WEBVTT - For the Love of Pizza 0:00:14.956 --> 0:00:15.396 Pushkin. 0:00:30.636 --> 0:00:33.796 My friend Katie made business cards for me because she 0:00:33.836 --> 0:00:35.676 knew that I was, you know, trying to figure out 0:00:35.716 --> 0:00:38.276 the next step, and she wanted to make sure that 0:00:38.316 --> 0:00:41.596 whatever was written on the business card as my job, 0:00:41.636 --> 0:00:43.956 as my career, was something that was true and honest. 0:00:44.276 --> 0:00:49.436 And so the card says Scott Wiener, pizza enthusiast. 0:00:48.996 --> 0:00:52.716 Scott Wiener enjoys pizza more than anyone I've ever met. 0:00:53.596 --> 0:00:55.956 For a long time, his love of pizza was just 0:00:56.036 --> 0:01:00.676 a hobby until he created his dream job, taking people 0:01:00.796 --> 0:01:03.916 on tours of pizza rhas across New York City. 0:01:04.596 --> 0:01:09.356 I had never run even a practice pizza tour. I'd 0:01:09.356 --> 0:01:12.356 never run any tour. I'd never been a tour guide. 0:01:12.996 --> 0:01:15.876 I had a license, and I knew I like to 0:01:15.876 --> 0:01:16.756 talk about pizza. 0:01:19.396 --> 0:01:23.116 On today's episode, what happens when you follow your passion 0:01:23.196 --> 0:01:29.396 to extraordinary lengths, and that passion is pizza. Quick disclaimer, 0:01:29.916 --> 0:01:36.156 this episode may make you very hungry. I'm maya shunker 0:01:36.396 --> 0:01:38.916 and this is a slight change of plans, a show 0:01:38.956 --> 0:01:41.356 about who we are and who we become in the 0:01:41.396 --> 0:01:56.036 face of a big change. On a recent trip to 0:01:56.076 --> 0:01:59.316 New York City, my friends suggested that instead of going 0:01:59.356 --> 0:02:01.996 out to dinner at a restaurant, we should take a 0:02:02.036 --> 0:02:05.756 pizza tasting tour instead. I didn't even know that was 0:02:05.796 --> 0:02:09.636 a thing. That any tour that involves food is clear 0:02:09.756 --> 0:02:13.596 yes in my books. Scott was our tour guide and 0:02:13.636 --> 0:02:15.956 he ushered us onto a bus that took us to 0:02:16.076 --> 0:02:20.116 three pizzerias across Manhattan. He taught us about the history 0:02:20.116 --> 0:02:22.876 of the restaurants and the origin stories of different types 0:02:22.876 --> 0:02:28.716 of pizzas, all as we scarfed down slice after slice. 0:02:28.756 --> 0:02:31.636 Scott also introduced us to the team of pizza makers 0:02:31.636 --> 0:02:36.076 behind the scenes. They're called pizza yolos. When I casually 0:02:36.116 --> 0:02:39.316 mentioned that I enjoy shredded mozzarella on my pizza more 0:02:39.356 --> 0:02:43.036 than the fancier fresh mozzarella slices, one of them made 0:02:43.076 --> 0:02:46.796 me a special pie on the spot and then lightly 0:02:46.876 --> 0:02:51.316 judged me for my preference. Scott called it the Maya Pia. 0:02:52.556 --> 0:02:56.996 I found Scott's passion for pizza so inspiring. I was 0:02:57.036 --> 0:03:01.196 watching someone in their element doing something they really really 0:03:01.236 --> 0:03:03.916 loved and they had found a way to make it 0:03:04.076 --> 0:03:08.236 their career. Many of our conversations on the show are 0:03:08.276 --> 0:03:12.796 about people face unexpected change. Today, I wanted to hear 0:03:12.836 --> 0:03:16.156 from someone who wasn't thrown a giant curveball, but who 0:03:16.196 --> 0:03:21.396 decided to throw one himself. Scott's enthusiasm for crust, sauce, 0:03:21.436 --> 0:03:24.796 and cheese goes way back in college when he was 0:03:24.836 --> 0:03:27.916 touring with his band. He was eating pizza in cities 0:03:27.996 --> 0:03:30.796 across the country, and he wanted a way to keep 0:03:30.836 --> 0:03:32.996 track of his reviews so that he could share them 0:03:33.116 --> 0:03:34.236 with his friends back home. 0:03:35.076 --> 0:03:37.956 I would report back, oh yeah, we went to this 0:03:37.996 --> 0:03:41.036 great pizzeria, or oh yeah, I was in North Carolina. 