22 September 2020
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[Music] Metro because you’ve been there since what 97 you said yeah it forever
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I mean it doesn’t look like it’s worn on you that much wear it well so let’s just a Brit a man
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hello and welcome to the chef’s corner I’m your host Brian Amanda’s and I’m here today with the great Chris Decker
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of Metro pizza in Las Vegas Nevada area now you guys have is it three locations there which one for full service and
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then we have one at the airport and then a small one in a casino right off the strip also it’s like about six then yeah
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oh I’ve been asleep for the last few years I guess is that right so which one do you mainly what’s your home base
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I’m our newest one and in the northwest in Centennial Hills okay so a little further away we’re actually closer to
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Mount Allison than I am the strip but it’s cool so which one’s your favorite one – we’re good
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you know I started at the flamingo indicator store so that one will always be like the number one for me like the
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pieces still taste the best there I love that one so let’s jump right in kind of the
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question list that we had that we get just get everybody here so what is your earliest pizza memory maybe it’s a smell
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a sight walking down the street somebody took the slice at your head I don’t know you know I have a couple like growing up
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my dad always made pizzas on Fridays at home so that was like like when I was really young that it was cool to kind of
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watch and do that and take part in you know he was didn’t have anything to do with the pizza make in the pizza making
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world or even really cooking but for some reason he always made pizzas on Fridays so like I’ll kind of always
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remember that and then growing up there was a really great restaurant called Duff’s I’m from upstate New York and
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there’s like this really really old man used to like kind of his like workstation was in the middle of the
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restaurant and hue so let it like lettuce go up there and like close the dough and like talk to him and do all
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those kinds of things so I always remember that like kid he was like the star of the restaurant news like this
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old old man that he’s just make pizza it was it was a great place and his family has a little place there now it’s not
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the same but I’ll always remember the Duff’s it was a really cool spot so then basically he was just kind of
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unencumbered in the middle of all the 98th yeah like in front of the kitchen was the pizza stand so they’re like the
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pizza making area so like it was the dining room and then him and then behind him was the kitchen so he was like front
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and center for everyone to see it was really cool that’s like that’s a cool concept I like that yeah um pizzas
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always a story anyway so right so how did you end up getting started in the business then now you’ve told me that
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you’ve been with Metro pizza since 97 so what’s going on what’s it 20 years now yeah first of congratulations by the way
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yeah thank you yeah it was cool it’s been a good ride as far as getting started I said it from
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upstate New York so while I was in college I made pizzas just kind of for fun you know never really thought about
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it too much it was just more like feeding drunk college kids at that point and I transferred out here to UNLV and I
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was like well I know how to make pizzas and I didn’t want to go home one summer so I ended up staying and I applied a
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Mexican piece and I ended up staying you know for now like you said my 20th year and I I think that what I love most
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about it is like the creativity so working with my hands the like instant gratification of someone taking a bite
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and like loving it and like seeing that right away is something that keeps me motivated
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pretty much every day so you said that you just didn’t want to go home one one summer and yeah miss was Metro pizza
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your first your first Pete’s official pizza job yeah yeah well I guess I mean I made pizzas de New York like I said
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for just a couple of months and it was really just for like I said just feeling like drunk college kids it was not
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really like any thought but into it is like how can we get this out so they can eat it while they’re drunk type stuff up
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and then you know once I saw there’s an actual like business that in a life that could
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be made doing that doing something that you really enjoy do it that’s when I kind of hopped on it really took it
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seriously and yeah I met a lot of really great people and you know everyone’s Drive that’s what keeps me going every
