April '24: Saint Francis Apizza News and Reflections, Part 1
Envisioning the Future of Saint Francis Apizza (Part 1)
“Most newsletter suck. This one doesn’t” - an anonymous real reader of this newsletter
I'm the owner of the pizza restaurant Saint Francis Apizza in Cincinnati, OH. I write a newsletter most months to send out updates about the pizzeria, share my love of pizza and the travels I embark on to learn more about my favorite food, and the business behind it.
Part 1: Thinking Bigger and Bolder
“Every important satisfaction of an old want creates a new one; and this new one has to enter upon an experimental adventure to find its satisfaction” - John Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct
This is the first month I’ve made time to write since January. Thanks for sticking with me as I work to reestablish this newsletter as one of my priorities, and get back into the habit!
I thought I wanted to share what I’ve been working on lately at the pizzeria, our pushes for better consistency or the completion of our modest renovation and beer/wine program, but instead, I’m going to update you on what I’ve been dreaming about for the future.
For now, this is just a dream — not a plan, not a goal. As I think, write, and talk more about it, I’ll develop a vision. Eventually I’ll put together a business model and an action plan to guide and inspire me and everyone I work with toward making it a reality.
It’s as if I have a gigantic desk or table where I can spread out magazine clippings, photos, quotes, menus commemorating great food experiences, things like that. My intuition tells me they make up a web of meaningful connections, that they are more than the sum of their parts. I’m just starting to articulate how.
Since I last wrote anything here, I’ve become aware of how much I’ve been limiting my thinking, and how small I was playing. Or more accurately, I recently decided that I’m tired of playing small, that it’s holding me and the people I care about back, and that I want to think much, much bigger.
Thinking small has helped me up to this point in the adventure that is starting a business. This tendency has looked like focus on the core operations and pizza here at the restaurant, and attentive care for what’s most important: our people. Getting flour on my shoes almost every day, and my hands in the dough. Enjoying close connections with everyone on our staff, and many of our customers. Focus is also so much about what we don’t do: spending serious time and resources on outward growth or expansion. Our team’s collective focus is the primary reason why our business has persevered and grown to hold significance for me, our team, and hopefully you (thank you!).
I’ve been taking my time to try out some dreams for the future, and then letting most of them go, catch and release style. I’ve said in the past here that I would like see us open two or more pizzerias in Cincinnati. The idea of having a top-tier tavern with Chicago-style thin crust, a ‘grandma-style’ slice shop a la Mama’s Too in Manhattan, maybe even a bagel shop to allow us another avenue for sharing our love for all things gluten. All real passions that I could see having a life of their own. Never say never.
But what keeps coming up for me as I gain more experience and more clarity, month by month, is how much fulfillment I get from being really, deeply involved in this one little world that is Saint Francis Apizza’s community. Aside from my family, this is where I mean something, where I belong, a place that generously gives back to me even more than I put in.
It struck a chord with me when Dan Richer, chef/owner of Razza, a single-location pizzeria in Jersey City, NJ, told me last August:
“I need to be a part of the team, and I need to be a part of the community that we're serving in order to be happy. The restaurant business is very difficult and challenging and requires a lot of time… I need to be surrounded by people who I genuinely care about and who genuinely care about me.”
Dan put into words a feeling that had been growing more and more substantial in my heart, but that I hadn’t ever said out loud. It’s possible for some people to be a part of two or three or maybe a hundred restaurant communities, I’m sure. It just looks different for different people, at different scales. But at this point, I really like being deeply involved with just one workplace, within the four walls of one restaurant.
So what’s wrong with saying “I just want one of these”? And “I’d rather go deep than broad?” You are probably thinking, ‘Nothing!’
There are some practical challenges created by saying ‘probably just one’. Someone on my staff whom I want the absolute best for and have committed to helping grow (Hi!) may wonder, “Is this going to be a dead end career-wise?” A customer in another neighborhood is going to get tired of driving to Hyde Park for pizza. As our top line sales have grown substantially, our bottom line doesn’t keep up as our expenses creep up and we work to pay our staff top-dollar in our industry.
Less practical, but not to be ignored: the four walls of this restaurant are starting to feel a little close, a little confining. Business-wise we are pushing the limits of the demand we can meet in this space on Erie Ave. There’s something else, though. I’m personally feeling a little confined and a little restless in ways my then-overwhelmed self couldn’t have imagined ever feeling even a year ago. I want to lead us to something new, something more exciting, something greater.
So where might this go next? Stay tuned for Part 2 next week.
Zingerman’s Co-Founder Ari Weinzweig is Coming to Cincinnati Next Week!
Ari will be speaking about his new book, A Revolution of Dignity in the Twenty-First Century Workplace, at Fifty West’s original Brewpub on Wednesday, April 17, from 6:00-8:00 pm. Tickets are a steal at $10, and even include a beer!
Learn more and reserve a spot here!
We are closing the pizzeria that night so all our staff who want to can attend the event together. Much of our progress toward making our restaurant a positive, engaging and supportive place to work is thanks to what we’ve learned from Zingerman’s.
I hope to see you there!