Ep 27 - From Ingredients to Tradition: Crafting Authentic New York Pizza with Brooklyn legend Gio Lanzo

Are you ready to uncover the secrets behind that iconic New York pizza you love? In this exciting episode, we dive deep into the heart of the pizza-making process, from sourcing the finest ingredients to sharing stories of struggle and triumph in the restaurant industry with pizza legend Gio Lanzo of Luigi's in Brooklyn!

In this raw and authentic episode we want bring to light the importance of quality ingredients, featuring discussions on the best tomatoes for that perfect pizza sauce. Chef reveals how the consistency and taste of tomatoes can truly elevate a slice, pointing to his go-to choice, Mutti tomatoes. But it's not just about the ingredients—it's also about the heart that every pizza maker puts into their craft. Luigi's is just that! 

Listen as Gio shares how he balances staying true to time-honored recipes while embracing modern techniques to meet the ever-changing culinary demands. This blend of innovation and respect for tradition ensures that the soul of New York pizza remains vibrant and beloved. (and yes, its all about the water for the dough!) He has also found fame as an internet sensation and has been featured in movies like Big Daddy with Adam Sandler, axe and AT&T commercials, and even on Netfilx's show Street Eats USA. 

The warmth and community spirit of a Brooklyn pizzeria come alive in our conversation. With every customer who walks through the door, there are new stories and connections that make each visit unique. Discover why pizza is not just a meal but a shared experience that brings people together. Join us as we celebrate the culture, the flavors, and the passion that pervades every pizzeria in New York.

At the end of the episode, you'll be left with a richer understanding of what makes New York pizza extraordinary and how family is the KEY ingredient to success!

Tune in, share your thoughts about pizza culture, and don't forget to subscribe, so you never miss a delicious conversation!

Connect with Gio at Luigi's here: https://www.instagram.com/luigispizzaparkslope/

https://flow.page/luigispizzaparkslope

Welcome to the show! Burnt Hands Perspective

Transcript

The Art of Pizza Making

Speaker 1 0:24

Listen up here. The restaurant industry is grueling and unpredictable, just like this shelf. From the front of the house to the back of the house and all in between, we will turn up the heat, you turn up the volumes. I'm Chef Antonio Caruana. Welcome to the Tell All Podcast at Burnt Hands Prospective.

Speaker 1 0:40

We're out here right now on the road, Brooklyn, New York, and this is not a pizza review. However, we are in front of Luigi's Pizza, One of my best friend's, cousin, Gio. So, like I said, there's been much better reviewers than me. So I'm not here to do a pizza review. I'm here to eat good pizza and speak to the man behind the legend of it all. So we're gonna go inside right now and speak to Gio. He's the owner who makes the pizza. I don't need to review it, just trust it's good. We'll see you on the other side. Alright, All right, listen, G, check this out. We've all been watching you on social media. What we talk about and what we like to introduce ourselves to is everybody's struggle, everybody's strife, everybody's glory and everything that we go through to get the fuck what we've done.

Speaker 2 1:18

We do everything. Break our. You know what? Yeah, break our cajones.

Speaker 1 1:22

That's right, right. So every day we wake up in the morning and it's the same struggle, no matter what level you're at.

Speaker 2 1:27

No, you mean to tell me we don't go shovel money, like everybody thinks? No, yeah right, when do we shovel money?

Speaker 1 1:31

Yeah, right, while we're shoveling the work. Yeah, we're shoveling the dough. That's right, we're shoveling the dough the pizza dough. But you, how long have you been working in this industry, bro? First of all, here, do the math right 21. 21.

Speaker 2 1:47

So he's been at it a little while Plus 39.

Speaker 1 1:49

I'm 60. So let me ask you, man, a couple questions I've had, because I always love talking to people who I've been doing this for 30 years, but I've changed my level of where I've been as a chef, right. So I deal with different ingredients, I change with the tides, right, while still keeping true to the traditions. I've got to do that. You have to stay true to the traditions, right? So, anyway, I'm going to backtrack a little bit. So when you have tomatoes and ingredients, right, we come up with it. You've been doing this for so long that your product has to stay consistent, right? So let's say, the market, let's say, if you're using a Stanislaus product or whatever tomato company you use, right, they change up or they mix out or they go out of business. When does the panic set in? When's the panic.