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day like you see the love and the amount of care and work that goes into just making a pizza you know once you really
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look into you what you’re like amazed and how how much work it actually is you know how much of the culture of I mean
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pizza is a very shearing industry how much do you thrive on that or you I’m Chris and this is kind of my
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singular vision or do you feed off of everybody else getting together and swapping stories and yeah I mean that’s
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what keeps everything moving forward and progressing right so I mean if you’re stuck in that way like we always hear
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people say oh that the recipe hasn’t changed in 50 years right we’ve the same recipe and you’re like you haven’t
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you’re telling me you got it right like the first time 50 years ago there hasn’t been there’s not a better tomato or a
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better olive oil there’s something that you like different 50 years like we’re constantly evolving like this world is
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changing every single day is changing since we got on this phone call so you have to learn to change and adapt all
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the time how much freedom do you have to come up with Metro pizza recipes that go on the menu or just I guess just to play
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around but how much like do you create and how much actually gets implemented into the restaurants I get to play
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around every single day so with something I have to just get that out because if we did the same menu items
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every day for the past 20 years I would go insane right you have to keep it fresh so I try to do something different
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at least a couple times a week you know as much as the restaurant and the time that the free time that I have I try to
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take advantage of that and kind of express creativity and do something different so as far as the recipes you
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know Johnny Sam have always said not always but the past couple years they’ll be like yeah you know do whatever you
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want run it as a special run you’ll see how the hose this many other to get stuff added to the menu
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it just depends you know a lot of things that we think will work maybe our customer isn’t necessarily ready for but
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like there’s different things that you see and you’re like I think that this will really work this really tap into
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what our cost our customer base ones alright so there’s a freedom to be creative and run things as a special
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it’s gotta be a home run before it ever hits paper on your menu correct yeah there’s a ton of things that I make for
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John and Sam just consistently that they really like so that that’s job security for me for them I’m happy all right so
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let’s just get a little fun about it you know what’s your favorite ingredients work with I’ll say the one that we use
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the most so I think it’s like the one that I can’t live without is olive oil like that quarto olive oil that we use
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from the guys in sauce is just great you know I loved everything about it I love the flavor of it when I do taste
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that side by side to whatever other olive oil or our guests might ask why don’t you use what we use and I have
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them taste it like to me it’s it’s second to none and like I use it every single day you know somehow someway and
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to me that that’s one thing that’s like I lost necessarily my favorite but it’s one that I definitely can’t live without
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so in turn I guess it is my favorite because it without that I can’t do anything you know so what does like come
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and I hate to use the word gimmick but like what is one of your items or facts or gimmicks about your pizzas p3 or your
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menu that you think is I mean you need some metros and maybe that’s one reason people keep coming and aside from the
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high quality of food just something unique about you guys that you think is metro and metro only yeah well you know
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a lot of people look like water what is Metro pizza so it’s really its metropolitan pizza it’s based upon
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because everyone in Las Vegas is from somewhere else so we try to do different styles from all over the country because
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everyone that lives here has come from somewhere else so we try we do you know traditionally our regular pieces or New
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York style you know hands house but we have thin crust pizzas we have pizzas con squares we have stuff pizzas we have
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thick Kress feet so we have Sicilian pizza all of these different things because if Las
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Vegas is a melting pot so to me that’s that’s the one thing that’s kept us going we try to be like your
