S & J's Woodfired Pizza

Power to the People

Jonathan — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:52:38 +0000

Great news. We learned this week that Chestnut Charter Elementary was awarded the state grant that they applied for earlier this year. Not only is Uncle Sam opening his pocket for a school but also a school with a good cause in mind. The grant focuses on teaching kids about where their food comes from, eating locally, and showing them all the steps from seed to plate. With a greater knowledge of food, hopefully children can make good food choices also. S and J’s Woodfired Pizza will be bringing our oven to the Chesnut Elementary Field Day in May serving up fresh hot pizza topped with veggies from local D & A Farms. Not only that but the ecology class will be donating herbs from their garden allowing them to teach their peers on the process.

In coming up with the idea for this grant application, S and J’s Woodfired Pizza was contacted about being a part of the event. I was very excited and thought it was a great idea. I am glad the government did also. It is nice to see the power of the people in action. Check out the grant in the attachment if you want anymore info. Chesnut Elementary Grant App

Officially Stoked

On the Lookout

Jonathan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:57:14 +0000

To all those who have said ” Where are you located?”, I want to give you an answer. Sarah and I have begun our search into finding a location that you can find us anyway of the week. The opening of a restaurant is in a word, daunting. Excitement, caution, stress and daydreaming are my current companions on the daily Merry Go Round of emotions. Even with our concept cemented making the right decision on a location is very big. We want all of our current customers to be able to access us and also branch out into new areas. We want something different and non-corporate. Our concept is different and interesting, and we want our restaurant space to mirror that. And last but not least on the wish list is a patio. We started our mobile business so we could be outside. Can’t stop that feeling now. If you see a place that screams S and J’s or if you just need us near you, please let us know if you see a potential spot for the future S and J’s Woodfired Pizza.

Fungi Farmer

Jonathan — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:36:44 +0000

I have never thought of myself as a “Green Thumb”. I have done ok with small herbs and I have gotten a few tomatoes but my garden production has left something to be desired. Today, I have moved away from plants and onto fungi. My best friend, Ben Jeter, was in town this weekend, and we inoculated 8 oak logs with Shitake mushroom spores. Strain 512+ is a warm weather strain which is designed to fruit in warmer weather from 65-85 degrees. That sounds like Georgia weather to me.

This starts episode 1 of our daily picture and blog of “Fungi Farmer”. You have to look forward to 365 more posts and daily pictures of wood. Not just any wood but logs that have been cut and inoculated with Shitake mushrooms. The pictures will be boring and the posts monotonous. The daily life of the wood will become your reason for turning on the computer in the morning. You will ache and pain each day as you become more and more agitated at the lack of substance or growth but you will always come back for more. Just for that single hope that you will be able to watch a fungus grow. Not only will you be shocked and amazed at how every picture looks exactly the same but you will soon also appreciate the fungi you eat on a regular basis. And so starts “Fungi Farmer” only available at S & J's Woodfired Pizza.

Dinner

Jonathan — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:07:34 +0000

Dinner this evening was:

Ancho chili and dry mustard spiced thick cut bone-on pork chops with rosemary and garlic roasted red potatoes and spiced fuji apples. It was all made in the wood-fired oven and was delish. A positive step towards a broader catering menu, which I like. It all went together really well and…
Read the full post...

Fall

Jonathan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:24:24 +0000

What is there not to like about Fall? This is my favorite part of the year. The cooling temperatures, warming sun, lack of humidity and general feel of Fall is all I need to just enjoy every minute of it. Not to mention the awesome colors that mother nature bestows on us. I can only hope to be so pretty as I wither and grow old. I imagine I am not alone in the feeling that the 100% humidity and 100 degree temps of August in Georgia are not the reason we live here. Could the 65 and sunny degree weather of yesterday be the reason? Get outside and enjoy it.

As we continue to grow as a business and gain more experience, we have become bolder with our menu and with what we try. I love looking thru the market or really anywhere outdoors and take in the inspiration. I want people to taste Fall in our pizzas. Hence, the inspiration for our new Apple Pizza, i.e. “Apple Awesomeness”. Apples, bacon, goat feta, and a splash of pesto sings sweet fall flavors to me. Looking for something more rustic and hearty you can’t beat wood-fired roasted butternut squash. Our Squash pizza pairs, roasted butternut squash, olive oil, sage, ricotta and a touch of honey into a taste of Fall. What other fall flavors do people love? I am in the infant stages of my cooking life and I am growing and learning everyday. I would love some opinions from S & J's Woodfired Pizza fans. What do you want to see on your pizza? Get in touch with me at let us know. Or post something on our wall.

All Tongue Tied

Jonathan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:09:55 +0000

Obviously by reading the title of this post you know that Sarah is not writing this. Was it the words I was trying to say, the moment I was taking in, the love and happiness in my heart that was blocking my throat, the difficulty in describing an eternity in a few sentences, or just sheer fear and terror of having to be intimately serious with one person in front of 30? Those were the thoughts of my performance saying my vows on October 7 2011. With a perfect setting in the North Georgia Mountains at dusk with friends and family I had an extremely hard time saying my vows to my lovely wife. Luckily she jumped in and of course had no trouble with hers. When it became my turn again, I still couldn’t really get those vocal cords moving. Piece by piece and excruciating minute by minute I made it thru them. I am not sure the specific reason for the trouble but to those who didn’t hear me or just for my Baby if she wants to read. ”Love you baby and thanks for marrying me.” Also, thanks to those who came and celebrated all weekend with us. It was great and we are so glad you came.

