“LADY ZAZA” — Italian red sauce, house-made kimchi

“LADY ZAZA” — Italian
red sauce, house-made
kimchi, Korean sausage,
serrano peppers,
scallions, sesame &
soy chili glaze
6 0 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / A U G U S T 2 0 1 4
NN KIM
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A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / 6 1
Life is too short.
Let’s do something
that brings us joy.
6 2 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / A U G U S T 2 0 1 4
The oven perches on its supports
smack in the middle of the building. Central to the business as
the sun is to the solar system, its
magnificence is the clear and
uncontested focal point. By
design, everything surrounding
it intentionally draws the eye to
its shiny copper casing. Even the
tract lighting overhead radiates
out from the oven and into the
dining room and kitchen like rays
that quietly display the significance of the centerpiece. At this
altar, the art of pizza is practiced.
The craft is respected by workman and customer alike, and the
resulting relationship is a thing
of beauty.
When Ann Kim opened
Pizzeria Lola in Minneapolis
in 2010, she envisioned an
environment that fostered a
symbiotical relationship between
the business and its employees
as well as between the business
and its customers. In short, she
wanted everyone to feel at home.
She wanted community and
collaboration to collide in a way
that created a unique atmosphere
and celebrated the pizza as well
as the people behind it.
Her success is evident: Pizzeria
Lola topped $3.1 million in
sales last year, making it one of
the highest-grossing single-unit
pizzerias in the nation. Who
knew a Korean immigrant and
Ivy League graduate who turned
away from what surely would
have been a successful career as
an attorney would one day grace
our cover as the Independent
of the Year? Perhaps no one is
more surprised than Kim herself,
who — like so many of us —
originally had other ideas as
to where their lives would lead
them.
THE CAMERA LEVELS ITS LENS
AT KIM AND ART DIRECTOR
JOSH KEOWN SAYS, “OKAY, HERE
WE GO.” THIS WRITER ASKS A
QUESTION AND THEN SHE’S OFF.
Her speech articulate and her
thoughts intelligent and thoughtprovoking, Kim runs through
the video for PizzaToday.com
effortlessly. We get what we need
in one take and move on to the
photo session. Josh asks her how
she managed to be so smooth
with the video camera right in her
face. Kim discloses that she was
an actress prior to entering the
pizza trade.
Acting wasn’t exactly the career
her parents had envisioned for
her when they brought Kim to
the United States when she was
four years old. And they sure
didn’t leave their home country
and head to America for their
daughter to work in a restaurant.
Truth is, she did not expect to
find herself making pizza for a
living, either. Yet, here she is.
“My plan was to pursue
an acting career,” says Kim.
“My parents had a different
idea. Their plan was for me
to go to law school. And, so,
shortly after graduating (from
Columbia University in New
York) I worked in a law firm.
I wanted to see if that was the
kind of lifestyle I wanted and
realized I didn’t, so I decided I
was not going to go that path. I
moved back to Minnesota with
every intention of pursuing an
acting career. Minneapolis has a
thriving theatre community that
I was really interested in. My
parents were not happy about
that in the least, as you could say.
Like most immigrant parents,
when you come to the United
TOP: Lola’s patio.
BOTTOM: The oven, as
seen from the dining
room, is the heart of it all.
A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / 6 3
States you dream of better things
for your children and acting is not
one of those things that you think is
going to be lucrative. It was not their
idea of a good future.”
Acting did in fact provide Kim
with a future for nearly a decade,
however. And when the “art became
a job” she realized that she needed to
find a new profession.
Around the same time, the
economy had soured and Kim’s
boyfriend — now her husband —
lost his job as a financial analyst.
That’s when Kim said, “Life is too
short. Let’s do something that brings
us joy.”
And that’s how Pizzeria Lola
(named after Kim’s dog) was born.
MANY AMERICANS WAX
POETICALLY ABOUT ONE DAY
OWNING A RESTAURANT. KIM WAS NO
DIFFERENT. BUT, WHAT MADE HER
THINK IT WOULD WORK?
“Basically, I love to cook,” she
explains. “Growing up it was sort of a
natural thing. I watched my mother
and grandmother cook and learned
from them. I developed my palate
from them. So even though I didn’t
have any professional training, I felt
like my background prepared me for
a restaurant. And my husband was
like, ‘You can do this. I believe in you.
You are the best investment I could
possibly make.’”
Still, they were putting their entire
savings into the venture. As Kim says,
the duo “really threw caution to the
wind and went for it.” With a risk like
that, there’s only one chance to get it
right. What made Kim think pizza
would be the way to go?
“I have no professional culinary
background,” she explains. “I’d never
even waited tables. I came from zero
experience. Because of that, I decided
I needed to focus on one thing and
do it really well. For me, having lived
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in New York for several years, one
thing I had missed was great pizza.
