A Quick Q&A with Michael Pitera, owner of Pizza a Modo Mio in Charleston, South Carolina
Concept:
We started out as a traditional New York pizzeria. Being from Brooklyn and Long Island I grew up with some amazing pizza. I had moved down to Charleston, South Carolina, in 2021 with my GF at the time and realized that pizza was not really a thing down here. I couldn’t find pizza by the slice, garlic knots and a lot of the regular menu items I would find at a NY pizzeria. I decided to open a food truck and drive around Charleston with now my fiancé to prove what was missing down here. A year after, I opened up my first brick and mortar and a year after that, I opened up my second location — which is an Italian bistro/pizzeria. We are now taking a different direction and turning into a SLICE house. I want to provide to my customers different styles of pizza and slices to really showcase pizza from around world.
Pizza Style:
We are a NY traditional style pizzeria. Our dough is at 67-percent hydration and is on a 48-hour fermentation. Currently we make round NY style, Sicilian, Grandma, Chicago cracker thin and gluten free. We use fresh ingredients and make everything in house.
What are the tenets of great pizza making for you?
LOVE…. You have to love what you do. For me it’s creating a memory that a customer might be missing. I like to see the reaction of my customers eating the pizza. When I watch that first bite they take, I look for the eyebrow raise! Not only that but, it’s important to use good quality ingredients and learn every day. I try to learn something new to be the best pizza maker I can be. Whether it’s talking with some of the industry’s master pizzaioli or just reading and learning the new trends of the business.
How has competing helped your pizza company?
It helped me in many ways. It shows my customers that I’m not just a pizza maker. I’m not just a “Dough Thrower”. I’m a chef that is learning and competing in many competitions to showcase and grow my skills. In turn, this will reflect the product I put out.
It has also helped me make many friends in the industry. To me, the competitions are a big networking event. I can work and meet with many pizzaioli from around the world and share the love of pizza with conversation or even hands-on demos. I just started the competitions in 2022, and I can honestly say that my skill level and thought process of this industry has changed for the better. I used to be a closed-minded traditional pizza maker from NY — thought everyone was my competitor and never shared my processes. By competing, it has taught me the love for pizza and the family it has in this industry.
How have you been able to build your clientele from food truck to brick and mortar?
Believe it or not that was the easy part. In Charleston, pizza was not a big focus for many people. BBQ and fried chicken are what the South is known for. I wanted to bring a level of pizza making that was missing to Charleston. By being able to drive all over Charleston I was able to meet with a lot of people and spread my pizza throughout places that might have never heard of me.
More on Pizza a Modo Mio.
Read more Conversations with pizzeria operators from around the U.S. in People & Pizzerias.