0:03:41.116 --> 0:03:43.516 We actually found this really cool New York style pizzeria. 0:03:43.956 --> 0:03:46.996 So it really became a joke that, oh, I should 0:03:47.036 --> 0:03:50.476 keep a pizza journal. And my friend Michelle took one 0:03:50.516 --> 0:03:54.236 of those empty journal books, like a sketchbook, and she 0:03:54.516 --> 0:03:58.316 took paint pens, and she wrote Scott's Pizza Journal, and 0:03:58.356 --> 0:04:00.996 then on the first page she wrote like a rubric 0:04:01.036 --> 0:04:04.396 for scoring the pizza. And then on every single page 0:04:04.436 --> 0:04:10.036 she wrote by hand, date, name of pizzeria, who was 0:04:10.036 --> 0:04:14.476 I with cost, you know, like by hand, every single 0:04:14.476 --> 0:04:15.076 one of them. 0:04:15.236 --> 0:04:17.396 Oh my gosh. Okay, So for folks who can't see 0:04:17.476 --> 0:04:20.276 it has adorable little drawings of pizzas on the cover. 0:04:20.956 --> 0:04:23.076 Yeah, these are all like stickers. She had a little 0:04:23.276 --> 0:04:25.836 I think it fell apart, but she created a little 0:04:26.436 --> 0:04:29.796 sticker satchel in the back of the notebook. 0:04:29.436 --> 0:04:31.596 So you can put like five stars four stars. 0:04:31.716 --> 0:04:34.316 Yeah, so it's funny that you say that because it 0:04:34.476 --> 0:04:37.436 wasn't a number of stars. And that's actually really significant 0:04:37.476 --> 0:04:41.796 because I'm far less interested in ranking pizzerias. I'm way 0:04:41.836 --> 0:04:44.596 more interested in the philosophy that all pizza has its 0:04:44.596 --> 0:04:47.156 place and that it really just turns into, well, what's 0:04:47.196 --> 0:04:49.756 the right situation for that pizza. So Michelle took that 0:04:49.796 --> 0:04:53.396 into account when she wrote the score sheet, which the 0:04:53.476 --> 0:04:57.476 lowest score is a little yellow smiley face, and the 0:04:57.556 --> 0:05:00.116 description she wrote is all pizza can at least make 0:05:00.156 --> 0:05:03.756 you smile, even when it's nothing special. That's the lowest rating. 0:05:04.596 --> 0:05:05.436 What are the other ones? 0:05:05.516 --> 0:05:07.476 And then we get a large happy face, which is 0:05:07.476 --> 0:05:10.076 some pizza makes you very happy than a gold star, 0:05:10.196 --> 0:05:12.796 which is the standard to which most pizza should be held. 0:05:14.436 --> 0:05:17.316 And then there's hearts, and that's some pizza you can 0:05:17.356 --> 0:05:21.476 fall in love with. So these are just different elements. 0:05:21.676 --> 0:05:22.556 That's kind of beautiful. 0:05:22.596 --> 0:05:24.916 I love it, Yeah, and it really I think this 0:05:25.036 --> 0:05:27.836 was a reflection on my personal philosophy. But it also 0:05:27.916 --> 0:05:31.916 really helped shape my philosophy even more because I was 0:05:31.956 --> 0:05:35.236 more interested in writing a commentary about what I was 0:05:35.236 --> 0:05:37.836 doing in my life that day at that moment. Who 0:05:37.916 --> 0:05:41.596 was I with? Oh, we're in Kansas City. We got 0:05:41.596 --> 0:05:45.476 a flat tire. Oh, I had this great milkshake, and 0:05:45.516 --> 0:05:47.996 we got this great pizza, which was good enough for today, 0:05:48.276 --> 0:05:50.716 but it wouldn't have been good if the sun was up. 0:05:50.716 --> 0:05:52.836 It was good as an after dark pizza. You know, 0:05:52.876 --> 0:05:58.396 Like the reviews are not so much qualitative reviews. They're 0:05:58.436 --> 0:06:00.596 really contextual stories. 0:06:01.316 --> 0:06:03.636 So you're revisiting parts of your life, like it's bringing 0:06:03.636 --> 0:06:06.516 you back, yeah, to things, the things you were going through. 