In the Midwest there wasn’t a lot to
choose from and no one was really
doing what I thought we could be
doing with pizza. And so I thought: I
miss it, I love it, I want to eat it ... but
it’s not here. Well, if it’s not here, I’m
going to make it.”
THAT’S A SIMPLIFICATION THAT
MAKES PIZZERIA LOLA’S SUCCESS
STORY SOUND EASY. But the fact
of the matter is that one does not
simply decide to make great pizza and
then open to overwhelming fanfare
the next day. If Kim were going to
pull this off, she was going to have
to educate herself fast. She began by
reading everything she could get her
hands on, from magazines to recipe
books.
“I began experimenting with
dough recipes,” says Kim. “Because
for me the foundation of all great
pizza is great crust. So I started
reading artisan bread baking books,
because I felt like great pizza crust
was really just great bread.”
To that end, Kim follows in the
footsteps of many French artisan
bread bakers and uses a poolish as
a starter at Pizzeria Lola. A poolish
is a wet, spongy pre-ferment that
yields a greatly developed flavor in the
finished baked product. Though not
common in today’s pizza scene due
to the attention a poolish demands,
Kim saw no other way. She was going
to make her crust the best it could
possibly be at all costs. But perfecting
it took trial and error.
“I started working in my home
kitchen, just having pizza nights
and having friends come over to try
various recipes. I realized that I really
loved doing it and that I was really
coming on to something.”
But there’s a substantial difference
between a skilled home cook and
a professional, artisan pizza maker.
Kim realized she needed to continue
digging deeper if she were going
to make pizza on a large scale.
That’s when she learned about Tony
Gemignani’s International School
of Pizza in San Francisco. Initially
hesitant about whether the school
was legitimate, she first called Tony
before making a decision on whether
she should attend. Satisfied he knew
what he was talking about after
having a conversation with him, Kim
was soon on a plane to California.
For his part, Gemignani recalls
Kim as an astute pupil, one who was
very serious about learning the craft.
What impressed him the most, he
says, was her intentions to be true to
artisan baking.
“She knew from the beginning
that she wanted to do something
unique with the dough,” he says.
“She is really bringing something
different to the Midwest.”
IN THE BEGINNING, KIM WANTED
TO TAKE A MORE TRADITIONAL
AMERICAN APPROACH. In fact, she
was going for somewhat of a middle
ground between two iconic styles.
“Originally, I was thinking I
wanted to do sort of an East-coast
inspired coal-fired pizzeria,” she
says, “because when I first started
thinking about this back in 2008 I
went back to New York and then
back to New Haven, Connecticut.
My husband went to school at Yale
and, for him, the best type of pizza
was what you find at Pepe’s and
Sally’s and Modern.”
But, then, an epiphany occurred in
San Francisco.
“I watched Tony cook out of his
wood-fired oven,” explains Kim, “and
I just fell in love with it. There’s so
much beauty in cooking something
Top Left: House-made
soft-serve ice cream
with extra-virgin olive oil.
Top Right: Ann Kim topping
her Lady ZaZa pizza.
Bottom Left: “The
Sunnyside” features
La Quercia guanciale,
pecorino, cream, leeks &
two organic eggs cracked
sunnyside up.
Bottom Right: Kim
manages the oven.
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Margherita Pizza —
Italian red sauce,
fresh mozz, olive oil
& fresh basil.
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in a wood-fired oven. It’s so visceral
and gorgeous. It’s something people
have been doing since the beginning
of time. I loved that. And so that’s
when I started to change my focus
a little and when I decided that I
wanted to open up a wood-fired
pizzeria.”
As her plan evolved, Kim decided
she did not want to create a
Neapolitan pizza. Instead, she wanted
to “create sort of a hybrid that might
be similar to what you find at Pepe’s,
but with my twist and coming out of
a wood-fired oven. So it’s sort of the
best of both worlds.”
KIM HAD NO IDEA WHAT SHE WAS
IN FOR WHEN LOLA OPENED. WOULD
CUSTOMERS EMBRACE THE PRODUCT?
WOULD SHE SURVIVE THE GRIND
that destroys so many others? Was
she prepared for the life of a small,
independent restaurant owner?
She claims her background as a
thespian proved to be more useful
than one might imagine.
“Acting in a lot of ways did prepare
me for what I’m doing now,” reasons
Kim. “In a lot of ways as a restaurant
owner you are up on a stage. And
when you are acting on stage in
front of a live audience, anything can
happen and you have to be able to go
with the flow.”
