Company description

Ciao! We are Gerardo, Maria, Gerardo Jr., and Natalie and we are the proud owners/operators of Gerardo’s Pizzeria in Sedona, Arizona. We opened in 2016, but also owned and operated Gerardo’s Firewood Cafe in Payson, Arizona from 2000-2018. Being a small family restaurant is our core and our values surrounding food and people reflect that. We partner with Northern Arizona University’s Hospitality program to bring on students who want real world experience working in a restaurant and learning first hand from us how to run one. 

Gerardo worked 8 years in Europe training as a chef, primarily in Italy, before opening restaurants for the Hyatt in Mexico and Kauai. Gerardo Jr. has internship experience in Italy as a pizzaiolo and baker, while also cooking for a small mountain hotel in Piedmont this past summer. 

We specialize in wood-fired pizza, focaccia, handmade pasta, and during the Christmas season, Panettone. We use Shepherd’s Grain flour, whose farmers only grow wheat regeneratively because we believe that the key to a good dough starts in the soil. We actively source higher quality ingredients and check where they come from. Our beef for the bolognese is from Tres Hermanas Ranch, located 15 minutes down the road in Cornville. It is 100% grass fed beef, raised by a family business. 

Our passion for pizza has grown during the last few years and we are consistently selling more and more. It’s all about the dough for us! We offer wood-fired and Sicilian thick-style pizza. We proudly collaborate with Slow Food Phoenix and in 2023 we were awarded the Slow Food Snail of Approval by them. 

 

Job description

This apprenticeship will include working side by side Gerardo and Gerardo Jr. learning the day to day roles of: making pizza dough, focaccia dough, ravioli dough, mozzarella, rolling out the pizza dough, preparing the pizza line, learning the wood-fired oven and anything else that goes along in a day of running a restaurant. We are only open for dinner, so in the morning we prepare and at 4:30 we begin service. You will also be learning how to make pizzas, operate the wood-burning oven, along with learning the sautee, salad and dessert line. Another responsibility will be to help in preparing family meal. There will also be opportunities to learn the front of house once you have learned all the aspects in the kitchen. We want somebody who can work and learn quickly while also staying calm in a fast-paced environment. We have built a strong team dynamic and the work culture is consistently improving. Being able to work well with others, be accountable for your responsibilities and maintain a good attitude is a must. We want our crew to learn and grow through the balance of healthy competition and support amongst each other.  We would like help with our big plan of growing our social media presence and get recognized by Pizza Today, because we believe we have a pizza that deserves more recognition. We also want to bring recognition for the flour we use to inform people about the positive benefits of regenerative farming. 

If you are interested in ever owning a restaurant of your own, this is an apprenticeship for you! We are open to anyone who is willing to dedicate their time and passion to the craft, just as we do each and every day. 

Compensation

this position is: hourly, $15-20/hr

Application instructions

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Deadline

no deadline