Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Brumbalow.
Hi Jason, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Hey all! Pictures speak thousands, but videos say everything I can’t get into words here. So, here is a handful of vids that highlight the genesis and journey. If you want me to fill in the gaps after digesting there, I’m all yours.
The story starts here: https://www.facebook.com/firestreetpizza/videos/1359556190775942/
20 years in 2 minutes: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=750646368834737
We have no creativity: https://www.facebook.com/firestreetpizza/videos/3357494951246579/
General Fire Street vibe (supercut): https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=299875288537503
Being ridiculous: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1135617394033924
That time I ate pizza in freefall: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=279124083041127
That time I didn’t know she was filming: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=529874230813299
That time AI made a commercial for FS: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=629319452004210
Our story starts 20 years ago when we were married and decided that owning a restaurant was in our blood. So, began the dream. We saved every penny we had to build a restaurant building from the ground up. We learned to weld, pour concrete, landscape, cut metal, carpentry.. and learned to sweat. Then, we ran out of money. Yet, we didn’t give up. Every paycheck was another little something to invest in our dream and each weekend was an opportunity to put in the work, to bring it to life.
10 years later, our property was semi-complete and we decided to have two children that really made life worth living. Children have a way to deferring life plans, but they are the reason we’re still chasing this dream today.
Fast forward five years. We grew extremely tired of boring corporate pizza here in the CenTex area. So, my lovely wife Alis, heard the call that so many wives have heard before, “Honey, we just bought something cool!” 3 days later, a brand new Forno Bravo wood-fired pizza oven was delivered to our home and thus began our 5-year trek to create a pizza that was exceptionally above the norm. Overwhelmed by my obsession to create an unforgettably delicious pizza, I knew that baking pizzas on a wood fired pizza oven was the only answer to reaching that mystical smoky flavor in a pizza that only a wood oven can deliver.
There were many stumbling blocks along the way as we tested, failed, retried, failed again, honed, tweaked, whimpered, tested again, and then one day…….. I almost gave up. I couldn’t understand how to get repeatable results. The answer was hidden far deeper into the details than I had imagined. They say, the devil is in the details and they’re right. Seems I need intricate knowledge of how bread works. My sister, who is a fantastic artisan with homemade breads of all types, instantly saw the flaw in my process. She told me that I hadn’t learned to appreciate bread on a molecular level. Glutens? Proteins? Milling? Hydration? Fermenting? Absorption? Barometric pressures? Are you kidding me!? I just want to make pizza!
After standing on the cliffs edge, about to sell our pizza oven, I finally broke down and started learning the intricacies of bread. After all, the crust is what is responsible for the lion’s share of the flavor, it seemed like a worthwhile pursuit. In time, I learned that the dough is the critical link between exceptional pizza and boring pizza. So, all of my efforts went into testing and testing and re-testing my dough recipe. A trip to Naples Italy solidified my training and we finally understood how to craft a Neapolitan wood-fired pizza dough that was unlike anything in the area.
After hosting years of pizza tasting parties at our home we were urged to do tastings parties to public crowds, which happened to turn into huge successes. The response from the public was that they wanted more, so we did just that. Pizza is about good food, good times and good people. We strive every day to turn our pizza creations into a fun, inviting experience for everyone. We designed & launched a custom-built, mobile wood-fired pizza oven here in Central Texas. The response from the community has been overwhelming.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Nothing about business is smooth. Nothing about our ‘smoothness” of roads has been any different than any other business owner. It’s controlled chaos.
I was about to type something cliché’ like “We embrace the chaos.” , We don’t embrace it, though, we and our team just suit up, and show up do the best we can every day to bring a great trade of value for our guests’ visit. Our guest experience is everything to us.
Covid nearly killed us, but the community came to the rescue in ways we didn’t expect.
Since we’re removed from the city, we’re a destination spot. People see us as an outdoor venue (even though we have 120 seats indoors) so, we get beat up with seasonal extreme weather.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My wife, Alis, and I wanted to own a restaurant since we started dating in high school (1992). However we have both pivoted so many times throughout our professional journey before we ever got to hospitality.. I worked for years as a magic producer and product developer for magicians who created for David Copperfield, Criss Angel and David Blaine, Also many years in marketing, videography, creative design, photography, day trading, entrepreneurship and others. Alis was an elementary school teacher and a shipping facility owner/operator. We both loved trying new things.. When our kids got to be teenagers, we decided to try to turn our pizza-making dream into reality. With little formal training, we meticulously worked on perfecting the crust—the most important part of the pizza, —including three years of attempting Atlanta restaurateur Jeff Varasano’s famous 22,000-word dough recipe.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Books: “Lead with Love”, “Hug Your Customers”, “Good To Great”, “Traction”, “Start with Why” etc etc
Podcasts: Business Wars by Wondery. So good.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://firestreetpizza.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/FIRESTREETPIZZA
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firestreetpizza
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fire-street-pizza-belton-3
Image Credits
All photos shot by Fire Street