Early on Kim had to learn on
the fly. She handled any and every
task from cleaning kitchen exhaust
systems to fixing clogged toilets. She
promised herself that when Pizzeria
Lola became profitable it would share
those rewards with employees in
some way, such as by offering them
health insurance and paying them a
higher minimum wage. This was real
talk, not lip service. As employees
and customers saw how genuine Kim
was about making their experience
a meaningful one, a cult following
ensued. One of Kim’s ideas — to
place a photo booth in the restaurant
— quickly paid off. Soon quirky
photo strips of customers having fun
at Pizzeria Lola began lining a dining
room wall. With no marketing budget
and no fancy adwork, the word
was nonetheless out: Pizzeria Lola
is a great place to hang out. More
importantly, it’s an even better place
to eat.
And that’s where the true success
story begins, because for Kim it’s
really all about being great by virtue
of serving a great product.
“One of the biggest things I
learned from Tony when I was
with him in San Francisco is that
he’s never satisfied,” she says. “He’s
always looking to be better, to achieve
something greater. He’s always
looking to learn more. And for me it’s
the same philosophy. It’s about trying
to always achieve greatness. And to
achieve greatness means you don’t
settle. There’s always more you can
learn. When you say ‘We’re the best.’
Then that’s when you should close
up shop. There are always things you
can finesse. That’s how you can stay
around and one day be a restaurant
that becomes iconic versus one that’s
around for five years. And that’s my
dream — to be a restaurant that
outlives me. I would love to one day
be considered like a Pepe’s of the
Midwest. That would be a dream
come true. It’s about the passion and
the craft and the artform of pizza.”
THE MENU AT PIZZERIA LOLA IS
REFLECTIVE OF KIM’S AMBITIONS. It
reaches the masses with pepperoni, but
specialties like “The Forager” and “The
Xerxes” draw attention from foodies.
The Forager pizza features crimini,
shiitake and portabello mushrooms
along with taleggio, fontina, tarragon
and truffle oil. The Xerxes is made
with sautéed spinach, sheep’s milk
feta cheese, mozzarella, Kalamata
olives and almonds.
Kim likes to focus on locally
available, seasonable products. It’s the
kind of commitment that she believes
her customers have come to expect.
And her kitchen staff stays motivated
by the seasonal changes, she adds.
Still, two of her major mainstays are
inspired by her Korean heritage and
have drawn rave reviews from online
bloggers and critics.
The “Lady ZaZa” (pictured on
pages 60-61) is crafted with an
Italian red sauce, house-made kimchi,
Korean sausage, serrano peppers,
scallions, sesame and soy chili glaze.
Then there’s the “Korean BBQ”,
which showcases Niman Ranch
beef short ribs, mozzarella, scallions,
arugula, sesame and soy-chili
vinaigrette.
Another wildly popular pizza
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Lola antipasto plate: a
selection of cured meats,
cheese, nuts, olives &
crostini.
6 8 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / A U G U S T 2 0 1 4
Hello Pizza is the sister
restaurant to Pizzeria Lola.
Owner Ann Kim recognized that
the unique vibe at Lola would
make it difficult to grow, but
she also knew it would not be
easy to keep many of her key
employees around without
advancement opportunities.
Since she was a fan of New
York-style pizza and Minneapolis
seemed to be lacking a proper
slice joint, Hello Pizza was born.
“We’re looking into expansion
opportunities for Hello Pizza
right now,” she says. “That only
happens when I feel like I’ve
got the leadership in place and
people who are committed to
us and share our collaborative
philosophy.”
Hello Pizza offers delivery and
quick-order items in a counterservice setting. But don’t let that
fool you. Nearly everything, like
at Pizzeria Lola, is made
in-house.
“Hello Pizza is a very different
model,” says Kim. “I harkened
back to my original idea,
which was East Coast-style
pizza cooked on a deck oven.
It’s more about quick service.
It’s about being able to serve
food that is consistent, hot,
fast and professional. And
that’s something that we can
replicate.”
A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / 6 9
Left: A large take out order
is prepared.
Right: Korean BBQ pizza
with Niman Ranch beef
short ribs, mozzarella,
scallions, argula, sesame &
soy-chili vinaigrette.
— pictured on page 65 — is “The
Sunnyside.” This customer favorite is
topped with La Quercia guanciale,
pecorino, cream, leeks and two
organic eggs sunnyside up.
The food served at Pizzeria Lola
is house-made with great care, says
Kim. Everything from meatballs to
dressings and sauces to croutons are
made in-house. Locally produced
cured meats are sliced on site as well.
“We don’t cut any corners,” says
Kim. “And people appreciate that.
That’s why there’s a demand for it.”
One particularly interesting
twist comes from the dessert menu.
Kim says that since pizza is already
filling, her experience tells her
most customers don’t want to order
decadent cakes or dessert pizzas
after their meal. To satisfy those
who do have a sweet tooth, Pizzeria
Lola offers house-made, soft-serve
ice cream topped with extra-virgin
7 0 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / A U G U S T 2 0 1 4
olive oil and salt. Other options
include house-made caramel sauce
or chocolate-covered cacao nibs. The
pizzeria also bakes fresh cookies every
day and the do-it-yourself ice cream
sandwich is a hit.
