Support a Chef's Pop-up Pizzeria Dream

I’ve been fascinated with cooking ever since I was a child and I saw my Nonnie make scrambled eggs for the first time. She let me hold the spatula so I would think I was helping. I don’t know if she was aware, but she was helping me find my passion at a young age.

I come from a large Italian family and food has always been our love language. We’d celebrate St. Joseph’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve together every year. The group size ranging anywhere from 35-100+ people (did I mention it was a large family?). The three things I remember most about those gatherings were the loud music, the laughter, and most importantly the food shared with loved ones. “Mangia mangia” was the phrase most commonly uttered. I started cooking as a kid and began to take it more seriously in my teenage years, helping my dad shop for groceries and cook meals. My dad had worn many hats throughout his life, but for a while in his 30s he was a short order cook at a diner in lake county. Watching him cook us meals while I was growing up definitely influenced me.

I was about 9 years old the first time I made pizza, learning a dough recipe from Pete Spingola, a friend of my Poppie, Luigi Guido Vicino. Turns out my mother had saved that recipe and kept it in a junk drawer all those years, and I found it again when I was 19 (circa 2010). Every now and then I’d have small gatherings making pizzas to share with my friends and family, who encouraged me to stick with it. So it seemed cooking was the right path for me.

I have had a variety of jobs in the food industry over the last decade, and those have further shaped my passion and dedication to the craft.

I also took on a couple of jobs I didn’t enjoy in order to make ends meet before I finally got back into the culinary field. As the pandemic lockdown restrictions eased up I took baking and cooking classes at Santa Rosa junior college, and over the last 3 years I’ve worked in Sausalito, Tomales and Petaluma at a few restaurants making pizza. I’ve enjoyed those experiences, but I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I now feel it’s time to take the next step in my culinary journey and need a little help in getting there.

My previous trepidations stemmed from a fear of failing, but what has brought me here to ask for help in funding this dream is I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m no longer willing to settle. I’m less afraid of failure, I want to chase my passion, enjoy what I do, and be happy.

I’ve secured some of the equipment I need to get the ball rolling, but I still need a second oven and propane tank, some folding tables, a pop-up tent, and all of the permits and licenses required.

One day I hope to own and operate a successful brick and mortar pizzeria, but the first step on that trajectory is to launch a pop-up shop, setting up at farmers markets, breweries, wineries and community events.

Will you help me become my own boss, so I can achieve the goal of bringing honest, rustic, wicked good food, made with love by someone who cares to the community he lives in?

Thanks for reading this far and for considering helping. ✌❤️