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neighborhood pizzeria like people come and say oh I’m from st. Louis or whatever and I’ll say okay tell me like
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tell me about that style of pizza or whatever and then I’ll try to make that and then they never forget that you know
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I mean they’re like it it might not be what they’re used to but they’ll be like at least you tried
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you know and you kind of establish that relationship with them and you know we’re all of our full-service
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restaurants have the open kitchen no guests come up to the line all the time so you know it’s not uncommon for
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someone to say what are you guys doing or hey can you do this for my pizza or whatever just it just happens so I think
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that’s one thing that’s really great about our restaurant is how the pizza makers is front and center
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you know FF let me go indicator for actually the pizza maker is the first person you see when you walk in the
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front door before you see a hostess before you see a server or anything it’s the pizza lines a lot of people are not
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big on customization a lot of people they have their menu and that’s what you get a lot of people yeah and change a
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couple things how how flexible are you because you said it’s a melting pot from what I saw yeah it’s like you’re eager
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to please it’s like more you tell me yeah I mean is that something you guys look forward to or you gotta fight
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against no I want the challenge you know there’s some things that we are like you know they’ll be a guest sometimes it
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says something you’re like come on you know but you only help the guests right I mean that’s yeah they’re the one
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that’s danger so these people are like I’m not gonna listen to this guy I’m gonna do I mean those are people that go
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out of business that’s how we’ve been in business since June 1st 1980 right is doing what the customer wants I mean of
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course you have to draw a line somewhere and like all of those are things but you you do your best to help them and work
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with them to understand so it benefits both of you I tell people all the time I’ll do anything you want I’ll sell you
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anything you want you know you could have this table and the chairs whatever you want just you got to pay for it you
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know I’m gonna have to end of the day I’ll do anything that you want me to do pizza why so it’s cool you know I I
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don’t ever stress that I like the challenge of that it sounds like you’ve been there for 20 going on 20
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years now maybe what’s the one thing you would want to add or change about either the
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pizzeria or the menu like a seasonal type thing I think it’s like would be great we had them for a little while
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though we kind of took it away that that’s one thing I want to talk to John & salé about about like bringing that
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back and just having like a couple eggs you have a salad an appetizer maybe one or two pizzas have been or something
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like that that we changed three or four times a year just you know just to keep it fun
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you know and we did it for a while and then you know the more restaurants you add in this bag everything kind of is
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lost in the shuffle but I think the staff could use a little bit of a challenge too and you know it’s good to
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keep everything fresh it gives the customer something to look forward to instead of the same menu every time they
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walk in you say hey you know here’s three or four things that we’re doing right now
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get them out because you know two or three months are gonna be gone and we’re gonna be doing something else now here’s
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a trickier one that might not necessarily apply to you guys too much but you do have some more residentially
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located stores not yeah right so what’s something that you do locally in your market to keep you guys I don’t want to
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say top of mind but you know like giveaways or just a community based kind of partnering with schools of charities
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sponsors sports teams yeah there’s a couple things what we do we sponsor these nights to like this cool PTA and
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they’ll uh they print out like say it’s a middle school whatever we give them like a logo sheet and they would bring
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that back in and they would we donate money back to the school like a percentage of the sales for that night
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back to the school you just bring that flyer in with you so I mean out here some of these schools
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you know they have thousands of kids in them so excuse me we’ll have a night where it’ll be you know whatever high
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school night and we’ll send up something with their PTA we send them this thing they printed out for all the kids the
