It was about a year and a half ago that I (Ariane) had to give up on writing a blog. So many things change so rapidly at Pizza Carrello, it started to become impossible to make time to write, let alone process the string of changes that evolved around us. 

One thing's for sure, we've been working around the clock since the last time we checked in... long long ago. Here's a brief synopsis of some highlights that we thought you might like to know, or we'd at least like to brag about!

We won a freakin' award! The "Entrepreneur of the Year" award by the Campbell County Chamber of Commerce! We were flabbergasted when the envelope was opened and they read our names, and though that was back in 2012, we're still amazed and completely honored! 

Rachel and I own the company! We bought out our business partner and dug in our heels, Rachel took the plunge, quit her job and we have been pushing, reinvesting, and reinventing our business ever since. 

We have hired some of the greatest people on the planet, who have become like a pizza family to us. We are so proud of them and what they offer our customers that we are working day and night to better their wages, give them benefits, and offer them educational and professional development opportunities that we are hoping will keep them around for a long time and let them know how much we truly appreciate their commitment and dedication to providing the best pizza we can possibly make.

We found a home, and by the way we have a little pizzeria inside of a micro-brewery! Yeah, that happened, it's crazy, and it's working! The Gillette Brewing Company is renting a space to us that allows us to be open regardless of weather conditions, which means that we are now open 7 days a week! We are so excited to be a part of another company's beginning and we're excited to see where this crazy adventure goes next! 

We got another oven, and it's pretty darned cute. It's a lot smaller than our first one, and there are things we love, and things we'd love to change about it, but it's doing a good job at the brewery. We will have to make some modifications to it to in order to make it our own, and those ought to be a lot of fun!

We're reviving this blog, like gently breathing life into a smoldering pile of kindling, we're going to get this fire going! I am really excited to share all of the cool things I've learned over the last year and a half about cooking in wood-ovens, and I'm all ready to share the joy. Check back for features on all kinds of cuisine outside of the pizza realm and from within as well. I've been busy, and now it's time to write about it. 

So come an' get it, HOT OFF THE PEEL!

It's not everyday that we get to make pizza for rock stars, but when the occasion does come, we really enjoy it! We had the great pleasure of making pizza for Sophie B. Hawkins, Gigi Gaston and the band. Actually, we fed them TWICE! Once before the performance, and again after the show was over. It was an amazing performance that included some Janis Joplin covers that made us stop making pizzas long enough to turn around to make sure Janis hadn't come back from the dead! What a great night at the Donkey Creek Festival! Sophie said she had heard about us on the plane ride into town from a complete stranger who recommended us, then from two other people before she even got to the restaurant. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

The next day at the Festival we battled 103 degree heat with no breeze, in front of the oven it was easily 110, but our new Pizziolos handled it very well! A pizzaiolo is a pizza artist, and we have a few new ones. There's our newest addition, Nathan, he's a firemaster extraordinaire who comes with a culinary degree from Sheridan College and a zest for wood-fired oven cooking. Then we have the amazing pizza making machines Monika and Steve Yount, a dynamic duo who have taken on all kinds of extra tasks and have been extremely flexible as we find our feet and learn how to adapt to a much larger team. Kevin Kauffman has become the ultimate in customer service, finding ways to create efficiency, he's always thinking about ways we can improve. We also have the great pleasure and privilege to call Herb Kalenberg our employee. He comes with over a decade of culinary and kitchen experience and he is an absolute pleasure to work with. He has already made himself indispensable. But wait, there's more! We also have Sara and Aaron, a young couple who help out a couple of days a week and keep our energy up with their vibrant youthful spirits. We really honestly feel that we have put together a super team, WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE! These people are changing Pizza Carrello in such positive ways that we feel we cannot thank them enough. To our new team members: You guys are the best, and we are so lucky to have you and your talents helping us create something truly great for our entire community. 

This weekend while looking for fresh basil, our executive chef was inspired by some flats of blueberries that were looking extra scrumptious, so we bought them and some whipped cream and made dessert pizzas. They were such a hit, we're thinking of offering them all of the time. Try one while we experiment this week and let us know what you think!