Speaker 2 2:28

Well, all right, I was using an Italian tomato. I can't get anymore Right. So I went looking and I found Mutti. It's the best, end of story. That's it. End of story. It is by far the best because it's got the lowest sodium, the lowest sugar and it's natural. You notice added additives and I'll be honest with you, I am really happy with the tomato. It's three, three years, but if Mutti should ever change, I am a real finicky person. People bring me tomatoes. I open the can, I look at it they want. I want tomatoes of the season, I don't want last year's tomatoes.

Speaker 1 3:02

What are you looking for in a can? I have certain things I look for. When the can opens itself, are you using the whole plum that you break down?

Speaker 2 3:08

I use a plum I look for when a can opens itself. Are you using a whole plum that you break down? I use a plum, I break it down, but I look at the can itself to make sure that the inside isn't going bad, they're not spoiled. It's a whole process because, I'll be honest with you, there's a million companies out there Of course there is, but Mutti's been around.

Speaker 1 3:21

They're from Parma. Mutti's a company from Parma Italy, for centuries, and now they're all over the world.

Speaker 2 3:26

Now they're all over the world, united Kingdom. No matter where I talk to people, they're oh yeah, we have it in. Like I had people from the United Kingdom, oh, we have Mutti there. I was like, well, that's what you use. People are on this big kick of San Marzano tomato. San Marzano is the size of a dime. It's impossible for them to make enough tomatoes of their head right. It's a type of tomato, it's a style of tomato and it's brought in from everywhere. Mutti uses the best of the best and that's it and I'll be honest with you, it's been so consistent I've never had to say, wow, this tomato is bad. I do open the cans, I do take a tomato and I eat it. People look at me. I love eating. I'm eating something that was grown on Italian soil, italian rain, everything in the weather down there.

Speaker 1 4:14

When I eat that, I feel like I'm eating something like I'm eating in Italy, in Brooklyn, new York. Now we are live right now. As always, we do things on the live tip, we don't do anything staged, so people walk in and out. We're in a live restaurant. It's a Friday night rush. We're in Brooklyn, new York. Everybody knows what time it is.

Speaker 1 4:25

Here at this restaurant, at this, at this pizzeria so mooty. I just did a short on those, I did a a tomato review and my number one tomato go-to is a mooty. And talking about the san marzano. Now, san marzano, like he said, is this big, but san marzano is a region of italy and naples where that, that one thing is grown, so in the middle of all that you're not gonna have enough, just like you said. So, in the style of San Marzano, it's totally different. Now, moving on G, I know we don't have much time here because you're a busy dude, bro, and you've got people from all over the world. I watch people coming in here and you're asking them where they're from. You're very engaging with your people. Oh, I love it.

Speaker 2 5:00

That's why I'm here.

Speaker 1 5:02

And I'm the same way with my customers to me where you're from. Why are you coming here? Why did you choose me? Right, because you got to keep going and you got to take them answers and they're all.

Speaker 2 5:10

They're all something new. I learned something new about every state, every country. It's amazing what goes on all over the world and when you talk to these people, you know when people think it's so bad. It's really great in America. It's better than what we think. I really we get into deep conversations with my customers. Interesting things, their family life, their way of living. Wow, we are so blessed in the United States of America. First off, every product in the world is here.

Speaker 1 5:37

You just took a picture with a guy from Houston, he came here specifically, probably because he saw you on social media.

Speaker 1 5:42

He sees your influence in the pizza world. Now, some of these influencers that are actual pizza critics or judges, like Portnoy and all those guys they know what they're talking about, so if they do say something, you can trust their word, you can trust their, and they want to come here and meet you, bro, and it's very important for our world, especially in the Italian community, for the Italian people to stay together. Right, it's important for us to work that way, just like any culture should. However, you have people coming in from every culture to eat this pizza. You are a staple in what people think of New York-style pizza. You're the guy I mean, you're one of the guys the top tier, right.

