&pizza – pronounced “and pizza” – could just as easily have been another fast-casual pizza chain the likes of Blaze or 800 Degrees. But the D.C.-based company aspires to be much more than that – not just a pizza chain, but also a piece of local culture.
At RestaurantSpaces, &pizza co-founder and CEO Michael Lastoria talked aboutwhat it takes to create a brand that is a lifestyle unto itself, an embodiment of its own culture. The “and pizza” of &pizza indicates that the culture comes first – and then there’s pizza. As Lastoria says, it’s “a little to do with pizza and a lot to do with culture and a brand.”
With its modern, minimalist black and white restaurant design – done to “create a sense of timelessness” – that is different in each of its 23-and-counting locations, &pizza makes an immediate visual impact, turning the idea of the traditional pizza shop on its head and reinventing it entirely. These are definitely not the red-and-white checkered tablecloth pizzerias most of us grew up with.
Read more at Restaurant Spaces: http://info.restaurantspacesevent.com/blog/and-pizza-makes-restaurant-design-a-cultural-phenomenon
SCREENCHOW 