Pizza Today - December 2015 - 40

Richardson says.
Others, however, prefer to leverage
those most impacted by new product
offering: kitchen staff. At Slyce, a fiveyear old pizzeria located in Wauconda,
Illinois, ownership entrusts new menu
items -- always in the form of specials --
to kitchen point man Mike McElwee.
"He's our go-to guy and it gives him a
chance to showcase his creativity," Slyce
marketing director Jason Vucic says of
McElwee.
At Denver Deep Dish, McGovern
knows when to lead and when to step
aside. He's hands-on when it comes to
creating a new pizza, working alongside
kitchen staff to develop any new pie, but
defers to kitchen staff - albeit with some
defined guidelines -- on other items,
such as a recently launched line of housemade desserts.
"Pizza's my wheelhouse, but the
kitchen guys have great ideas to offer, so
you want to utilize that," he says.
Danny Bendas of Synergy Restaurant
Consultants, meanwhile, has seen some
restaurants leverage staff creativity by
running an employee contest to create
new items.
"This often sparks real interest and
leads to some compelling ideas," Bendas
says.
With the initial ideation in place,

it's then about investigating key elements
such as taste, ingredients, logistics and,
last but not least, cost.
"Above all, we want something we'll be
proud to put on the table and something
our team members can execute on a
consistent basis," Flippers' Richardson
says. "Cost is, of course, a factor, but that's
always something we can work on."
Bendas says sound operators are particularly sensitive to bringing in new raw
materials.
"There needs to be a balance of
creativity and calculated risk," Bendas
says, adding that independents must be
careful about trying to be everything to
everybody. "That's the death knell. As
compelling as a lobster pizza might seem,
offering that dish in a small Midwestern
4 0 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

town isn't terribly likely to fly."
Before moving the breakfast pizza onto
the menu at Denver Deep Dish, McGovern asked himself three questions: Can
we execute it on the line while maintaining our overall quality? Do the food costs
line up? And can we make a dollar off it?
While he had to bring in eggs and cilantro, the kitchen held every other ingredient. Staff, meanwhile, showed a quick
aptitude for making the new product and
embraced it, as did customers.
Still, though, McGovern resisted the
urge to rush the intriguing product onto
the regular menu without fully vetting
various elements.
"You don't want to lose sight of what
you're doing and your overall goals," he
says. "Take some time and sleep on it."
Similarly, Richardson says Flippers
avoids hasty decisions.
"We only shift our menu once a year
and we want to be deliberate," he says.
"When you rush, mistakes are more
likely."
Bendas calls a patient and mindful
R&D approach critical for independent
restaurants that lack the research heft of
their corporate counterparts.
"When adding a new menu item, it's
about staying true to your brand, listening to your team and measuring the
results," Bendas says.
When a new product is rolled out,

oftentimes as a special to test consumer
interest, sales and profitability remain a
top gauge of product's success. After all,
money talks.
"Ultimately, the market will tell you,"
Richardson confirms.
Yet, operators should be careful about
judging a potential product's viability on
sales alone.
McGovern looks to his employees for
perspective. If employees order the product themselves or ask if the special will
return, McGovern sees that as a positive
sign of employee buy-in.
"When employees are gung-ho about
a product, it's almost always a success,"
he says.
Bendas urges operators to listen to

the operational perspectives of management and kitchen staff as well as to solicit
direct customer feedback with intentional
table touches, specifically regarding intent
to reorder.
"Sales and cost of goods are important,
but so, too, are operations, marketing and
a product's fit with your brand," Bendas
says, further advising operators to avoid
discounting a potential new product for
trial purposes. "You always want the item
to stand on its own legs." n
Chicago-based writer DANIEL P. SMITH has
covered business issues and best practices for
a variety of trade publications, newspapers,
and magazines.

Why the growing
Flippers Pizzeria chain
eschews an off-site
test kitchen
Rather than a sterile test kitchen in some
distant office complex, Flippers Pizzeria
has used the kitchen in its Lake Buena
Vista, Florida, location as its official R&D
lab since that store's 2008 opening.
The 14-unit chain's biggest -- and busiest
-- store, the 3,300-square foot space
functions as the company's training and
development headquarters and hosts
the company's operations team. When
creating and testing any new product's
viability, Flippers' leadership team heads
directly into the eatery's working kitchen
to trial a product with the people and
conditions commonplace in its stores.
"We could conceptualize new products in
a controlled off-site environment under
perfect conditions, but restaurants are
not perfect environments and we want
to be fully engaged with the process,"
Flippers vice president of operations Ben
Richardson says. "We need to make sure
any new product can be executed with
quality and consistency, particularly at a
high-volume store. If not, then it won't
make the cut."

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Pizza Today - December 2015

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