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kids bring it in and then they get like with whatever percentage off their bill and then we donate the money from five
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to nine or five to ten or whatever it might be we donate that money back to them that we partner with Catholic
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Charities in three scope three square which is the food bank out here and do what we do a lot with them I think it’s
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always important if we’re gonna be a this community which we’ve been since like I said since 1980 you have to give
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back because that’s the end of the day we all live here we don’t want this town to suffer in any way because if the town
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suffers then we suffered and you know I I just don’t think it’s fair that we work in this food industry and there’s
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so many people that are hungry and it kind of goes like unlooked and people don’t really you know you get caught up
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in the day-to-day and you kind of lose track of that I think it’s important to say you know Drive maybe to a part of
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town that you normally wouldn’t go to just to see what it’s like and see the people they’re hurting and know that you
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could do something better in your job to make it easier for the rest of the community um so here’s let’s go back to
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another just a quick fun one here’s yeah one ingredient you would never use if your staff brought it or you saw them
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like in their personal lunch you kick them out yeah asked you for it you might have to restrain yourself from you know
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chopping them in the side that for me is mayonnaise I just interesting general like at the bakery in bloomers
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you’ll see there’s not mayonnaise on one menu item not one salad dressing not one sandwich nut I just there’s something
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about it like to me I think it’s like people use it as a crutch you know and I just I’ll never ever use it I can’t I
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can’t even look at it I can’t touch her I can’t smell it so I think that’s one thing and I know it’s not really a pizza
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item or a pizza topping but somewhere somehow somebody started putting mayonnaise on a piece into me
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yeah I’ll just I could never I can’t ever do it I’ll never use it yeah they do in Russian trust me let’s see I’ll
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never go all right well it was an easy one who yeah loaded and ready to go I like that yeah that’s like the first
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thing I look by they’re like things like when you go to a restaurant they’re like is there anything you don’t eat we have
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any food ask you some like whatever has mail in it just leave it off my dish some whatever it is so what does one
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ingredient that you guys don’t new use now but you wish you could or something that you’ve been thinking about
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experimenting with I mean I’m sure you guys are pretty well-rounded in your ingredient base it goes back to like I
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think we were just ahead our time when we used it before but we had brought on the menu for a while and
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it was like our customer base wasn’t ready for it then it was probably like 10 years ago 11 years ago and like no
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one quite knew what it was and I think it would be even though it is a little bit more expensive the price points a
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little bit higher I think we would benefit from bringing that back I you know and I hope – that’s another thing I
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want to talk to them about along with the seasonal menu thing about bringing that back there shouldn’t it’s so
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beautiful it’s so delicious it’s like super sexy there’s everything about it is great so you guys don’t currently use
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piranhas no really no just got forgotten about you know and I just I think that was the perfect time to bring it back no
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we weren’t turning it fast enough then into it it was super expensive bent you know we just ended up throwing more away
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than we were using I think that kind of left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth but I think now’s the time to definitely
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bring that back and do something fun with it now people will at least buy it in there
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at least familiar with the name and what it is and what it looks like and all of those other things so so what do you
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attribute that to just the thought that you think now is it’s time to bring it back do you think people are a little
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more educated and nowadays on on Petes are sure believers for sure and you know they’re more aware of everything you
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know back then you know Food Network and Cooking Channel and all those things like think about it think ten years ago
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there was no Instagram there was no you know Facebook you know it was only emerald really on TV right so it was