Speaker 2 6:16

Okay, but I'm also one of the only ones that the boss actually works. That's why it's the way it is, because I care. That's right. It has my father's name on the sign. It's not my name. If I'm going to ruin it, I'll put my name before I put my father's.

Speaker 1 6:29

He's holding you accountable. He ain't even here right now. His name's holding you accountable. That's called tradition, that's called integrity. Bro in the food. Did you call Luigi. So let's go, man. I know you got to get back there and start cranking out some pizza on. Let's go to the kitchen. Let's go Give me dough. If I'm in your way, just kick me in the leg, right? This is my sister, lisa. Hi, lisa, how are you I?

Speaker 2 6:54

won't fall in touch with you. How are you?

Speaker 1 6:55

You're good, how are you? She's the youngest in the house, your dough made skim.

Speaker 2 7:09

I don't like whole milk. Whole milk is too greasy. You know you gotta how many people pat the pizza down.

Speaker 1 7:14

You'll never pat my pizza down and Grande's a great company. They do all kinds of cheese.

Speaker 2 7:18

Oh, and there's the boss. He's the boss. Say hi, buddy. Go on the other side, shake his hand.

Speaker 1 7:23

This is Luigi. You're Luigi, you're the guy.

Speaker 2 7:26

He's the reason.

Speaker 1 7:27

I can't retire, right, buddy, you can't retire yet. No, you're the reason he's got to retire.

Speaker 2 7:31

You're going to let him retire one day. Can I stay home?

Speaker 1 7:33

Nope.

Speaker 2 7:34

Not tonight he loves coming here.

Speaker 1 7:35

You know how to make the pizza, luigi.

Speaker 2 7:37

Yes, You're making a pie yeah, what's your favorite one?

Speaker 1 7:46

to make the square one? Oh boy, yeah, he stretches the square, huh.

Speaker 2 7:50

He's a sauce person. You're hip to be square. Yeah, he's a sauce person. Loves his sauce yeah, man.

Speaker 1 7:56

Good, good, good. So again we got grande cheese, one of the best producers out there. You got the dough made in house, any type of flour you use with that.

Speaker 2 8:06

Double zero. I like to get it could be a cheap flour that's called double zero. I use Ultrump or I use Produsa. Produsa is very hard to get.

Speaker 1 8:14

When you do get it, though, it's on huh when I can, and Ultrump. We know that's easier to get, but it's also a really good flour as well, nothing cheap about it, because it's always moving, it's always fresh and that's what you want Calzones. What else you got on the menu?

Speaker 2 8:28

Pepperoni, meatball, chicken, sausage, eggplant, all the rolls, basic stuff. That's it. Yes, can I make one please? No, not right now, buddy, not right now. It's too busy, Too busy. Nice, he loves making the pizza.

Speaker 1 8:40

So it's Friday night. We're talking about 530. What about 6 o'clock, 7 o'clock, look?

Speaker 2 8:47

it's already down there.

Speaker 1 8:50

That's good, though, so people have been coming here now. When you started getting a little bit more on social media and stuff, did you notice the influx on that?

Speaker 2 8:56

Honestly, since they filmed the movie Big Daddy in 1998 here, okay, right, with Adam Sandler that was filmed in here.

Speaker 1 9:02

That is right. And then I did the NCAA tournament.

Speaker 2 9:05

I did the Axe commercial the AT&T commercials on comic books magazines. I did commercials on comic books magazines. I did street foods with Netflix. The slice is the ultimate street food. It's the only food I know I can fold up and put in my pocket if I want to go back to it. And then Daypoint only came in six months later, so between the two I got destroyed.

Speaker 1 9:22

In a good way.

Speaker 2 9:23

Yeah, in a good way, Destroyed in a good way.

Speaker 1 9:26

So sometimes those are the breaks we need, bro. That's where the hard work and the consistency. If you weren't here on one of those nights, you might have missed something Plenty of times that's happened too.

Speaker 2 9:33

That's happened too. People have been oh, we came to film. I'm like okay, but I got to take a break because I want to spend time with my son.

