Pizza Profiles: Sugar Shack Gives the Wudaokou Masses a Taste of Home
With voting in the first round of the 2015 Pizza Cup open through this weekend, we continue our Pizza Profile series introducing some of Beijing's best pies. Today we talk to Joshua Lally, food and beverage manager of Wudaokou's popular Sugar Shack.
How long have you plied the trade?
Sugar Shack originally opened as Pyro Pizza in 2007 and after some constructive criticism of the chicken wings, I found myself in the kitchens the following year, so a little over seven years.
What's your style/pizza philosophy?
A fun and authentic pizza experience. Start with great pizza, add great staff and great service, and an environment where you feel like part of the family and you can’t go wrong. Most of the people who come through Beijing and especially Wudaokou are thousands of miles from home and they love the feeling of community they find at Sugar Shack – and that’s all enhanced with kick-ass food. The best part about pizza is that it’s designed to be shared!
In a market crowded with over 100 different pizza shops, what do you do to stand out?
In a city where so many pizza shops focus on the traditional Italian-style pizzas, we didn’t want to limit ourselves. We serve New York style pizza, using Italian tomatoes with New Zealand mozzarella. It’s about finding great combinations that taste good and make people happy. That’s also why we allow people to DIY their own toppings to get the pizza they want. We’re also not afraid to blend non-traditional components to create a great new pizza. We think pizza should be fun and people should be free to get the pie they want.
Beyond that, we work hard to create a fun place to enjoy that pizza. We were the first to offer beer pong tournaments in Beijing (which we still do every Thursday night). We host power hours and themed parties, and have DJs spin great tracks while you eat or toss back your beer or tequila shots. Or if you want to eat your pizza in the comfort of your home, we manage our own delivery and have our own online ordering system, so we make sure the pizza we deliver to you is top quality and exactly what you want.
Neapolitan, New York Style, Sicilian, Chicago style, Roman, Californian ... what's your style?
New York style, with California, New Zealand, and Chinese influences.
Thick vs Thin: What's your take?
Thin, but no one likes limp … pizza. Our pizza is thin, but has that crisp yet chewy mouthfeel.
What kind of cheese do you use?
Anchor New Zealand Mozzarella. It’s a fantastic cheese from a country that understands quality and a company that always works really hard to deliver a consistently great product.
Are you offering any promotions currently, for the Pizza Cup or otherwise?
We always have our daily buffet special, all-you-can-eat pizza from noon-2pm for RMB 55 (add RMB 5 for all you can drink Tsingtao). We also offer a free upsize from medium to large from 2-4pm for delivery and carry-out, Monday-Friday. We’re also planning on unleashing additional discounts if we advance through the rounds!
Tell us about your standard pizza:
Name: Margherita.
Thick/Thin crust: Thin like Flint! (James Coburn was lean in the 60s!).
Type of sauce: Our signature pizza sauce.
Type of cheese: More advertising for Anchor brand New Zealand Mozzarella cheese.
What other things make it special: Kid tested, mother approved?
How many sizes (size of each in CM): 35.5cm, 45.7cm, (55.9cm – in-store only).
Price of each in cm: RMB 80, RMB 115, RMB 135.
Tell us about one of your more unique pizzas:
Name: Spicy Beef (maybe not the most unique, but definitely one of my favorites!).
Thick/Thin crust: Thin it to win it!
Type of sauce: Spicy arrabbiata.
Type of cheese: Some more of that Anchor brand New Zealand Mozzarella cheese.
Additional toppings: 水煮牛肉 (shui zhu niurou, beef simmered in water and chili oil), red onion, and toasted sesame seeds.
What other things make it special: We make the arrabbiata from scratch for a spicy, Western base and add beef that’s been simmered in a homemade Chinese chili oil, which we also use to brush the crust, giving it a nice spicy finish and a sexy orange hue.
How many sizes: 35.5cm, 45.7cm, (55.9cm – in-store only).
Price of each in cm: RMB 110, RMB 155, RMB 210.
Hungry for more? Check out pizza specials around town and compare and contrast some of Beijing's best pizzas in our ongoing Pizza Profiles series.
Photos courtesy of Sugar Shack
