Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Ludovici Debrigida
Hi Anthony , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My first job as a kid was in a family members pizzeria outside of Philly where I grew up . They had been in the business since they came to the States from Italy , and I started there as a server . From there I started doing just about every job in the pizzeria – from server to delivery driver , to counter person & dish washer . To line cook & pizza maker and eventually had my own shop with my uncle Eddie a couple years after I graduated high school . After that , I moved to the Florida Keys to get my degree and ended up training dolphins , sea lions & birds for almost 10 years before getting back into the pizza industry . I met my wife while working at the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key – and after opening up a pizzeria for someone else in the Keys , we decided to move to Conway , South Carolina to try and give it a go at opening our own pizzeria . My wife is from New Jersey but graduated from Coastal Carolina University & lived here for a few years after she graduated . She had a lot of good friends here and I really liked the area when I came to visit , so we decided to make the move here last year .
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think anything in this industry is ever smooth lol ! Especially when you are just getting started . We had a lot more work to do at the shop than we thought when we originally moved in . We had some equipment break down , some trial and error with recipes , and just figuring out our day to day process of running the shop . I think it was also a bit of a struggle the first few months explaining to people that it is possible that we do run out of dough when we get really busy – which was pretty often our first few months in business . And just trying to keep up with the demand of being a new business in a busy area in downtown Conway , which is definitely not the worst problem to have . But I think we have leveled out the last month or so and have found our groove
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a Roman style pizzeria & Italian market that also offers New York style pies . We are one of the few pizzerias in the area that offer it by the slice , and one of the very few (possibly the only) Roman style pizzeria in SC . We were the first pizzeria in the state with a New York Water Maker , a water filtration & replication system which takes our water here in Conway and makes it identical to the water in New York . We use that for our pizza sauce & for our dough . Our Roman style pizza dough is fermented for 48-72 hours , while our New York style dough is fermented for 24-48 hours & is made up of 50% biga starter . So it is somewhat similar to the sourdough process . Our Italian market has items shipped to us from my favorite Italian market outside the Philly area , Altomontes . They have a ton of high quality olive oils , tomatoes , and other things that are imported from Italy and then sent down to us for our market . I think as far as our brand here , we make sure we use the best quality ingredients possible and that’s what I’m most proud of . Our flour is non bleached non bromated flour that comes from Italy . We don’t use any seed oils in our pizza doughs , only 100% cold pressed extra virgin olive oil . The sauce we have here is homemade using fresh tomatoes from California , and the cheese we use for our pizzas all comes from Grande cheese in Wisconsin . As far as our menu goes – all of the items on the menu are named after people , places or things that mean a lot to us . Whether it’s animals we’ve worked with , family members , or places we’ve visited that have special memories for us .
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice to those starting in this business would be to put out a product that makes you feel good & that you’re happy with . To listen to your customers feedback but not try to please everyone because it will never work . That’s the one thing I wish I knew before we opened . I think the first few weeks we were open I was taking every little criticism and trying to adjust our business to make everyone happy , and that will never work out . I think you have to create your business how you want it to be , and hope that people enjoy the final product .
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.antospizza.com
- Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/antospizzaromana
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561016674410&name=xhp_nt__fb__action__open_user