0:06:06.756 --> 0:06:08.916 Can you, I mean, since you have the Pizza Journal 0:06:08.916 --> 0:06:11.716 with you, do you mind reading an excerpt for us? 0:06:11.796 --> 0:06:14.556 Can you give us a taste? Sorry, this whole interview 0:06:14.596 --> 0:06:20.636 will be peppered, peppered with lots of puns. Sorry slight 0:06:20.836 --> 0:06:21.756 change listeners. 0:06:22.236 --> 0:06:24.516 Look, if you don't like pizza puns, you don't have 0:06:24.556 --> 0:06:24.956 to listen. 0:06:24.996 --> 0:06:26.036 Actually, please still listen. 0:06:26.476 --> 0:06:29.756 O'm kidding. So I don't remember when this happened, but 0:06:29.796 --> 0:06:31.996 a while back I did go through the books, or 0:06:32.036 --> 0:06:34.676 a friend of mine did and kind of dog eared 0:06:34.756 --> 0:06:38.156 some of the best entries. So I have some from 0:06:38.236 --> 0:06:41.236 volume two because I have I think six or seven 0:06:41.316 --> 0:06:42.076 of these books. 0:06:42.636 --> 0:06:44.196 Does it have a pizza stain on it? Or is 0:06:44.196 --> 0:06:45.956 that coffee? Okay, there's something on there. 0:06:45.996 --> 0:06:47.596 This is definitely tomato sauce. 0:06:47.676 --> 0:06:49.396 Tomato sauce, Okay, no doubt. 0:06:49.436 --> 0:06:51.876 Okay, So let me read you this one. We'll see 0:06:51.916 --> 0:06:57.676 how it goes. This is Tuesday, August twenty. First, it 0:06:57.716 --> 0:07:00.356 looks like it was two thousand and six. Okay, So 0:07:01.396 --> 0:07:04.676 it's ten pm. It's in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and it's 0:07:04.676 --> 0:07:08.196 at a place called Gino's. I had a cheese pizza 0:07:08.236 --> 0:07:10.316 and I've given it a red star, and next to 0:07:10.356 --> 0:07:14.596 it it says a go to pie, especially at two am. Okay, 0:07:15.036 --> 0:07:20.156 So I just saw the first line. 0:07:21.116 --> 0:07:23.036 Dramatic reading, Scott, dramatic reading. 0:07:23.356 --> 0:07:26.756 Listen. I don't know if I've said it out loud recently, 0:07:26.996 --> 0:07:31.236 but I love pizza. This place reminds me of why 0:07:31.276 --> 0:07:35.516 I love quote average pizza reas ouch harsh. Gino's is 0:07:35.516 --> 0:07:39.596 pretty standard in that it's big, floppy, consistent across the pie. 0:07:40.636 --> 0:07:42.876 But it's a great example of a standard pie because 0:07:42.916 --> 0:07:45.996 it's so darn tasty. The sauce is just fruity enough 0:07:45.996 --> 0:07:49.556 to notice, and the cheese is sweet and tasty. As 0:07:49.596 --> 0:07:52.196 for the crust, it's nice and snappy in the center, 0:07:52.396 --> 0:07:56.036 but dobe and puffy at the cornichone. That's the edge crust. 0:07:57.076 --> 0:07:59.076 I was delighted to discover a good deal of my 0:07:59.116 --> 0:08:02.876 slice's sweetness in the crust. Between the texture, flavor, and 0:08:02.916 --> 0:08:05.836 location of Gino's, I would be delighted to happen upon 0:08:05.876 --> 0:08:08.236 it when in search of a slice. This isn't a 0:08:08.276 --> 0:08:11.876 delicate flavor blast, but it is just the right thing 0:08:12.076 --> 0:08:16.156 to satiate yourself when hunger strikes. 0:08:17.196 --> 0:08:17.956 That's great. 0:08:18.236 --> 0:08:20.236 This is more of like a hard review. 0:08:20.476 --> 0:08:23.396 Yeah, so after your time with these bands comes to 0:08:23.436 --> 0:08:25.996 an end, you did try your footing in a few 0:08:26.076 --> 0:08:28.676 other jobs. Do you mind setting the scene for me 0:08:28.756 --> 0:08:30.356 at this point in your life, like, what were you 0:08:30.436 --> 0:08:33.396 up to, where were you living, what were you craving 0:08:33.996 --> 0:08:36.276 that you weren't getting from the day job that you 0:08:36.316 --> 0:08:37.076 were in at the time. 0:08:38.116 --> 0:08:39.916 So I had a couple of different jobs at the 0:08:39.916 --> 0:08:42.836 same time. The main job was that I was the 0:08:42.876 --> 0:08:46.436 assistant Cultural Affairs coordinator for the City of Hoboken, New Jersey, 0:08:47.156 --> 0:08:50.436 and that town is this really cute one square mile town, 0:08:50.796 --> 0:08:54.156 super walkable, super flat. And we had a lot of 0:08:54.156 --> 0:08:57.796 cultural events happening in the city, so parades, concerts, a 0:08:57.836 --> 0:08:59.476 lot of concerts for little kids, because there were a 0:08:59.516 --> 0:09:01.836 lot of young families in that town. But I hated 0:09:01.836 --> 0:09:04.596 the atmosphere of working in a building where I'll never forget. 