GPFM

Jonathan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:59:43 +0000

The Grant Park Farmer’s Market was crazy yesterday. We sold more pizzas at the market than we have ever sold before at a farmer’s market. I guess delicious ingredients, awesome weather and a hot ‘za are a good combination. I am glad Sarah and I thought so 18 months ago and went ahead with our dream. We feel very lucky to be a part of a great thing going on in Grant Park. The vibe at the market was awesome. How can you not be happy with sun, music, food, hoola hooping, and the smell of a fire? Oh, and I didn’t mention the marching band or the costumes. Gotta check it out.

Recap

Jonathan — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:22:15 +0000

Wow. What a month. August may have been on of the busiest months of my life. Running S & J's Woodfired Pizza on a daily basis and selling pizza to the people 5-6 times per week is awesome but tiring. There is much to do and also much to catch up on.

During the month of August, we did a few catering gigs, some festivals a lot of farmer’s markets, and oh by the way we added delivery. Delivery with a smile is the motto of some businesses but we choose to go with delivery with a golf cart. Thats right people. It was not a crazy man driving on a stolen golf cart thru Piedmont Park. It was just Jeff Cohan, our part-time delivery man and SJ’s full-time dad. With a smile and a sweaty shirt, he traveled throughout the Festival on Ponce and the Piedmont Park Arts Festival delivering hot pies to hungry artists, who otherwise would have gone hungry. With 50 deliveries in two days as the new record, even a younger sprier delivery man would have trouble keeping pace. On top of deliveries, SJp added markets, menu items and an overall improvement to the pizza scene of Atlanta. If you haven’t tried us out yet. You are missing out.

What’s new at S and J’s?

Jonathan — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:55:36 +0000

As Sarah and I get ready for our last weekend of selling pizza before we take a break and relax while camping up on Lake Michigan, I wanted to take a second to update everyone on the new things happening here at S & J's Woodfired Pizza.

Full-timing it

The headliner of course is that I will be leaving my part-time job as an ER nurse and taking up pizza full-time. For a few months now, we have been debating on the decision as we have been turning down pizza gigs and decided recently to take the plunge. This will allow SJP to take our pizza to the street much more often. Starting in August, we are going to add at least 3 more weekly locations to our schedule. Check our calendar frequently as we will be updating with new dates and locations.

Solar!

The other bigs news I want to report is that we are going to go ahead and start acquiring the parts and knowledge to start running our whole operation on solar power. After I sell my gas powered generator, which has only been used once, I want to build a solar powered one that we satisfy all our electrical needs. It’s gonna be awesome to be run by wood and the sun. That being said, any people with any knowledge in that type of area please feel free to give any free advice as novice is a generous description of me.

To top things off…

On another side of research and development, we are continuing to try out new topping combinations and hope to offer some summer specials in the next coming months which will include a homemade bbq sauce, peaches, roasted corn, and possibly a trip south of the border with a Mexican inspired pie. We would love to hear any special requests so stop by the markets and let us know.

Dough for Sale

Finally, I hope to be in a position to offer dough for sale later on this summer. Many of you have asked about this and I want to give the people what they want. I need to work out a few kinks in how I package it to give you the optimum number of days before it passes its prime. Also, we want to get some instructions together to help you with it when you get home.

Any other fresh ideas or places you want S & J's Woodfired Pizza? Let us know. Just under 2 months until the 1 year anniversary. Get pumped.

Why Not???

Jonathan — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:03:40 +0000

The SJP train has been rolling of late. With multiple dates each week, we are really getting going. I wanted to take a second to reflect on why I love being my own boss and owning a business with my favorite person in the world, SJ.

When was the last time you were able to bring a smile to someone’s face with the snap of your fingers? I don’t want to brag too much about her but last night SJ was awesome. Twice she saw a chance to make someone happy and jumped at it.

We were at our East Atlanta Farmer’s Market last night and a young lady with her two children came up. They were all very excited about trying our pizza. That was until after they ordered. They wanted to pay with EBT coins, which the market generally takes, but I informed them that we can’t accept them because we are a prepared food and we are not allowed. Saddened and dejected, she began to turn and leave when SJ stepped in and told them that she would love to make them a pie and just let her know what they wanted. The happiness in SJ’s eyes and the young lady’s was the ultimate. With a smile and many thank you’s, they enjoyed dinner on S & J's Woodfired Pizza.

As the night continued and the oven was flaming, another opportunity crossed our paths and she stepped in again. Sitting on the new bench at the market, she watched as a young man was enjoying a delish ‘za. He proceeded to accidentally lose control of the pizza, and it fell to the ground. With an understandably saddened heart, he began to walk away. SJ yelled ” Hey man, we got you another one”. He didn’t stop and so she yelled again. Still the man walked away, until another patron ran and caught him and told him the great news. He was so appreciative, and it really made the night.

Before SJP, in order to make a decision Sarah or I would have to send an email, set up a meeting, have a meeting, send some more emails and then be informed by our boss that they needed to talk to their boss and we would get an answer in a week or so. That sucked. SJ making split second decisions last night just because they felt like the right thing to do is the way for me. People aren’t numbers and some decisions aren’t hard. Why wouldn’t you want to be your own boss?

Thanks SJ.