Speaker 1 9:39

Sure, you got to, bro, and I have kids myself, and right now is the more I get into my chef world, so there's going to. That's why you know what he comes in to work with me. Yeah, well, that's the best thing, my father.

Speaker 2 9:50

When he was born, my father told me to retire, raise your son. I said. But I can't do that. He goes. Don't make the same mistake. I made An exact word, stupid. Don't make the same mistake, twice. Don't make the same mistake I made.

Speaker 1 10:07

Stay home, raise your son collect the rent. I love being here, yeah. Well, that's the thing too, bro. You still, even though we gotta raise our kids, I still have to live my life, because my kids are gonna be 18, they're gonna move on, they're gonna go live their life. Yeah, and we still have to live our lives too, but we also have to do it with a respectful tone to it so we can stay in touch with them. But you know what?

Speaker 2 10:24

The way things are going today. They're not guaranteed jobs. My father made sure all of us have a trade and a skill. I mean school and a skill, just in case one could feed you. All my sisters cut hair, who's a beautician, who's a hairstylist, cosmetologist, skin dermatologist. They all went to schools to do all that education and a trade.

Speaker 1 10:42

My father wanted that and you guys. Back to this, bro, you guys are doing straight old school tickets. Huh, you don't even need tickets. This is all handwritten memo pads. That's it. Yellow memo pads right here, with a line out the door going down the avenue and this is how they still do it.

Speaker 2 10:54

Oh wait, until this goes. Like this, like this, like this, I'm sure See, there's no printing machine.

Speaker 1 10:57

There's no POS system. No, this is old school Cash only. Or you got card too Cash only.

Speaker 2 11:06

Cash only, cash only. You don't do, you don't do Zelle, I don't do Zelle, I don't do apple.

Speaker 1 11:11

I don't do oranges. I wrote it, had to write it down. You don't do nothing. You don't even trade nothing.

Speaker 2 11:14

No, because people turn around and tell me oh, you mean you don't do this, no, cash only.

Speaker 1 11:17

Cash only, like it should be right. That's's that's no, no, no, they're moving. You never know.

Speaker 2 11:38

And that's why I smile in here, I laugh in here.

Speaker 1 11:40

You have to, bro, because that's what sets you apart from everybody else. The pizza's gonna be wonderful, but the pizza's a reflection of you. Just like me, when I'm cooking my food, I tell my chefs at work with me, if you treat it disrespectful, it's going to go out to the customer. Disrespectful, that's right. And nobody wants to eat that. They want to eat something that's savory.

Speaker 2 11:57

They want to eat something delicate. I will serve you anything that I can't serve my son.

Speaker 1 12:03

That's right. You got to have a smile on your face when you're making it, because they're going to love eating it. End of story. You want to hear something?

Speaker 2 12:08

crazy too. My mother and father passed away, and when they passed away, my father would be three years, my mother 10 years. If they're anywhere, they're here. I know it sounds crazy, but no, it don't sound crazy at all.

Speaker 1 12:23

This is how it is. You missed them. You know what they're not coming back.

Speaker 2 12:25

The one thing for everything in life school work. They taught me everything. They didn't prepare me for them leaving.

Speaker 1 12:32

Yeah.

Speaker 2 12:33

That's something I wasn't ready for.

Speaker 1 12:34

Yeah, well, that's. Unfortunately, I don't think anybody is.

Speaker 2 12:36

My father was 88 years old. I was still getting advice from him when things didn't work out right, so can you see this register right here?

Speaker 1 12:42

This is the register they're still using. This thing came over on the Mayflower. They rented flour. It was last fixed in 1947. Yeah, no doubt. Wow, so that's pretty impressive too. So everything they're doing in here has a touch of old class. So they're really just you're really just focusing on traditional old world cooking.

Speaker 2 12:58

End of story. I'm not smarter than my father, so I don't try to rewrite it Right, even though I'm building next door, next door, this will not change Right? This is not going to change. Next door could be really nice, dining tables, lights, this and that, but this has to stay the way. My father, my grandfather, my uncles, giacchi, his father, they all worked on this. They put the floors down the mud floor. So Richie has some ties here too, giacchino. Yes, frank, yes, frank has ties. His father was my Uncle Leo. Yep, nice, he would have been like yeah, madness, madness, right.

