Pizza Today -March 2023 - 10

CONVERSATION
Kenneth
MacFawn
Rad Pies
Williamsport, Maryland
Concept:
Rad Pies is a punk rock pizza
shop that pushes the limits
of pizza everyday. We have
a super positive working
environment with a goal of
making sure our customers
receive the best food possible
every time they visit us.
Pizza Style:
Rad Pies' radical pizzas are two
very different styles: Detroit
pan and a more traditional,
Neo-Neapolitan pie. Let's start
off with Detroit. It's incredibly
light, airy and crispy. The
reason? The dough. It's a 100%
hydrated dough made out of
a high-gluten, 00 flour. The
What's the biggest
challenge you are facing
in the business right
now and how are you
addressing it?
Labor. It's an interesting
time because of course
there's a labor shortage
right now, but at the same
time, there's a lot of new
equipment and technology
such as conveyor ovens,
dough dividers and ballers
We like your style. Tell us
about your branding.
We are looking for something
a little more punk rock, and edgy.
We grew up in the 80's and have
always liked the freedom and
10 / PIZZATODAY.COM / MARCH 2023
yeast is extremely minimal and
once it goes through its 24
hours of fermentation at room
temp, it's ready to par bake.
Our Detroits are 8x10 inches.
Now, onto the Neo-Neopolitan
pies. These are using the
same flour as above, but the
fermentation and hydration
are much different. These 62%
hydration doughs go through
a minimum of 48 hours of cold
fermentation. However, most
of the time, it's more like 72-96
hours. These are all 12 " whole
pies. We like to push the limit of
pizza. There's no topping that is
off limit. We encourage our staff
to be creative and constantly
push for new, innovative pies.
and even POS systems
with kiosks. Everyone
in our industry has an
opportunity to reinvent our
processes by utilizing these
new advancements. For
us, it's allowed us to have
consistency and efficiency
in products and processes,
which gives us the ability to
invest more in our employees
providing quality hours
and wages.
How have you been able to
capitalize on IPC wins in your
market?
When we returned from Vegas,
demand was so high, we ran out
of pizza dough at both locations
for a month. We've also been able
to hire top talent and are currently
in the process of opening our 2nd
Rad Pies location and building
out a custom food trailer. We will
be doing pop-ups and catering,
allowing us to introduce Rad Pies
nonsense of that era. We also try
to be as ridiculous as possible at
all times while also maintaining
the highest work ethic and
standards for our food.
to more people in our state and
beyond.
In Vegas we also won some
other awards; 3rd place in
sandwich, 11th in pan, and we also
won the whole Northeast in nontraditional
round pizza (beating
everyone in NYC, yeah that's
right!). Our whole menu has taken
off, especially our sandwiches,
served on our house made
baguettes.
What has been key for
you to perform well at
the International Pizza
Challenge?
Constantly checking
the market. Too often you
can get stuck in your same
four walls and not see for
yourself what everyone
else is doing. For us it is
necessary to meet and try
as much pizza as possible.
That definitely helped
us gain confidence in the
product we are putting
out.
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