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like look at how we’ve evolved from them and you know the average customer knows a lot more than then they used to and
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they pay a lot more attention to it and let’s be honest ten years ago it wasn’t as sexy to be a pizza maker as it is now
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you know like look that is that completely you know they’re regarded and is highly chefs on the strip and every
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and you know major hotels across the world everyone knows like the most famous beats maker in their talent now
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where before it was just like that was the local place to go and it was like kind of a forgotten about things like I
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said up until like five years ago like no one cares you know you know you know we we were making really good pizza but
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no one cared about who was making the pizza do you think the people are more like you said they’ve they’ve been more
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by the cooking shows and stuff they’re more willing to work things without even knowing what it is versus him the
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closed-minded not necessarily know one they like it but more willing and open to actually giving it a shot
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Trust goes a long way you know people have to believe you know like I said let’s being in town this amount of time
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our customers trust us you know and they know we’re not going to try to pull a fast one or you know anything like that
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and I think that goes when you go into a higher-end restaurant you you trust that chef if you see a tasting then you’re
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just gonna be like let’s roll the dice because I know I’m gonna get a really good product right so same kind of thing
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I think you know customers now will trust you’re the pizza maker as well it just real quick for the people who don’t
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know or who are not yeah it’s enough to have been there so Lulu’s bakery has to join to the one that’s I can’t remember
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words at the one yeah it’s never out in Centennial Hills yes yeah is there a concerted effort to make sure that they
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don’t compete with each other business-wise I mean obviously this is a bakery and this is a pizzeria there’s
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difference but I mean like do the hours vary just to make sure that you’re not doing a lot of crossover or stealing
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from well the bakery opens at 7:00 and closes at 3:00 and the p3 opens at 11:00 until 10:00 so there’s plenty of time
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you know you go to Lulu’s for breakfast and then come to Metro for lunch and dinner or vice versa
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so you know it’s there’s not really a competing thing because the menu is completely different and it’s a good
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thing because Metro had such a big customer base at that point you know when we first opened Lulu’s however many
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years or five years ago that you know it helped up because no one was really sure what Lulu’s was good at first we were a
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food truck and no one who was associate repeats and all of these different things and it they kind of worked well
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together to kind of go hand in hand they’ve helped each other out look we can say that for sure and anybody
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listening or watching how do you recommend going and checking that out at the time they’re both open because
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there’s a walk through it for customers and I was privileged enough to be able to work in that kitchen and and mess up
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a lot of dishes for John Erina he was very uh very patient with me what is the best kind of marketing that you guys do
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in a place like that saying that maybe that metropolitan to downtown Las Vegas area
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reaches most people and gets them coming in for the first time if they’ve never heard about you yeah we don’t do a lot
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of business off the strip or travellers or anything like that we try to be Las Vegas neighborhood peace trees so we
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want the locals to come that’s why we’re not you know we had that one on the casino like a block off the strip but
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you know first and foremost we want families to come here and eat you know and we’ve had generations upon
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generations of families come you’ll see like grandkids and grandparents and aunts and uncles and all of those things
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we’ve done you know christenings to excuse me and then their confirmation and then their wedding and then you know
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birthdays for their kids and so on and so forth and that’s one great thing you know we we want to be a part of this
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community so we don’t really market to tourists as much of course we want them to come and take part in a lot of people
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travel and then they do come but for them first and foremost we want the local we want that local customer
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because we know that they’re gonna come back you know that’s what we want just repeat business
