On the House: Scratch Salad Dressings

Long before he opened his pizzeria more than 21 years ago, Satchel Raye was a self-described picky eater who did not like salad. Today, he says, “People drive two and a half hours for the salad” at Satchel’s Pizza in Gainesville, Florida. The credit, he says, goes to the balsamic vinaigrette dressing Raye’s wife developed for her finicky husband decades ago.

While margins are notoriously tight in the restaurant business, Raye says spending more on quality ingredients to create a house-made salad dressing is a calculated investment. “If the customer comes in and has the best salad they’ve ever had, it’s going to make their whole experience better,” Raye says. “We only do two things – pizza and salad – so we make sure we do both really well.”

For Michael “Rico” Richard, who owns a pizzeria in East Oakland, California, with his wife, Rachel Fenyves, house-made salad dressing recipes were part of the deal when they purchased Philomena Pizza in July 2019.

“All of the recipes were derived from the founder and a chef that he partnered with when he opened. They’re all made from scratch,” Rico says. “Our ranch dressing is super popular. We have people that will order a couple of pieces (of pizza), and they’ll order seven sides of ranch to go with it.”

The prep staff at Philomena also make house-made lemon-mustard vinaigrette, a classic Italian vinaigrette and blue cheese dressing. Rico says 20 quarts of ranch dressing “might last a few days” at Philomena, while the lemon mustard vinaigrette is made in 8-quart batches and might last a week.

Always Fully Dressed

Raye says he can always tell a first-time customer at Satchel’s Pizza when they are waiting for the main course but don’t have a salad in front of them. In these cases, he will bring a small side salad, knowing that the customer will order one next time.

Inspired by the Columbia Restaurant in Tampa, where the “1905 Salad” is made tableside, Raye serves The Satch Salad fully dressed with a sprinkle of almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts or pecans and freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese, which Raye buys by the wheel.

“We always dress it just right,” he says, adding that Satchel’s Secret Salad Dressing is made with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard and a custom blend of herbs and spices.

Having the word “secret” in the name, he says, adds to the mystique, and the recipe is shared only among a trusted few staffers. The Satchel’s Pizza employee who makes the dressing will celebrate 20 years at the pizzeria in March. “He makes the dressing in 10-gallon batches, and sometimes he’ll have to make 20 gallons a day because we also bottle it up and sell it,” Raye says. “We bottle it up right there with the funnels.”

After adding a “Satchel’s Secret Salad Dressing” sticker and a cap, a heat gun is used to shrink the cap seal. “We had the dressing tested early on to make sure it was shelf stable … and then we set it on the shelf, and it just sells.”

Raye has had to raise the price on his “secret” dressing a few times over the years; he now charges $10 for a 12-ounce bottle, and bottles are shipped across the country.

Pride in Product

At Philomena Pizza, Rico also reserves prep work for his most long-time, trusted staffers. One of the cons of making salad dressing in-house, he says, is the time it takes. Rico estimates prep staff spend five hours a week making dressing.

“It’s usually one of four people that are consistently making it, and they’ve been making it for years,” he says. But regardless of the time or costs that go into a house-made dressing, Rico says he would never switch to buying pre-made dressing.

“That word, ‘scratch’ – or ‘in-house,’ ‘made from scratch’ – those terms give my staff a lot of pride, and it’s what we stand behind. It makes us unique to a lot of other places,” Rico says. “I would be ashamed, honestly, at this point to say, ‘Yeah, we don’t make our dressing anymore.’ I wouldn’t want to be here anymore if I had to say that. Same with the sauces.”

Philomena Pizza makes its own marinara sauce for pizza and Bolognese sauce, which is used in its lasagna. The pizzeria also sells jars of its house-made ranch. Since starting with an 8-ounce glass jar that sold for $5, Rico recently switched to a food-grade polycarbonate jar he plans to sell for $3.75.

“It’s 30 cents versus $1 for me (to buy the jars), so I can keep the price point low,” he says, adding that a 2.75-ounce ramekin sells for $1, and he wanted to offer a bulk discount. “Some people are ordering six or seven sides, but it’s a lot of waste, and it’s not very convenient in those small containers.”

Rico says offering jars also saves time in staff having to fill tiny to-go containers with ranch. “There’s some convenience for us. There’s a lot of convenience for the customer,” he says.

The ranch dressing at Philomena Pizza is made with buttermilk and fresh herbs, and the house-made blue cheese dressing has the same base with blue cheese added. Prep staff add the ingredients to a food-grade production tub and use an immersion blender to create consistency in the product.

“It’s a little bit more items that you have to shop for when you’re placing your order with a vendor for the base ingredients, but in the end, I think it’s cheaper,” Rico adds. “It doesn’t take a lot of labor, and it’s really setting you apart and taking pride in what you’re offering your community.”

Kate Lavin is Senior Editor at Pizza Today.