LOS ANGELES Pitfire Pizza Co., like to describe their Northern California-inspired artisan-pizza chain as an overnight success 10 years in the making. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
With a fourth unit scheduled to open in October, the fast-casual concept, which specializes in wood-oven-baked pizzas, pastas, salads and paninis, is averaging $1.8 million per unit in less than 3,000 square feet. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
At a time when the vast majority of restaurant companies across the country are reporting negative sales, Pitfire Pizza is up about 13 percent over the prior year, Hibler said—an accomplishment considering the chain does no advertising and offers no promotional discounts or coupons. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
With Pitfire Pizza, Hibler and Sanfield have carved out a niche in the fast-casual segment—they prefer the term “convenient casual”—that is decidedly more upscale, borrowing much from the fine-dining world. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Their efforts have struck a chord. Cash-strapped consumers that may once have been inclined to high-end, white-tablecloth dinners are now standing in line at Pitfire to order thin-crust pizzas with braised chard, smoked prosciutto and an egg baked on top for less than $10, or organic soft-serve vanilla ice cream drizzled with high-quality olive oil and salt for $4. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Getting to this point, however, has not been without challenges, Hibler said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Both Hibler and Sanfield have foodservice backgrounds. Hibler grew up working in his family’s Northern California restaurant, The Hatch Cover, before attending Stanford University on a football scholarship. Sanfield, a chef, got his start at the San Francisco restaurant Donatello’s, then cooked at other eateries around the city, such as Rings, Fog City Diner and Cha Cha Cha. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Pitfire Pizza began in 1996 as a grilled-pizza concept, an idea that was born out of Hibler and Sanfield’s successful catering company, DeLuxe Motion Picture Catering, which primarily served Hollywood events and movie production sites around the country. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
The first Pitfire Pizza opened in the San Fernando Valley’s North Hollywood featuring grilled pizza to rave reviews. Soon, the operators of the Universal Studios Citywalk nearby asked to license a second location there. Not long after, developers of a mall in Puente Hills, Calif., a working-class area of east Los Angeles County, came calling, offering $250,000 in TI, or tenant improvement, money. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
They were seduced by the attention, Hibler said, but it was a terrible mistake. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
“We got hot without really understanding who we are and what we were doing,” he said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
“Or understanding who our demographic was,” Sanfield added. “Puente Hills definitely wasn’t our demographic.” —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Within a year, they bought out the Puente Hills unit, taking a huge loss. It was a move that was possible only because of the catering company keeping them afloat, Hibler said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
That year, after struggling to train the licensed operators at Citywalk, they also realized that a grilled-pizza operation was “not scaleable,” Sanfield said. “We couldn’t burn grills all day.” —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
The Citywalk location had a seven-year contract, however, and, when it was over, they ended it. But for years they suffered as they watched the operators “cheapen” their concept, they said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Meanwhile Hibler and Sanfield decided to convert the original location to artisan-style, woodoven-baked pizza. They consulted with a master baker to formulate the ideal dough for what the two had in mind: a crust that was neither New York-style nor Neopolitan, but more like those found in the rustic wine-country eateries of Northern California, Hibler said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
It was a style of pizza that requires “an enormous amount of focus, effort and dedication,” Sanfield said. “Most people aren’t willing to do that.” —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
The result is a dough that is thin and crisp, but tender to the bite while still strong enough to hold the filling without flopping over when a slice is picked up, he said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
The switch from grilled to wood-fired pizzas was seamless, Hibler said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
“Nobody even said, ‘Where’s the grill?’” he said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Over the next few years, Pitfire Pizza evolved into what Sanfield describes as the only fast-casual concept that serves “slow food.” —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