Speaker 1 13:36

Oh, his father was one of a kind Louie. There's a picture of him right there, that's him.

Speaker 2 13:41

That's his father, that's Luigi. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's another Luigi. I should have known they were both a pain in the but I knew him, I met him. I met him. I had dinner with him, yeah it.

Speaker 1 13:53

And here, here in Brooklyn and up in Maine. Yeah, we definitely. I met him all the time. Great guy man. Let me tell you this man, let me ask you a couple questions. You ready Favorite tool in the kitchen. You can't live without here.

Speaker 2 14:06

Name one Favorite tool in the kitchen. Everything is my favorite. That's the problem. Favorite tool the frying pan. Frying pan, I can do anything. I can make a sauce, a quick sauce with pasta. I can make eggs, I can make anything. That's a good one. No, that's a good one.

Speaker 1 14:20

All right, I like it. Favorite TV show regarding pizza Movie Whatever Favorite movie, mystic Pizza, oh, mystic Pizza. I didn't think of that.

Speaker 2 14:31

I was thinking maybe Do the Right. Remember Fast Times at Richmond High. Yeah, with Spicoli Spicoli. Yeah, this would be our pie. Yeah.

Speaker 1 14:39

I think that was awesome. Yeah, that'd be a wrap. That's a good one too. If this place was a car right here, what car would it be? If this was a car? Yeah, It'd be a 57 Chevy 57 Chevy exactly, or a 78.

Speaker 2 14:52

Buick.

Speaker 1 14:53

Rebuilt or classically just Let it rip Right, buddy.

Speaker 2 14:56

Yes, the Buick. What's your favorite car, Luigi? The.

Speaker 1 14:58

Buick, you got the Buick. You still see the Buick.

Speaker 2 15:01

Tell me the Buick, how's it running? Good, Good the Buick, yep 78 Buick. When my father came to America he fell in love with a Buick Electra 225. All right, it was like a 65 Buick Electra. He thought it was the greatest car in the world. And when I got older, when I graduated high school, one of my senior year he bought me a 78 Buick Park Avenue because it was the deuce in a quarter. And I still have it. It's got 50,000 miles, even though I did just convert it from carburetor to electric to electric. Fuel injection Drives like a dream now I'm sure it does.

Speaker 2 15:37

Yeah, man, no more opening the hood, adjusting the carburetor, but you're still running it, so that's a good thing. Yeah.

Speaker 1 15:42

I have to. One last question. I have that you're going to fucking, that people are going to blow their minds. What is the rumor? What is your story? What do you think about this? New York water thing 100%. So if you were to make your pizza anywhere else. If you were to come to Virginia with me, bring all your shit down there, you'd think the pizza would come out different 100%. I was in Florida.

Speaker 2 16:01

That thing needs to be triple, quadruple water purified. I live in Staten Island. There's a difference in the water from Staten Island to here. Okay, the water in Staten Island is. It takes me longer to take a shower. Okay, believe it, it takes me longer to take a shower. Okay, believe it or not, it has like a film, it takes me longer. Over here the water's harder. People think I'm crazy, but I think it's because, like my father used to say, the pipes underground are all clay pipes in Brooklyn and my father always drank water out of a mug because he says water has to hit rock purified All these. It's standing out and there's plastic piping over here. There isn rocked purified, all these. It's not only this plastic piping over here?

Speaker 1 16:39

there isn't. So there it is. There it is Right now. I'm going to tell you right now, all you people out there wondering is the New York water thing. This is one of the top-notch professionals. This is one of the guys who's making New York pizza saying water is the difference, right here in Brooklyn, new York. You already know that's the deal. G is laying it down the water is the deal. So let's stop the rumor now. He said it. I'm not listening to nobody else. It's about the water. The water makes a big difference. The water, the water makes a big difference.

Speaker 2 17:06

And so we're going to end it on that G right, you got it, bro.

Speaker 1 17:08

We're going to end it on that, brother. I appreciate you.