Interview with Ryan Maliszewski, CEO of Mozzeria, on the DC location’s opening day on Friday, September 4.

Alex: Hello, Ryan!

Ryan: Good to see you again, Alex! 

Alex: Yes, congratulations on the grand opening this past Friday.

Ryan: First deaf-owned, deaf-led business on H Street. And it’s a stone’s throw from Gallaudet University, it’s right there. So I have goosebumps, the incredible support from the community has been overwhelming. We’ve had lines around the block, and our online ordering system has blown up just from trying to keep up with demand. Our POS (Point of Sale) system has been flooded and we’ve had to wrangle it and hold for a while, which is a good problem to have! 

Alex: You don’t have in-person dining currently in DC, correct?

Ryan: Having pick up and walk up orders, plus having people dining in at the same time isn’t in our best interests in terms of controlling sanitization and deep cleaning spaces with the pandemic. So we’ll be doing dine-in services soon enough. Once we hit phase three and 75% or less dining capacity is permitted, we may experiment with a 50% capacity and see how that goes. This is a beautiful and big space, so we can afford to have distanced tables for our customers. We have a private dining room too, so we’re open to experimenting but we want to make sure that we’re very careful considering everything that’s going on in our environment. 

Alex: I know that Mozzeria has a really cool double pizza oven. How-- yes, it’s beautiful. Very shiny.

Ryan: I’m so proud of that. 

Ryan: It was delivered from Naples, Italy. It was made by hand. It was a three month journey during coronavirus. It went through customs and everything, but we made it. So, we must follow VPN, or Vera Pizza Napoletana certification, which is an old-world process involving every part of the process of making Neapolitan pizza. The Mozzeria in San Francisco is VPN #483. Russ and Melody Stein, the co-founders in San Francisco, have the first Deaf VPN certification there. The goal is to have that certification here in DC. 

Alex: Is this your first time operating a restaurant? 

Ryan: Yes! This is the first, but I want to be very clear that the co-founders and the CSD Social Venture Fund, who partnered in this effort. So while I have zero experience in this industry, I’m big on strategy, logistics, and operations to make sure that we can continue expanding to other locations too. We’re looking into that right now. 

Alex: How many employees do you have right now? 

Ryan: Right now we have eight, and I hired a ninth yesterday. The goal is to hire about three or four more in the next few weeks, and I feel the demand calls for that. We really need to keep up with this increasing demand. 

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Alex: I know that many deaf people have been to the Mozzeria location in San Francisco, the original location, so what will be the same between these locations, and what will be different?

Ryan: Well, between the locations, the food will be the same. At the San Francisco location there are some specialty items such as Peking Duck pizza with a hoisin sauce, which we don’t have here. But we both follow the core menu. Margherita pizza, D.O.P., Italian sausage, the Quattro pizza, those are all the same. Small plates like Mozzeria Bars, salads, our Bombolino dessert with an apple and lemon curd filling...I know you’re getting hungry already! But those are the similarities you can expect. Here in DC, we’re working on our own signature pizza, and we’re testing the waters to see what will really speak to the DC locals. That will be one difference. And, of course, we’re accessing a much bigger skilled talent pool here in DC since there’s a larger deaf community here. 

Alex: I have one more question for you. There was an announcement made about Austin, Texas two years ago, do you have an update on that? 

Ryan: Yes, that’s still on the table, we’re still pursuing that option. I know we’re all very excited about that, but a year and a half ago we felt that DC was better suited for this flagship location with its access to Gallaudet and the community. There’s a diverse community here on H Street and DC in general, so this location felt right. With that being said, we’re not only excited about the potential in Austin, but in other locations as well. So please keep it up with all of your support, love, and passion for our success and pizza! 

Take care!