Zack is the Owner and Operator of Revival Pizza Co., which strives to produce quality Neapolitan / New York style craft pizza. He trained with Leo Spizzirri in Chicago at the North American Pizza & Culinary Academy. Zack was born and raised in North Louisiana but he is challenging himself to bring a big city and outside perspective to his small town.
When asked what inspires him, Zack says, “It’s been my lifelong dream to open a pizzeria and spend the rest of my life making pizza and serving our community.” In 2020 he was pursuing his teaching degree and experiencing a mini midlife crisis. He was asking himself questions like: what have I accomplished? What’s my life look like in 10-20 years? Why am I not chasing my dreams? Finally in the spring of 2020, just as Covid fully ramped up, he decided it was time to put all his dreams into action and chase that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle dream of pizza. By doing this and chasing his dreams, Zack combined the mundane day to day with the excitement of pizza.
Zack loves to travel. Every time he travels anywhere his planning revolves around the local pizza and craft beer scene. He says he loves the romance of a wood fired oven, the intense attention to detail and focus it takes to cook with wood, and the social pedestal that pizza is put on. He has fond memories of spending birthday parties, end of year parties, awards ceremonies, special events, and all kinds of other functions gathered around a pizza.
Zack says the biggest obstacle he has faced is simply all the normal stresses of owning your own business. Such as hiring and training employees, bills, and overhead. The biggest thing he has had to overcome with the wood-fired oven and pizza making, is getting employees to understand the importance of details and focus it takes to produce quality pizza from the dough making process all the way through the cooking and serving process.
Despite the obstacles we all have. Zack says he genuinely loves coming to work each day. “The atmosphere we’ve created and executed each day is addictive and contagious. My faith in Christ is also a huge driver and reason for my desire to serve others, love others, and be a beacon of positivity and love in our community.”
Zack is a very motivated person. He gets a lot of his daily energy and forward movement from artists like Manchester Orchestra, Bear’s Den, Jean Michel Basquiat, Cy Twombley, Sigur Ros, Olafur Arnalds. In the big picture of inspiration, Zack says he draws from his parents and Nana. “Their unconditional love for me and others inspires me to do the same through the vehicle of owning a restaurant.”
A fun little twist Zack has made on the names of his pizzas is that all of the pizzas are named after pop culture and nostalgic references. For example, the Martha Rita, named in reference to A Handmaid’s Tale, is a red sauce base with fresh Grande ovoline mozzarella, whole sliced tomatoes, and fresh basil. It is the Revival Pizza Company’s ode to Margherita Pizza. “There is nothing more beautiful and sacred to me in the pizza world,” Zack says.
Revival Pizza Co is located in North Louisiana in a small town outside of Monroe called Sterlington. They opened March 9th 2021.
8707 Hwy 165
Sterlington, LA 71280
