The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Resident shows passion for pizza
On the most immediate level, pizza is a thriving business for Michael P. LaMarca.
The 39-year-old Mayfield Heights resident is the owner and CEO of Master Pizza Franchise Group LLC.
There are eight Master Pizza shops in Northeast Ohio, including one that opened in early January in Eastlake‘s Centennial Plaza on Vine Street. The other shops are in Mayfield Heights, Chagrin Falls, Twinsburg, Avon, Middleburg Heights, Strongsville and Medina
That number will jump to nine with the planned midMarch opening of the newest Master Pizza location at 34263 Center Ridge Road in North Ridgeville.
LaMarch said he and his family purchased the franchise in 2001 from its founder and original owner, Ken Petti.
Beyond the business con- sideration, LaMarca said, pizza has been his passion since he was 15 when he went to work at Gina’s Pizza in his hometown of Strongsville.
“I love pizza and the art of making it,” LaMarca said, smiling, during a lunch-hour conversation at the Eastlake shop.
LaMarca described the basic pizza made at his shops as “Cleveland-style, Midwest-style made in pans.” The most popular toppings are cheese, sausage and pepperoni. Customer tastes in 2018 vary so widely that Master Pizza currently has on its menu 22 speciality pizzas with toppings that range from bacon to beef, chicken, ham, spinach and artichoke hearts.
Other popular menu items are calzones, wings, salads and appetizers.
“While it’s always smart to stick to traditions and do what you do best, to succeed in this business today, you have to be willing to expand your boundaries,” LaMarca said.
The hottest newcomer on Master Pizza’s menu is the Detroit Red Top, a pizza made in a deep-dish pan and topped with crushed tomato sauce and double-cheese blend.
“We’re selling a ton of them,” LaMarca said. “It’s a different style pizza, more like a cake, with a crusty bottom and caramelized cheese on the sides of the crust.”
LaMarca makes no apologies for price points that are higher than those of the popular national pizza chains.
The base prices of pizza at Mater Pizza range from $7.99 for a six-cut to $25.99 for a full street. Toppings come in at $1.75 to $4.75 each, depending on the size of the pizza. .
“Our pizza may cost a few dollars more, but we only use high-end ingredients,” he said. “A pizza is only as good as the products that go into it.”
LaMarca’s passion for pizza has taken him all over this country and around the world as a contestant in pizza contests and as a demonstrator of pizza-making techniques. He is the current captain of the 60-member United States Pizza Team. Will Shaw, manager of the Master Pizza’s Eastlake shop, is a competing member of the U.S. Pizza Team, as well.
In January, LaMarca spent 12 days in Italy as a demonstrator. He’s been to the ancestral home of pizza many times and said Italian pizza makers have had their eyes opened by the work of U.S. pizza chefs.
“They’re learning we can make great pizza,” LaMarca said
LaMarca traveled to Shanghai, China, in 2016 to compete in the World Pizza Championships and took home a third-place award. He is a three-time winner of “Best Pizza in America” at the U.S. Pizza Team Trials and earned first place for non-traditional pizza at 2013 International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas.
“It’s super competitive at the professional level. Everyone wants bragging rights as the best pizza on the planet,” LaMarca said.
When he isn’t busy overseeing operations of the Master Pizza chain in Northeast Ohio or traveling widely to compete or learn more about making pizza, LaMarca makes the most of his free time at the Mayfield Village home he shares with his wife, Christina, and their daughters, Francesca and Sophia.