September 09, 2019

DatePublished: 09-09-2019 10:55:11

DateModified: 05-03-2023 05:05:01

There are approximately 73,000 pizzerias in the United States. Pretty much everywhere you go, pizza is pizza—dough, sauce, cheese and maybe some toppings. So how did one man create a pizza business where patrons are willing to wait up to four hours to get their order?

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Chris Bianco began selling pizza in the corner of a Phoenix grocer in 1987. The Bronx-born chef opened the now-famed Pizzeria Bianco in 1994.

His pizza has been rated the best in America by Every Day with Rachael Ray and Bon Appétit. Bianco earned the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2003. A favorite of New York Times food critic Ed Levine, Bianco's pizza has also received exuberant accolades from Oprah, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Epicurious, Men's Journaland GQ.

WHAT'S THE SECRET?

To understand how a person can take a favorite dish and turn it into a culinary phenomenon, look beyond the sauce. While a good recipe can help a chef make a great pizza, the most important ingredient to success may be mindset.

How does mindset lead to extraordinary performance? Business performance consulting firm Gap International established the Leveraging Genius Institute to answer this very question.

Research from the Leveraging Genius Institute shows that there is a kind of thinking behind great performance; success starts with mindset, not action. Gap International calls it a person's Genius, and maintains that everyone can discover his or her own. When a person's Genius is revealed, it can illuminate his or her source of success. And when a person's source of success is understood, it can be applied almost anywhere.

In Bianco's case, the Genius behind his standout pizza goes far beyond the ingredients.

NEVER REST AS “THE BEST"

Bianco would be more than justified in calling himself a "master" of pizza. Yet he only measures himself by the experience he gives customers in each moment.

In fact, the mindset goes further. Bianco adamantly denies he's “the best." He objects to the very concept. “Master?" he retorts. “I don't know any masters of anything."

He adds, “I had to burn a lot of pizzas to make good ones. Repetition has been the only secret, which is no secret. It only comes from doing it over and over and over."

Though it's safe to say Bianco has the pizza thing down, he says it doesn't stop there. "I learn still every day. We don't master things. I learned things from listening and from watching. I was never afraid to listen. I listened to a lot of people that struggled. I was fascinated by the struggle."

HUMBLE SERVANT

For Bianco, serving food has always been about more than filling someone's belly. For him, making food for others is a truly intimate act.

“I want every server that goes to your table and every chef that makes your meal to know that the food we make today will be inside another human being's body… My intention is to feed you and to feed your mind, body, soul and spirit with nothing but the best intention."

Bianco has taken one of the world’s most appreciated foods, and through his personal connection to his work has transformed pizza into something even more special. “I have the responsibility of you coming into my restaurant. We're in a relationship. My intention is to give my guests the greatest experience that they can have in the most sincere way," he says.

RELATIONSHIPS

For Bianco, developing mutually respectful relationships is one major key to a successful business—whether those relationships are with farmers, millers, sausage makers or the staff that works the door.

The benefits of community in Bianco's business model range from well-calibrated sourcing of ingredients, to a smoothly run “front of the house," to ease of big-picture decision-making.

“If you don't have a group that you can trust and empower," he says, “that can take on some of the learning and sift through it so you can ultimately make the decision with your gut, then you're cheating an experience."

As Bianco’s business grows, he is more committed than ever to building relationships. “I'm excited today about collaborating more and becoming more of a community," he says. “There's no separation in my business day when I go home. I do business with people that I love, and I love the people I do business with."

BIANCO'S GENIUS

Bianco's Genius is embedded in his larger purpose. It’s more than feeding his customers pizza. He's never satisfied that he's done his best; he continually strives to maximize his abilities and expand his possibilities. And the baseline to his approach in work and life is strong relationships that he never stops building.

As originally published in Forbes, by Jessica Dineen.