0:09:04.636 --> 0:09:07.116 It was on the anniversary of my first year working 0:09:07.156 --> 0:09:11.396 there that somebody came up from HR and they said, oh, hey, congratulations, 0:09:11.476 --> 0:09:15.196 it's your first anniversary here, only twenty four more years 0:09:15.236 --> 0:09:17.716 to go, and you can retire with your full pension. 0:09:18.316 --> 0:09:20.556 It was the most depressing thing I've ever heard, because 0:09:20.596 --> 0:09:24.796 I was twenty five, twenty six maybe, and while that 0:09:24.956 --> 0:09:27.396 was the first and only job I've ever had that 0:09:27.476 --> 0:09:32.036 had a steady paycheck and health benefits, it was the 0:09:32.036 --> 0:09:35.636 most depressing just because everybody in the building. I'll never forget. 0:09:36.236 --> 0:09:39.036 It's like on the office there's all these characters, you know, 0:09:39.116 --> 0:09:41.036 they all hate working there, and they all are getting 0:09:41.116 --> 0:09:43.116 up walking toward the door, so that exactly at five 0:09:43.116 --> 0:09:48.316 o'clock they're stepping across the threshold. Anyway, So I think 0:09:48.356 --> 0:09:51.356 it might have been the day or two after that 0:09:51.396 --> 0:09:55.116 first anniversary that I put in my two weeks notice. 0:09:55.156 --> 0:09:56.756 I didn't know what I wanted to do. I just 0:09:56.796 --> 0:09:58.716 knew I didn't want to do those things that I 0:09:58.756 --> 0:10:01.796 was currently doing. This is where I mean luck really 0:10:01.836 --> 0:10:04.076 brings it up here is I had the luxury of 0:10:04.156 --> 0:10:07.036 quitting that job because I was in a living situation 0:10:07.396 --> 0:10:11.516 that was rent free. And that living situation was that 0:10:11.596 --> 0:10:15.196 I was living aboard an old, decommissioned Ellis Island ferry 0:10:15.196 --> 0:10:19.676 boat where I was working part time as their caretaker, 0:10:20.516 --> 0:10:22.596 which meant that I could live on board for free 0:10:22.956 --> 0:10:25.476 in exchange for doing about twenty hours of work every 0:10:25.476 --> 0:10:29.036 week like scraping, painting, cleaning. And I had taken that 0:10:29.116 --> 0:10:31.276 job because I wanted to live close to where I worked, 0:10:31.476 --> 0:10:34.476 but I could not afford to live in Hoboken even 0:10:34.476 --> 0:10:37.116 though I worked for the city, so I was living 0:10:37.156 --> 0:10:40.116 sort of off grid. We didn't really have electricity, we 0:10:40.196 --> 0:10:43.716 definitely didn't have internet. And I just knew that I 0:10:43.756 --> 0:10:46.196 had a free place to live, so I could quit 0:10:46.196 --> 0:10:48.516 the job because I had a little bit of a cushion. 0:10:48.756 --> 0:10:51.716 So I quit the job and I told myself, I said, 0:10:52.156 --> 0:10:55.836 you got six months. I'll give you six months before 0:10:55.916 --> 0:10:57.796 you have to start applying for more jobs. But I 0:10:57.796 --> 0:11:01.916 figured with six months of letting my mind not concentrate 0:11:01.996 --> 0:11:05.396 on a career, I knew I would find some kind 0:11:05.396 --> 0:11:06.436 of a path that I'd go on. 0:11:07.436 --> 0:11:11.116 And so how did the Pizza's a tour company idea 0:11:11.236 --> 0:11:11.916 come into being? 