Nick Manopella graduated from Sachem in 2012 and had a dream of opening his own pizzeria. Mano’s Pizzeria opened in 2021 in Ridgewood, Queens. As one pizza reviewer said, if he were to draw up a pizzeria, the first that comes to mind is Mano’s. The classic Italian colors on the Queens street corner offer the right appeal before you try unique slices, crafted with precision. Manopella uses his family’s Italian heritage to draw inspiration for his journey as a pizza entrepreneur.
Sachem Alumni Association President/Founder Chris Vaccaro caught up with Nick on the details, the love and the vision he had for Mano’s Pizzeria.
Chris Vaccaro: How did Sachem help in your journey? Any teachers inspire you to open up the shop?
Nick Manopella: I was very fortunate to be a part of Sachem. No teacher in particular inspired me to open a pizzeria. But Mr. Papagni and Mrs. Rose had a huge impact on me. Going through school with a hearing disability was rough but having such great teachers around made it a lot easier. The two of them absolutely contributed in me believing in myself and having the confidence to know that I’m smart enough to do something like this.
CV: When did you know you wanted to open your own shop?
NM: I wanted to open a pizzeria for a long time. I would say about eight years. I got inspired by people like Frank Pinello. I would always watch his pizza show on Vice. He was just a single person who was passionate about food and decided on opening a pizzeria. Also the guys at L’industrie, Nick and Massimo, just grinding in their small pizzeria and building this huge brand with the best quality pizza really got me motivated. I always knew I didn’t want to work for anyone else’s dream but my own.
CV: Why Queens, why that location?
NM: I picked queens because it feels like home. I love Brooklyn and Queens and NYC. My father was born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens and my mother is from New Hyde Park. Both their parents are from Brooklyn and Queens. It just felt right. Ridgewood in particular wasn’t planned but it ended up being special. My mother and father’s first apartment together was in Ridgewood only eight blocks away. I remember when they brought me there to show me for the first time. So it’s really special that they started their lives together in Ridgewood and I’m starting my pizza journey there.
CV: What makes yours different from others?
NM: My pizza is quite a bit different then most pizzerias, especially in the area. Our ingredients either come from Italy or locally and our tomatoes are the best in my opinion, Alta Cucina from California. I’m very conscious about the ingredients that I use. Before all this I would go to every pizzeria and see who had the best and the ones that weren’t so great all had the same things in common and those that I found to be the best all had one thing in common and that was ingredients and the process.
CV: Talk about that process. What type of pizza research did you do?
NM: Pizza should be good for you. So I started doing a ton of research on pizza and dough making. I’d watch videos and read books. I even went to a seminar and some pizza making classes. I stay away from potassium bromate flours. Potassium bromate is considered to be carcinogenic to humans by the international agency for research on cancer and is banned in a number of countries. It’s typically used as a flour improver, it’s an oxidizer used to strengthen dough and improve elasticity. I believe it to be part of the reason that there are so many gluten intolerances. Most pizzerias use this kind of flour because it’s very cheap compared to the flour that I get from Italy.
Many people who are sensitive to gluten have been fine eating my pizza. So the flour that we use is Caputo 00 flour. It’s finely milled, very soft and perfect for the kind of pizza that I make. Our dough is 68 percent hydrated which is typically a bit higher than most New York style pizzas and it ferments for five days with a very small amount of fresh yeast. I often tell people that time is an ingredient in itself when you want to make pizza. It is extremely important to have your dough ferment. I use certain techniques to strengthen the dough outside of the mixer (stretch and folds). The fermentation helps a lot with the digestibility of my pizza and how light the slices are and how airy and fluffy yet crunchy our Sicilians are. It’s a labor of love. After eating my pizza it doesn’t feel like you just ate a rock that is now sitting in your stomach.
Balance is also a big part of the pizza we sell. Too much of anything ruins a slice. No one loves cheese more than me but I don’t load the pie with cheese because then you can miss the flavor of tomatoes or the Sicilian oregano and pecorino Romano that we use. There is no one star of the show because each ingredient is a main character.
CV: The reviews speak for themselves, that must be super gratifying?
NM: The reviews that we get are indeed super gratifying. Some of them are like poetry. It makes me extremely happy and really proves to me that I can do this. I can provide an excellent product for people that they can enjoy and nothing is more gratifying than feeding people and making them happy though pizza.
CV: How much does Italian heritage play into your passion and journey?
NM: I am 100 percent Italian and heritage plays a huge role in this journey. I really wanted to do something with my life that was close to my roots and what better way than pizza. I come from a very very large Italian family. If you look at our menu and you come in and see the family photos it’s clear that Mano’s pizzeria is a love letter to my family and my ancestors. I couldn’t do it without any of them, especially my mother who has been by my side through this entire journey. She is the best cook so to have her insight and knowledge at any moment really helps me. My nona and pop pop on both sides of my family were extraordinary people and I love and miss them dearly. I really wish they could see all this and see that their names on this menu are a part of the top pizzas that people love and enjoy so much. The Manopella pie is my last name from my grandfather Joseph and father Mario, The Minucci after my grandma Marie, her maiden name. The Fulgieri after my Nona’s maiden name. The Amato being my pop pop’s last name. The family dinners and traditions that we have, I will hold onto for a lifetime. They mean the world to me.
CV: What’s the ultimate goal?
NM: The ultimate goal is to be in business for a long time and continue to make people happy with pizza. Pizza that is good for you and feels good to eat.
CV: And it’s just two of you running the pizzeria?
NM: Yes, I also want to say a huge thanks to my partner Desiree who has been through the success and the ups and downs of this all with me. It’s only the two of us who run the pizzeria. It’s not easy at all. It’s extremely stressful. I’m not sure of any other pizzeria owned and operated by only two people but having her is like having an entire team. I’m extremely grateful for that.
CV: Any advice for young sachem students? for entrepreneurs?
NM: Just go for it. I had this dream. I turned it into a goal. I was persistent. I have written in my notes “dream bigger” and “pizzeria by 27” and incredibly enough a month into opening I celebrated my 27th birthday. So many hours went into this. After work everyday I would go to the gym, come home and make dough, make pizza and try different things. Fail fail fail a million times. Get discouraged and do it all again the next day. It wasn’t pretty but I kept doing it until I knew I had something special. Once I was confident in my product I knew I could do it. Don’t give up because I wanted to many times and if I did I wouldn’t be in the position that I dreamt myself to be in now. Another thing would be to save your money because you never know when an opportunity like this could come, either for your business or investing in something that could push you further along and closer to your dream business or even just a life you want to live. Hard work puts you in a room that talent cannot.
Mano’s Pizzeria is located at 62-98 Forest Avenue in Queens.
