Great Post. Sorry I wasn't smiling in the photos, LOL.
Just to touch on a few questions that were raised in the videos.
My oven can hit any temp. It's no where near maxed out. The problem with getting that leoparding color is really the way that southerners eat the pizza. If there are 8 people at a table and they all order a plain Margheritas, and I deliver a pie to the table, it will usually go to just one customer who will wait for each other guest to get the exact same pie before taking a single bite. There's almost no sharing. And if a person is telling a story, everyone waits 10 minutes while the food gets cold before they take the first bite. And often this is with a knife and fork, rather than picking up and folding. So I have no choice but to slow down the bake and crisp up the pies. I'm in the 3:00 - 3:30 range most of the time. Part of this dynamic is the fact that I set up Varasano's as a full serve restaurant. The new Airport unit, which starts construction in about 3 months, will be a quick serve unit. Pretty much the same pizza menu, but in a quick serve format. I think the oven will be cranked up a bit hotter in that case. But either way, I don't really mind the slower bake. I do wish that people would eat quicker while it's crispy, but I'm not in love with 1 minute bakes myself.