0:11:12.396 --> 0:11:15.756 Yeah, So during that six months that I gave myself 0:11:15.796 --> 0:11:19.076 to just go on my mental quest to find my 0:11:19.116 --> 0:11:21.796 next career, I didn't know what job I wanted to do, 0:11:21.876 --> 0:11:24.596 but I knew that I loved visiting pizzerias and writing 0:11:24.596 --> 0:11:27.396 about them in my pizza journal. So I started taking 0:11:27.396 --> 0:11:29.596 my friends on little adventures to go to the Bronx 0:11:29.636 --> 0:11:32.196 to visit six pizzerias in a day, or go to 0:11:32.196 --> 0:11:36.076 Brooklyn and visit those L and B Spomoni Gardens and Totono's. 0:11:36.236 --> 0:11:39.956 So I started going on these little adventures, and maybe 0:11:39.956 --> 0:11:43.156 two or three months into that break from work was 0:11:43.156 --> 0:11:46.876 my birthday. It was my twenty sixth birthday. Every year, 0:11:47.436 --> 0:11:50.756 to celebrate my birthday, which is by the way, in October, 0:11:50.836 --> 0:11:54.196 which is National Pizza Month, we always celebrate my birthday 0:11:54.316 --> 0:11:59.356 aka scott Toberfest by doing very important. We always celebrate 0:11:59.396 --> 0:12:03.716 it by doing an educational experience. So one year, we 0:12:03.756 --> 0:12:08.836 did a brewery tour in Pennsylvania. Like museum, it's always educational. 0:12:08.916 --> 0:12:10.916 I'm not in the going to bars really. 0:12:11.156 --> 0:12:12.996 Yeah, but this was even before the pizza thing. Like 0:12:13.036 --> 0:12:15.436 you always made your birthday an educational experience. 0:12:15.676 --> 0:12:19.636 Scott Toberfest is to be celebrated by learning. So that's 0:12:19.636 --> 0:12:22.316 why for the birthday, I said, oh, well, everybody wants 0:12:22.316 --> 0:12:24.476 to go on these pizza crawls with me. Let's just 0:12:24.516 --> 0:12:27.356 rent a school bus. We'll pack all my friends and 0:12:27.396 --> 0:12:29.916 family who want to go. I'll give the driver a 0:12:29.956 --> 0:12:32.116 map of where I want them to take us, and 0:12:32.156 --> 0:12:34.756 we'll just hit up cool spots. I'll bring my megaphone 0:12:35.556 --> 0:12:38.276 and I'll give everybody a little pizza lecture on the bus. 0:12:38.796 --> 0:12:40.396 Still have the megaphone, you do? 0:12:41.396 --> 0:12:42.476 I love the megaphone. 0:12:42.556 --> 0:12:46.436 It's funny. I found there's a video on YouTube of 0:12:46.836 --> 0:12:49.236 that birthday crawl and you can see me like making 0:12:49.276 --> 0:12:52.196 announcements in the megaphone, just saying stuff about, oh, this 0:12:52.236 --> 0:12:54.036 place uses a coal fired oven. 0:12:54.116 --> 0:12:59.076 There with beautiful glows, with delicious fresh mazilla. 0:12:59.876 --> 0:13:01.676 They import all their ingredients from Italy. 0:13:02.796 --> 0:13:04.476 I want you to taste it. You'll know what the deli 0:13:04.596 --> 0:13:06.596 is and I gave everybody a little goodie bag with 0:13:06.676 --> 0:13:11.476 a notebook, a pen, some care and pallet cleansers. You know, 0:13:11.516 --> 0:13:13.356 I wanted it to feel like a real fun adventure. 0:13:13.436 --> 0:13:16.756 And it was so fun this pizza crawl that at 0:13:16.756 --> 0:13:18.676 the end of the day, my friends all knew that 0:13:18.716 --> 0:13:20.836 I had just quit the job. They knew that I 0:13:20.916 --> 0:13:23.996 was on my vision quest. They were like, this was 0:13:24.076 --> 0:13:28.196 so fun. You got to do this for random strangers. 0:13:28.196 --> 0:13:31.156 You're going to sell tickets. This is your new career. 0:13:31.996 --> 0:13:35.116 My friend Katie made business cards for me because she 0:13:35.156 --> 0:13:36.916 wanted to make sure that whatever was written on the 0:13:36.916 --> 0:13:40.396 business card as my job, as my career, was something 0:13:40.436 --> 0:13:42.916 that was true and honest. She knew that whatever I 0:13:42.956 --> 0:13:45.996 ended up doing, I would always at my heart be 0:13:46.276 --> 0:13:50.116 a pizza enthusiast. And so the card says my name 0:13:50.156 --> 0:13:53.796 on top, it says Scott Wiener, pizza Enthusiast, and it 0:13:53.876 --> 0:13:57.876 had my hotmail email address, and it had my phone number. 