Opportunity Leads Pizzeria Owners To Italy, Pizza Contest

By Kendra Bobowick

Removing the leavened and powder-dusted lump of dough, pizzeria owner Marcio “Santos” Dos Santos deftly and quickly kneads it into a flattened and round shape. Proving elastic and resilient, the stretched dough’s edges shrink back toward its center as Mr Santos’s firm fingertips forced the lump to take on the shape of a pizza crust. He hopes to take his kitchen expertise to a contest in Orlando, Fla., in September.

Anchovies and olives, pepperoni, plain or extra cheese, pizza is a way of life that has already earned Mr Santos and wife Elizabeth Siemon, owners of Franco’s Pizza & Pasta in Sand Hill Plaza, a trip to Salsomaggiore, Italy, courtesy of the History Channel.

The pizzeria owners, both Brazilian, first learned of a contest through PMQ (Pizza Marketing Quarterly) Magazine, which announced the History Channel’s upcoming program (in 2005), Rome: Engineering an Empire. Outlined in the magazine were consumer offers that were redeemable at participating pizzerias including Franco’s, which made them eligible for a trip to Italy.

“We got a call from the History Channel, we had won,” said Ms Siemon.

In the spring of 2005 the couple visited cheese and pasta factories, tourist attractions, and enjoyed their one-week stay courtesy of the History Channel.

And like the eatery owners they are, Ms Siemon laughed and said, “We got together and talked about food, we talked about pizza, we ate a lot.”

Mr Santos hopes to participate in the Orlando competition in September — this time putting his techniques to the test.

Ms Siemon explained that her husband was considering the dough contests to see who could stretch the fastest, and stretch the dough into the largest diameter, she explained.

Last week, Mr Santos demonstrated his skills with a mound of dough, lifted the stretched form off the counter and gently rotated and supported it with his fists as the dough’s own weight and swirling force stretched it as far as it would go.

Without warning he dropped to his knees and placed the dough, now resembling a pizza, on the floor explaining, “They will measure it like this,” he said, pointing and drawing his finger diagonally across the dough.

Ms Siemon explained that she has already sent in the registration forms for her husband, although the couple is concerned about their business.

“It’s hard to get away, you know, when you have a restaurant,” she said.

Selecting certain categories for Classic Pizza, Largest Pizza, and Fastest Dough Opener, Mr Santos said he will try to go.

Who Kneads It?

Dough can be deceiving, the couple agreed.

Ms Siemon said, “It can’t be too thin or too thick.”

Speaking form experience Mr Santos said, “Dough has a lot of secrets.” He notes that the combination of water and yeast must be carefully balanced.  Mr Santos’s experience in the industry started 13 years ago, he said. He had worked for the Criscuolo family, which owns numerous pizza shops in Fairfield County, said Ms Siemon.

“After ten years, we tried it on our own,” she said, and opened their pizzeria three years ago. The couple, along with the Criscuolos who are close friends, travel to Italy annually for vacation.

Out of nostalgia, one of the restaurant’s dishes is named after the Criscuolos.

Another item on the menu remembers Mr Santos’s grandmother in Brazil.

“He learned to make pasta fagioli from watching his grandmother, he got his ideas when he saw her cooking,” she said.