but also, how we want to be perceived.
“We lost the crunch, but baby, we’re bringing crunch back.”
From 12 to 7, trimmed the fat, sacrificed the lamb (literally) but already we feel lighter. Everything is freshly prepped, quality and honestly, more aligned with rova circa 2013. Having less makes freshness a non-negotiable rather than a nice to have.
We’ve still kept our extra toppings jam packed, designed to work with everything (well almost everything) encouraging endless combinations. Some of our favourite parts of the shift is seeing your topping combinations, so why not honour the way people actually interact with our pizzas?
As businesses grow, freshness is the first thing to get culled. It’s easy to bundle everything into huge prep jobs at the start of the week, but one of our main aims was reducing these mammoth weekly tasks and making daily prep more manageable. Consider the green chopping board permanently out, part of the furniture. Not only are we reducing food waste, but giving autonomy back to our team to prep and riff with ingredients. As things come into season or someone has a cool idea, we want experimentation front and centre, not stuck in the kitchen.
“I want this new menu to be future proof, a super distilled version of who we are. I wanted to play on nostalgic flavours that can be adapted seasonally”
“You wouldn’t put a bumper sticker on a Bentley”
We put much effort into having the best quality sourdough, the best tomatoes, the best Bristol grown basil, the best Somerset Fior de Latte, our marg becomes the bench mark. The result of so many people’s hard work, if our marg doesn’t hit, then why are we even here?
Any extra topping has to improve on the classic. Full stop. We can now, hand on heart say that every ingredient on our new menu has earned the right to be there. Each pizza needs personality. We can’t have clashes, but we can’t have copy cats either. This is the smallest menu we’ve had in a long time, so there’s nowhere to hide. Tom then went into an analogy about the powder puff girls…
“Blossom is our new veggie deluxe, Buttercup is of course miso mushroom and Bubbles… our courgette and goat’s cheese.”
We’re not sure what that actually says about the pizzas, but if you’ve got two Buttercups on your menu, then it’s back to the drawing board.
“Head of food doesn’t mean I choose the pizzas and call it a day… i’m just the poor guy who has to eat it all”
Every special, every bread or pot of olives is the product of countless conversations.
“We are so lucky that everyone who works at Pizzarova is a genuine pizza lover. Our staff are the greatest resource we have.”
You’ve got to remember, the team makes these pizzas every single day, and after intense periods you have to “re-date” and fall back in love with the menu. If the sparks aren’t coming back, and ol’ faithful starts to fill you with dread rather than butterflies… it’s time to move on. Realistically, if the team doesn’t love it, the customers won’t either.
So what’s next?
Tom is off celebrating his *undisclosed* birthday in Falmouth, a small breather before the next special, the next change and the next strike of inspiration.
Now, it’s time to pass down the recipes to the team, let our wonderful general managers do what they do best and let you guys give us the feedback! Our menu will never be “completed”, and honestly, there’s something pretty great about that.