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and that’s you know the one thing on the strip you might go somewhere and you’re gonna deploy your whole lot of cash on
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one dinner because you’re never gonna go back here we want to come back and come back and come back and offer value in in
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great food you know that’s that ultimately that’s what it’s about being there for what is it going on 37 years
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now obviously it’s well known if there’s somebody just moved there do you guys do like no mover of things or just we have
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you know that’s one thing I think we do need to get better on is trying to create new business you know you don’t
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want to get caught up in that where your customers are dying right no and what’s that where they’ve been with you for so
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long you know you need to keep the new people engaged in you know you always strive
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for new customers and you know it’s funny that you mentioned about all the peach trees when they just had the best
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of like in our local paper in their Review Journal and for the pizza category there was 52 different
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nominations for the best pizza Wow like think about that just those were those were ones that were just nominated by
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readers 52 different ones and so how do you stick out you know just grind you know just do the best you can every
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day and hope that your employees they’re doing have the same mindset and same drive and want to succeed and want to do
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better and you know hopefully you’re doing better than the next day there’s there’s enough people here for that many
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pizzerias every and everyone has their favorite you just hope to be you know I’m that favorable and at the end of the
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day now we’ve come to the Dred Scott weiners lightning round I can I can show you i got the the
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Scott’s pizza – can you see on the wall and they’re gonna be kind of weird so ya might have already used some you don’t
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but just kind of get me off the top your head what you would do with them doesn’t necessarily have to be pizza maybe a
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dish preferably pizza so well yeah right in and this one’s gonna be probably one of the craziest ones pickles oh we
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actually funny enough we used pickles we had we had a pizza called a flying pickle
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so carnitas garbage Beaufort and we put that on the piece of when it came out we talked it with french fried onion rings
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that we had softened butter milk and then bread and butter pickle and that actually was one that I created for the
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as a special fir because the National Finals Rodeo is here when I was over at the shop in Maryland store so it was
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right across right at you know from you know be where they have the rodeo so we did that as the special net was one that
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actually got added to the menu for a long time and the menu was like who would ever put pickles on a pizza and we
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said we’ll do it when pigs fly so that was how it kinda got the name alright let’s go to something
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let’s do AG right before the everything bagel Pizza I had an egg pizza that we were joined with sopressata and ketchup
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cavallo cheese and a fried egg and that was delicious again and so I had pickled peppers on it too so you can see this
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kind of like a running thing with me but it did break down that like Cacho cavallo cheese which was like super rich
00:24:18
and delicious and like you know that pickled pepper with the egg is it is great and i know i love an egg on a
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pizza there’s something about like cooking it just right and getting that egg yolk so it
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that makes the sauce I love it man I would give I put egg on pizza every day if I could
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well that’s man I’m this is just way too easy for you man I’m crazy though I love a madman with that but I like it I do
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like it so um let’s go with say figs and I haven’t looked at their menu so I don’t know if he’s dead on this before
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or do these now so I just handed in the first two so yeah the classic thing that just put in with that prosciutto is
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always great arugula and figgus is awesome you know I I love that combination that super bitter green with
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the sweet fig I think this is great so uh you know we’ve done it a couple of times I like to use them in the bakery
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we had like different like seasonal toasts do and just that like a ricotta toast with the fig and some honey in
00:25:20
this it’s it’s tough to beat at that and that that’s comfort right there for me would you do it as I come an actual
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piece of fig or with you know would you consider doing like it as ablaze or something like that a reduction you know
00:25:35
we put a bit and put them in with the balsamic and Riaan reduced them down so you kind of have like a fig balsamic but
00:25:40
I like them quartered you know and you know we had a toast over there I kind of just dipped from one side and sugar and