0:13:58.436 --> 0:14:01.516 And that was her birthday present to me. And she 0:14:01.556 --> 0:14:04.796 didn't write pizza expert, pizza connoisseur. She knew that I 0:14:04.876 --> 0:14:08.556 wasn't into that sort of elevated talk that a pizza 0:14:08.676 --> 0:14:11.396 enthusias you can never take that away from somebody. 0:14:13.036 --> 0:14:15.076 We'll be back in a moment with a slight change 0:14:15.076 --> 0:14:17.716 of plans, and if you feel the need to order 0:14:17.756 --> 0:14:20.196 a pizza at this point, you've got at least a 0:14:20.276 --> 0:14:30.156 minute to make that happen. After months of weighing his options, 0:14:30.396 --> 0:14:33.996 Scott eventually pulled together a business plan to start a 0:14:34.036 --> 0:14:37.556 pizza tour company. His first step was to find an 0:14:37.636 --> 0:14:40.156 actual pizza place that he could partner with and bring 0:14:40.196 --> 0:14:43.596 people to on his tour. He managed to convince the 0:14:43.676 --> 0:14:47.596 owners of Lombardi's, a classic New York City pizza joint 0:14:48.036 --> 0:14:50.596 that's also one of the oldest in the country, and 0:14:50.636 --> 0:14:52.916 he's still not sure why they said yes. 0:14:53.636 --> 0:14:56.396 I have no idea, because I never would have said 0:14:56.476 --> 0:14:59.036 yes to myself. I was living on a boat. I 0:14:59.156 --> 0:15:02.076 probably hadn't showered. I'm sure I was wearing a sweater 0:15:02.116 --> 0:15:04.756 with holes in it. I bet I hadn't shaven in months. 0:15:05.196 --> 0:15:07.756 You know, when you're going to pitch a business to somebody, 0:15:08.156 --> 0:15:10.636 you clean up and dress nice. I was not in 0:15:10.716 --> 0:15:15.476 that mode. So I think maybe because nobody ever approached 0:15:15.476 --> 0:15:17.956 them about that sort of thing. You know, like you're 0:15:17.996 --> 0:15:21.276 a restaurant, you're there to sell food, that's your business. 0:15:21.636 --> 0:15:24.556 But you also have a great story. But you can't 0:15:24.636 --> 0:15:27.036 waste too much time in your business telling that story 0:15:27.196 --> 0:15:29.396 because it could get in the way of selling the 0:15:29.396 --> 0:15:32.036 food and paying your rent. So I pitched to them 0:15:32.076 --> 0:15:34.316 this idea of filling in the blanks. I'm gonna bring 0:15:34.356 --> 0:15:37.516 people in maybe thirty minutes before you open to the public. 0:15:37.876 --> 0:15:39.836 I'm just gonna show them around and point out what's 0:15:39.876 --> 0:15:44.236 so special that a normal customer would never see. And 0:15:44.276 --> 0:15:46.316 then we're gonna sit down and eat. And it's going 0:15:46.396 --> 0:15:48.836 to be a way of shepherding people through an experience 0:15:49.156 --> 0:15:52.276 that doesn't start and end with the food. It takes 0:15:52.316 --> 0:15:56.676 into account the entire context, the story, the family, the 0:15:56.716 --> 0:15:59.996 people behind the food, and the equipment behind the food. 0:16:00.636 --> 0:16:02.316 Where at the end of the day, you're not going 0:16:02.396 --> 0:16:04.396 to be able to just say, oh, that pizza was 0:16:04.436 --> 0:16:06.876 a five out of ten or something. You're gonna have 0:16:06.916 --> 0:16:10.756 a better appreciation for what the place represents more than 0:16:10.916 --> 0:16:13.516 just selling a disk of dough, sauce and cheese. 0:16:14.236 --> 0:16:16.676 Yeah. And then when it's said with the infectious energy 0:16:16.756 --> 0:16:19.236 of Scott Wiener, I guess it gets the job done 0:16:19.396 --> 0:16:20.916 because I've met you in first and I've done your 0:16:20.916 --> 0:16:23.836 pizza tour, and I fell more in love with pizza 0:16:24.036 --> 0:16:28.076 throughout the evening, So I understand. So Scott, can you 0:16:28.116 --> 0:16:30.316 bring me back to the first day in which you 0:16:30.396 --> 0:16:33.156 opened your business? So what's it called? What's the scene? 