It helped that Los Angeles was engulfed in an artisan pizza craze that included the wildly popular Mozza Pizzeria developed by Nancy Silverton with Mario Batali and countless others—none, however, offer the upscale quality of pizza served at Pitfire at such a low price point in a fast-casual setting. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Still, fearing the pizza wave would eventually crest, Hibler and Sanfield broadened Pitfire’s menu to include nonpizza options that would prove to be as much of a draw. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Pastas, for example, ranging from $8.75 to $10.25, include bowtie with fennel sausage, sautéed kale, a touch of cream and Parmesan; or linguini with clams, bacon, tomato, oregano and parsley. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Salads, ranging from $5.50 to $11, include a roast chicken with wild arugula, butter lettuce, pickled currents, toasted pine nuts, shaved scallions and croutons—a nod to the famous version at Zuni Café in San Francisco—or a tuna niçoise with green beans, eggs, tomato and balsamic vinaigrette. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Desserts include massive cupcakes and the proprietary soft-serve vanilla ice cream, made by Strauss Family Dairy, for which topping options also include Scharffen Berger chocolate sauce or a caramel sauce and salt. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
The units have the feel of neighborhood bistros with order-at-the-counter service, speedy table delivery and no tip required. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Families are made comfortable with kid-friendly touches, such as a lump of raw pizza dough to play with while parents enjoy their wine and flat-screen televisions. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Produce for the restaurants is locally grown, picked up twice weekly from the Santa Monica farmers markets. The wines, served by the glass and bottle, and beers are largely from boutique vineyards and breweries and are priced at about one-third the typical mark up, Sanfield said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
In April, the partners over-hauled the menu to amp it up even more. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Removed from the menu were top sellers, such as a barbecue-chicken salad, because the item is ubiquitous in the city. Added were small-serving starters, such as flatbread with ricotta topped with house-dried tomatoes, tapenade, pine nuts, fresh herbs and olive oil for $6; and Tuscan bean soup with pesto, Asiago cheese and croutons for $5.50. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Overall, prices were raised about 10 percent this year, which contributed to this year’s sales increase. The average check is about $15 with alcohol at dinner and $12 to $13 at lunch. The price increase, however, appears to have boosted traffic, Sanfield said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
“The prices were too low for people to really ‘get it’ before,” he said. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Hired to help tweak the menu as a consultant was fine-dining chef Mark Gold, formerly of the Patina Restaurant Group and known for his work in the kitchens of the group’s Leatherby’s Café Rouge, Water Grill and Patina. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Gold, who in September is opening his own value-positioned fine-dining restaurant in Los Angeles called Eva, said his mission at Pitfire was to “take great product and keep it simple.” —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
The challenge was that “the level of cooks they have in the kitchen is different from fine dining,” he said. “You have to create recipes they can reproduce…and they’re doing 200 dishes in an hour and a half.” —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Pitfire Pizza now has units open in downtown Los Angeles and Westwood. The fourth, what the two envision as a new prototype, is scheduled to open in mid-October in the Venice Beach area in a former Shakey’s Pizza location. It will feature a large outdoor patio with an edible garden, plenty of parking and a separate lounge to encourage lingering. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Hibler said it has helped that they have avoided mall locations, which have been hit hard throughout the recession, and instead chosen “off-Broadway” business districts close to, but not in, high-volume commercial areas. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
After they open a fifth location, Hibler and Sanfield said, they would begin looking for a strategic partner to grow the chain further. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
The two do not plan to franchise. They express admiration for multi-concept operators who have successfully multiplied artisan concepts, such as the Los Angeles-based Hillstone Restaurant Group, operator of Houston’s, Bandera and R&D Kitchen; and Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Fox Restaurant Concepts, operators of Olive & Ivy, Sauce and True Food. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
The partners still have an interest in the catering company, and they are also operating partners of The Edison, a bar and entertainment venue in downtown Los Angeles. —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
Meanwhile, Hibler and Sanfield are already at work on the development of a new concept, which they will only describe as something “revolutionary” and “Latin.” —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based
They’re not done tinkering with Pitfire, either, Hibler said. “We’re constantly raising the bar.” —Paul Hibler and David Sanfield, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based