00:25:47
then brûléed it a little bit and that came out really nice on the ricotta toast because if sometimes the figs are
00:25:52
so soft nobody brulee to give it like that candy Chelle mmm and it had a little bit of a
00:25:57
crunch to it with the with a toast and then the creamy ricotta in the night that super smooth fake but I had that
00:26:03
candy the edge which was really nice getting hungry all right all right so um as you know part of this process is that
00:26:12
you give me a recipe that I can put out to the public pizzeria guys and consumers that they can recreate in
00:26:18
their homes or their pizzerias now which recipe have you settled on to give pmq to put out there for all of our fans I
00:26:26
should say yeah so I think the Stella does pizzas I think it’s grated it’s good like the margarita elevated and I
00:26:36
think people really like that thin crispy crust and it’s super light and with like I said was summer being right
00:26:42
around the corner I think it’s the right time to get if we put it out there pretty soon a good feel time to practice
00:26:46
and get it done right but still I mean it’s actually very aesthetically appealing it’s something that somebody
00:26:51
can make in their house when they have a dinner party don’t take that yeah but it’s something that people can do and
00:26:56
pizzerias as specials I mean it was a little more time consuming with the crust but you know you feel it works on
00:27:02
both ends yeah I mean just like anything you know once you get it you’re moving a lot faster you know but the first time
00:27:09
for sure it’s gonna take you a little bit to get it down but just like anything else just practice practice
00:27:14
practice and before you know it you got it all right so um who created this particular recipe uh what was the
00:27:20
inspiration did you come up with it or were you inspired by something yeah well I was inspired by I guess I think
00:27:26
Patrizia is how you pronounce it in New York I had seen it on Instagram whatever nothing dois this is really beautiful
00:27:32
this is something that I hadn’t seen before you know it’s one of those things that when you put it out there and if
00:27:38
you have time to do it and do it correctly like once people see it everyone wants it run through the
00:27:44
toppings kind of an order as they go on for me real quick I spread that put the cheese in I’m sorry spread their sauce
00:27:49
down and I shaved the garlic over the top and what I found out to work the best for me is when I I started on them
00:27:57
on the pizza peel but I shake it onto a screen because I don’t want to put try to put that shape into the oven and pull
00:28:03
it off the peel itself so it starts on the screen just so I can get that perfectly round star and then once it
00:28:10
sets I take it off the screen to get that perfect shape you know it I found that that works the best for me and then
00:28:20
once that sets I kind of take it off the screen let it continue cooking and you want it to be crispy you know move it
00:28:25
around a little bit because those stars you want them to be nice and brown and then when it came out a little olive oil
00:28:32
over the top that I have a ball of burrata and some fresh basil you know and just I when I did cut it I cut it in
00:28:40
squares and then left that one in the middle with the burrata you know intact so you kind of you take
00:28:47
a piece and you kind of dip it in that burrata or take a spoon and spread it out so every piece you know has cheese
00:28:51
on it that’s well that’s important too because I was gonna really ask I mean you don’t want to cut it first and then
00:28:56
put the broader because cut-through brought anybody who knows what it is it’s not it’s not pretty
00:29:01
right it destroys what the product should be and it just makes the rest of the pizza
00:29:06
look like a mess so yeah you’re also the cool thing about this isn’t but the Stars which I really start points kind
00:29:11
of what we’re talking about for anybody listening is that those are almost even little appetizers to that you could yeah
00:29:17
ripoff yes like a cheese cheese might like the contest of flavor and texture also with the ricotta that’s warm and
00:29:24
then the broader that’s cold and it’s in the two different textures of those cheese’s are really great together yeah
00:29:30
so this is uh this is a great recipe is very simple it only has like I said a few basic ingredients but the flavors
00:29:36
and the textures and the temperatures all play off of each other yeah and it’s got that I appeal that’s gonna make
00:29:43
people look at and say when it comes out of the kitchen say I want that yeah for sure so this must be gonna be
00:29:50
on your menu year-round now is there gonna be a special on the weekends a couple days a week maybe your yeah you
00:29:54
know I gotta be careful because right now I’m the only one that can really do it well enough to sell you good it’s
00:30:01
hard you know once you start putting the brow down there and everything you don’t want it to waste you know so you have to
00:30:06
practice with that dough a lot luckily you know I work 80 hours a week so I’m here a majority of the time so it’ll be
00:30:15
available every day but Sunday and Monday when I try to take off well so was it like time available just a
00:30:22
special request yeah right now it’s just one of those things with you know whenever I put something in this room
00:30:27
I tried out for that week you know and if it works then okay then we’ll we’ll continue to do it and but I typically
00:30:34
just try to put stuff out there and like run it for like the week that weekend or that week you know just because I’m
00:30:40
always trying something different so what is the best part about working at Metro pizza that’s kept you there for
00:30:44
twenty years you know like working side-by-side with some with people that you actually really get along with in
00:30:50
like like two legends John and Sam you know we just get along and I think that’s if people get along with their
00:30:59
bosses like Jon and Sam and I get along like I don’t really think of them as bosses like I don’t like yes I have to
00:31:05
answer to them but it’s not like we work together as a team so it’s I think that’s what’s kept me there for so long
00:31:10
kept me here for so long it’s working side by side with them and like kind of growing