0:16:33.556 --> 0:16:35.556 How many people have signed up for your bus tour? 0:16:35.836 --> 0:16:37.516 I want to know all the details. Just bring me 0:16:37.556 --> 0:16:38.676 back to that morning. 0:16:38.876 --> 0:16:41.436 April twenty seventh, two thousand and eight. 0:16:42.556 --> 0:16:43.916 Okay, what's your business called? 0:16:44.356 --> 0:16:47.516 Scott's Pizza Tours. Let me just start by saying the 0:16:47.556 --> 0:16:52.396 reason that I picked that name was a I was 0:16:52.436 --> 0:16:54.236 the only person who is running the tours. 0:16:54.676 --> 0:16:57.476 So that's a fine way, Scott or bust everyone. 0:16:57.716 --> 0:17:01.076 Yeah and b I wanted people to understand that it 0:17:01.156 --> 0:17:05.236 was my perspective. So this is not something called famous 0:17:05.236 --> 0:17:08.636 Original New York Pizza Tours Incorporated. I didn't want it 0:17:08.676 --> 0:17:12.036 to have this generic thing that assumed itself to have 0:17:12.076 --> 0:17:14.956 any kind of expertise. I wanted to be clear that 0:17:15.036 --> 0:17:18.716 this is a perspective. This is my perspective, Scott's Pizza Tours. 0:17:18.716 --> 0:17:20.956 So there's a humility in that title, like that's what 0:17:20.996 --> 0:17:22.876 you're trying to convey. I'm not trying to be an 0:17:22.876 --> 0:17:25.076 expert here. I'm not trying to tell I'm not trying 0:17:25.116 --> 0:17:28.236 to prescribe to people what they should like. It's just 0:17:28.316 --> 0:17:29.636 my point of view, is that right? 0:17:29.836 --> 0:17:31.996 Yeah, And it's funny because I actually think when you 0:17:32.076 --> 0:17:34.556 name a business after yourself, it feels like the opposite 0:17:34.556 --> 0:17:39.276 of humility. But my intention was to let people know, hey, hey, hey, 0:17:39.316 --> 0:17:41.676 this is just my you know, because I knew people 0:17:41.676 --> 0:17:43.956 were going to come at me on it. Hey, I've 0:17:43.996 --> 0:17:46.396 been eating pizza longer than you've been alive. Hey, you're 0:17:46.436 --> 0:17:48.756 not even Italian, you know. I knew I would get that, 0:17:48.836 --> 0:17:51.436 and I knew that I had to maintain that. Okay, 0:17:51.556 --> 0:17:53.996 this is just my perspective. I want to make sure 0:17:53.996 --> 0:17:55.596 you know that. So that's on day one. That was 0:17:55.636 --> 0:17:58.236 what it was called Scott's Pizza Tours. The whole plan 0:17:58.356 --> 0:18:00.796 was to use a yellow school bus and to go 0:18:00.836 --> 0:18:03.076 out on Sundays. So this is where I'm not a 0:18:03.156 --> 0:18:06.716 good business person. A school bus has a lot of overhead. 0:18:06.756 --> 0:18:08.996 You've got to rent the buzz okay, the driver. If 0:18:09.236 --> 0:18:11.956 it started as a normal tour operator, I would have 0:18:11.956 --> 0:18:14.756 done a walking tour, which has almost no overhead. So 0:18:14.836 --> 0:18:17.196 I said yellow school bus because when I was a 0:18:17.276 --> 0:18:19.356 kid I always walked to school. I never got to 0:18:19.436 --> 0:18:21.956 ride the bus, but I would see that on TV shows. 0:18:22.356 --> 0:18:24.636 So whenever we had the bus, the yellow school bus, 0:18:24.716 --> 0:18:26.956 it was to go on a field trip. So I 0:18:26.996 --> 0:18:30.316 have this association with a yellow school bus and escape 0:18:30.676 --> 0:18:34.476 from school building but still like learning something kind of cool, 0:18:34.756 --> 0:18:37.956 so yellow school bus. Nice. Twenty five people signed. 0:18:37.756 --> 0:18:39.716 Up, and that was just word of mouth or were 0:18:39.756 --> 0:18:41.596 you doing any marketing emails? 