Neapolitan pizza pies at your door
Local Italian chain embraces new digital delivery services
The gig economy and its affiliated apps have disrupted many an industry. Here’s one they are helping: restaurants who want to offer delivery and now can with a whole lot less hassle.
For example, the Pizzeria Libretto empire, a nineyear-old going concern that’s just opened its fifth location, Pizzeria Libretto Takeout & Delivery, on College St. near Clinton St. Smartphone apps are this outfit’s best friend. “In the new world order, people want to order takeout on their phones,” co-owner Gary Quinto says.
Ever since the brand opened its first location on Ossington Ave. in 2008, there’s been demand for delivery. It’s a huge undertaking to hire and manage a driver team, and every Libretto location is very busy: adding delivery orders to the mix would impact the kitchen staff’s ability to feed sit-down guests.
This new location solves the capacity problem, and apps Foodora and DoorDash — UberEATS coming soon — deal with payment, hiring and dispatching drivers and even marketing. These apps are so smart, they expand and contract the delivery area based on demand and traffic.
“All Rocco and his team have to do is make the food,” says Quinto of executive chef and partner Rocco Agostino.
In fact, the advent of these apps means customers now demand a digital delivery service. “We have to be in that game now,” Quinto says.
In summer 2015, Libretto partnered with Porchetta & Co. to open A3 Napoli, a Neapolitan street food concept at this College St. location. Locals loved the mix of wood-fired pizza and treats such as pizza fritta and deep-fried meatballs.
The place did well, but the partners soon worried that it was taking focus away from the main brand. “At the end of the day, it wasn’t a Libretto,” Agostino says. They closed up shop, did some quick adaptations to the storefront, and opened this takeout and delivery location in March.
The original Libretto concept began just a few blocks away on Ossington Ave. in 2008, when the area was still heavily populated with car garages. Quinto, Agostino, Max Rimaldi and Jamie Cook all knew each other from the restaurant business, and for years talked about starting their own venture.
Three of the four were Italian and often visited Naples to eat what they considered the best pizza in the world. At that time, Quinto says, “pizza here was just ho-hum, there was nothing special about it.”
The partners brought in a Stefano Ferrara wood-burning oven and focused on authentic, high-quality ingredients — a wet dough, buffalo mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes. And instead of encouraging customers to build their own creations, chef Agostino curated the flavours with carefully designed pizzas, and unique salads and appetizers.
The formula worked, despite competitors making Neapolitan pizza who came into the market in later years. The company gradually grew its small chain across the city, and all are busy. The locations accept takeout orders, but delivery lingered as the last frontier.
Now, at this new space, orders ping in through apps — with a menu further curated by the team to reflect bestsellers and items that travel well — and takeout clients line up to grab pies. (It only takes a few minutes to prep and cook a wood-fired pizza. A personal size — the only size — Margherita goes for $15.)
The set-up is working so well the next plan is to duplicate this concept in other high-traffic neighbourhoods. All these successful entrepreneurs need is a bit of space, an oven, their food-focused staff and the Libretto name’s infamy. The apps will do the rest.