00:31:14
with them like I was always a part of it you know was that it was like us against them or anything like that and they’re
00:31:19
not like that with any employee you know it’s it’s really great to work side by side with people like that you know that
00:31:26
are collaborative and welcoming and loving like to me if you love what you do and you love the people that you work
00:31:34
with like it’s that’s magic you know that everyone feels that way you know I think you actually answered my next
00:31:41
question I was gonna ask if John Arena is really the monster that the Internet has pitied him out to be pretty nice but
00:31:49
I know for a fact he’s one of the kindest humblest most sharing men in the industry so yeah just reaffirm that I
00:31:55
don’t think anybody would disagree yeah I mean that’s to think he’s always calm you know and and that in itself is very
00:32:04
helpful because you know how stressful this business can be right you get someone calls out someone’s in a car
00:32:11
accident someone’s got the flu someone cuz there’s all these things and you know you might be going crazy with all
00:32:17
of those different things and then he’ll come in and he’ll be like okay we can do with this we can do that and we’ll do
00:32:22
this and they’ll do this and then by the end of the day you’re done and you’re like okay but in the moment he’s always
00:32:28
calling you know and that’s that’s one thing that that’s great you know and that that’s I think anyone that’s met
00:32:34
him will can attest to that also he just has that kind of calming nature about him and always teaching in accepting
00:32:42
that’s you know if those are great attributes to have in to work side by side with that is this is great you know
00:32:48
for me well I did hear something the other day on the internet on the Facebook’s and the interwebs I think
00:32:55
will Brewer call them out on his size of his forearms I didn’t he’s like I don’t know what degree blackbelt but like some
00:33:07
he’s been practicing karate for like 40 years oh gentle as he is he will Bend you in
00:33:15
seven and make you scream for mercy that so don’t test that you don’t let that side to come out
00:33:25
in your Metro pizza what is one of the biggest lessons that you’ve taken from that that you apply to yourself and try
00:33:31
to pass down to others as well that’s that’s the important thing is you can learn something for somebody but if you
00:33:38
don’t pass it on then what what good was it you know so empathy for sure is one thing that I’ve learned from it you know
00:33:46
other people’s feelings no matter what it is the customer the employee the delivery guy you know the guy that’s
00:33:55
delivering the food in the door all of those things come into you know they’ve they’ve shown me to take this kind of
00:34:02
step back and someone else’s point of view or their feelings take their feelings into consideration so I think
00:34:09
empathy is like probably the most important thing that I’ve learned from them you know you can learn how to make
00:34:14
pizzas from anyone but you can’t learn how to be a better person from anyone 100% that’s a definitely great trait to
00:34:21
pass down to the next generation because it seems like it sometimes it’s lacking I really appreciate you sitting down
00:34:26
with me today you know I hope to stay in touch with you some more and get out there and actually let you show me some
00:34:34
of the things that you do in the kitchens over there so for sure I just want to say if people want to learn a
00:34:40
little bit more about Metro pizza yourself or John arena’s there ways that we can contact you or not contact you at
00:34:45
least view you the websites yes so Metro pizza that commas are like our recipe or our menu and a little bit of history is
00:34:56
on there but you know everyone at some point comes to Las Vegas in their life you know I I would just make it a point
00:35:03
to if you’re coming out here let us know get in touch with us through Facebook just leave a message on there constantly
00:35:09
people are coming here you know and we’d love to have them come and make pizzas with us and exchange ideas and just eat
00:35:15
pizzas together you know it’s a it’s that’s the that’s the thing that I’d like about pizza the most is it being a
00:35:21
communal dish you know you eat it with people that you really care about and like your friends or family or whatever
00:35:26
and at the end of the day we’re all part of this crazy piece of family so come out and when you’re here take an
00:35:31
afternoon and come have some pizza with us and and you know just come to the kitchen and make a pizza with us and to
00:35:37
exchange some ideas and everything but anchovies on Instagram and people always ask me what
00:35:44
that is and I always tell me it’s like our customers like they always whenever I would answer the phone they’d be like
00:35:51
give me a pizza with everything but anchovies so people think it’s that I don’t eat anatoly’s but I actually love
00:35:55
them it’s like paying that yeah it’s like paying homage to our customers that and those people that like to everything
00:36:02
pizza but they always gonna give me one with everything but anchovies like I can’t think how many times people have
00:36:07
said that to me so it just kind of stuck I’m like that would be a great like Instagram name so that it just kind of
00:36:13
stuck it’s just it’s just one of those weird like quirky funny things but yeah I actually love anchovies but it’s just
00:36:19
it’s just a nod to our customers so let’s throw all your pictures at everything but I am Toby’s it’s gonna be
00:36:27
Chris day yeah he’s actually so if you’re trying to make a man too bad Chris get down with us you know this is
00:36:36
gonna be on the chef’s corner in the magazine we’re gonna be able to figure out how to make that Stella pizza for
00:36:40
Pete and for people at home and then you know this will also be an online article this whole interview and then we’re
00:36:47
going to a podcast that you can get at Pizza radio on iTunes so you’re gonna be all out there my friends and I go
00:36:55
awesome better person to let people talk to or listen to about you know the pizza industry you’ve worked with the best
00:37:02
you’re one of the best and the stuff you’re putting out there amazing so thank you so much I appreciate that all
00:37:09
right thanks so much yeah I’ll talk to you soon [Music]