IT ALL COMES OUT OF THE OVEN
THAT SERVES AS THE PIZZERIA’S
BURNING BEACON. Kim admits that,
initially, she was hesitant to let the
piece of equipment steal the spotlight.
“It was really our architect’s idea,”
she says. “He really thinks outside the
box. He had never really designed a
restaurant before. I would consider
him more of an artist, and he takes
a really humanistic approach to his
design. He wanted to use all the light
and open space to show the humanity
of what a restaurant is and to expose
what it is that we do. And so it was
his idea to make it the focal point. He
drew out the design and said ‘We’re
going to put the oven right here.’”
That was perhaps a little too
unconventional for Kim.
“At first I said, ‘Oh no. That’s
ridiculous. It’s insane. How can
we do that?’ But my husband was
like, ‘That’s brilliant. We’re gonna
do that,’” says Kim. “It took a little
coaxing, but it was the best decision
we could have ever made. And that’s
when everything was designed around
the oven, from the kitchen to the
dining space to the bar. Everything
was centered around it.”
While the oven gets the glory,
there’s another design feature in the
restaurant that gets people talking —
the light fixtures.
“We made the lights out of recycled
tomato cans and that is probably
our second-most talked about
architectural piece,” Kim says. “Out
of necessity, sometimes, comes great
design. We had to be as creative as
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Top: Photo-booth pics on
the dining room wall.
Bottom Left: Roasted
cauliflower app.
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Your next customer
could possibly be
your customer
for life.
possible. Some people have millions
of dollars to spend. We had to be
creative and create something that
was unique to us.”
THAT MEANT BUILDING A UNIQUE
CULTURE WHERE EVERYONE FELT LIKE
FAMILY.
“When I was envisioning my dream
restaurant it was all about evoking
community. I wanted a place where
people came not only to dine for
sustenance, but to create memories.
For me it’s not so much about making
money. Obviously I wanted to make
enough to pay the bills and pay the
loans, but for me it was more about
feeling like it was an extension of my
home. If I was going to be here every
day, I wanted regular customers that
felt like friends.”
And that’s why Kim told the
architect she wanted to make room
for the photo booth.
“That has become the third thing
people really talk about here. Come
eat pizza, have ice cream, get your
picture taken in the photo booth and
hang your photo on the walls. It’s an
integral part of what we do.”
WHEN THE RESTAURANT OPENED,
KIM WAS WORRIED SHE HAD TOO
MUCH SPACE ON HER HANDS. Then
Pizzeria Lola became the beneficiary
of positive review after positive
review in national publications. Now
she has long waits on the weekends,
sometimes up to two hours.
“I wish we had double the space,”
she says. “Every day we get new
customers. I kept thinking, ‘Some day
it’s got to end, right?’ But it hasn’t.
People keep coming. And not just
from the neighborhood or the city.
They come from across the river and
from hours away to eat here.”
The positive press only brings
in the customer once, however. It’s
up to Kim and her staff to create an
experience and product that ensures
their return. Therein lies the trick, and
Pizzeria Lola has it all figured out.
“People often ask about the keys
to our success,” says Kim. “I think
it’s always about believing that your
next customer could possibly be your
customer for life.
“Our mission at Pizzeria Lola
is really simple. It’s a one-sentence
mission statement: To bring joy
through great pizza and inspired
hospitality. To me, that kind of says
it all.”
It’s not only about the food
at Lola. The service, says Kim, is
a crucial component to helping
customers experience joy within the
pizzeria’s four walls.
“All of our staff members
understand very well what our
philosophy is,” she says. “We treat
our guests like extended family
and we get probably just as many
compliments about our service as we
do about our food.”
Ann Kim with her
husband and partner
Conrad Leifur along with
Lola the dog.
for them,” says Kim. “We focus on
the philosophy that the restaurant
industry is an upward profession and a
noble profession. It’s not just a job. It’s
not just here to supplement other jobs.
This is something that is honorable
and to be respected. You can make a
profession out of this.
“We made a promise to ourselves
that once we started making a profit
we would start giving back to the
restaurant and the staff. Because to us
the staff is key to our success. They are
every bit as responsible for the success
of Pizzeria Lola as I am. As soon as
we started making profit we offered
health insurance to all of our fulltime employees, as well as a generous
401(k) plan with a company match.
We offer paid time off and bonuses
and all these great things to let them
know that this is a real profession that
you can have. For us, it’s all about the
people. We want these people to be
with us for a lifetime. We don’t want
to be training in new staff constantly.”
Jeremy White is editor-in-chief of Pizza
Today.
GETTING EMPLOYEES TO BUY IN
IS THE PLAGUE OF MANY PIZZERIA
OPERATORS. Not so at Lola.
“I think we change the perspective
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