0:18:41.676 --> 0:18:44.316 I sent emails to all my friends and family. Everybody 0:18:44.356 --> 0:18:46.996 who signed up was somebody I knew, or who knew 0:18:47.036 --> 0:18:50.756 somebody I knew. Also from being in bands, I knew that, oh, 0:18:50.796 --> 0:18:53.596 you got to send out press releases. See if somebody's 0:18:53.636 --> 0:18:57.116 going to review your record or preview your show or whatever. 0:18:57.356 --> 0:19:00.076 Interesting, so you leverage the skill that you had built 0:19:00.076 --> 0:19:00.796 as a musician. 0:19:01.196 --> 0:19:04.476 Exactly, I sent out press releases. I remember waking up 0:19:04.476 --> 0:19:07.036 on the boat and I got a call from somebody 0:19:07.036 --> 0:19:09.476 from New York Daily News and they said, we got 0:19:09.476 --> 0:19:12.076 your press release and we want to show up and 0:19:12.116 --> 0:19:13.196 cover the tour today. 0:19:13.596 --> 0:19:13.916 Wow. 0:19:14.396 --> 0:19:18.396 I was horrified, and my initial response was, no, this 0:19:18.436 --> 0:19:18.796 is your. 0:19:18.716 --> 0:19:20.796 First day open that the New York dealis wanted to 0:19:20.796 --> 0:19:23.436 come and be on the Okay, Wow, so. 0:19:24.196 --> 0:19:26.556 Okay, Maya, I have to just make sure that the 0:19:26.556 --> 0:19:30.316 picture is very clear. I had never run even a 0:19:30.436 --> 0:19:33.996 practice pizza tour. I had done the birthday thing with 0:19:34.036 --> 0:19:36.876 my friends, but I'd never run a pizza tour. I'd 0:19:36.876 --> 0:19:40.476 never run any tour. I'd never been a tour guide. 0:19:40.556 --> 0:19:43.436 I had a license, and I knew I like to 0:19:43.436 --> 0:19:46.276 talk about pizza. But I knew that on that day 0:19:46.676 --> 0:19:47.356 I was a fool. 0:19:47.476 --> 0:19:51.676 My gosh, Scott, I love it. Actually, I could talk 0:19:51.716 --> 0:19:53.756 about living on the edge. This is great. 0:19:54.196 --> 0:19:56.876 Yeah, I think I said no right away. I know 0:19:56.956 --> 0:19:58.916 what was going on in my head, which was, I 0:19:58.956 --> 0:20:01.636 don't know, it's my first time doing this, I've never 0:20:01.676 --> 0:20:06.116 done it. If it's awful, it's gonna be awful forever, 0:20:06.156 --> 0:20:08.196 and it's gonna get this coverage. I just thought, no, 0:20:08.436 --> 0:20:10.796 don't do it. Let me get better. But then I 0:20:10.836 --> 0:20:12.676 realized that it was kind of the same thing that 0:20:12.796 --> 0:20:15.076 held me back for a few months after my friends 0:20:15.156 --> 0:20:16.996 told me, oh, you should do a pizza tour as 0:20:16.996 --> 0:20:20.276 a business, and I just figured in that moment, wait, 0:20:20.356 --> 0:20:22.836 this is the opportunity. I'm just going to make a 0:20:23.036 --> 0:20:24.996 rule for myself that I'm not going to say no 0:20:25.196 --> 0:20:29.236 to anything that, just say yes and then make it happen, 0:20:29.396 --> 0:20:32.116 just make it work. So I said yes. They showed 0:20:32.156 --> 0:20:36.956 up with a photographer and the journalist, and I remember 0:20:37.036 --> 0:20:39.876 I set up the tables inside. Lombardi's was our first stop. 0:20:40.116 --> 0:20:42.596 And the way the tour worked is I had all 0:20:42.636 --> 0:20:45.476 the tables set up because I made everybody a goodie bag, 0:20:45.796 --> 0:20:48.356 just like at my birthday party, and I put them 0:20:48.356 --> 0:20:50.716 out on the tables and I went outside to meet 0:20:50.756 --> 0:20:53.516 everybody and I said, Hey, everybody, welcome, and I just 0:20:53.636 --> 0:20:56.476 the second before I stepped out, I remember I reminded 0:20:56.476 --> 0:20:59.316 myself that I've never done this before. I don't know 0:20:59.316 --> 0:21:00.996 what the heck I'm I about to talk about. And 0:21:01.036 --> 0:21:03.316 I kind of said to myself, like, I'll see you 0:21:03.356 --> 0:21:06.396 in four and a half hours. Good luck, you know, 0:21:06.756 --> 0:21:09.876