As Giovanni Labbate’s son Rocco steps into the family trade, his first competition win—at the REAL California Pizza Challenge—becomes a family milestone.
Giovanni Labbate knows what it feels like to compete on a big stage. Over the past 15 years, the U.S. Pizza Team member and Tievoli Pizza Bar owner has put his own pizzas in front of judges plenty of times and heard his name called among the winners. But at the REAL California Pizza Challenge in Anaheim, Labbate discovered one thing more nerve-racking than competing yourself: standing on the sidelines while your son does it for the first time.
Rocco Labbate entered his first pizza competition with modest expectations. “I just wanted to do my best and hoped to come in the top three,” he said. Entering wasn’t entirely his decision, either. Asked what made him decide he was ready, Rocco gave an answer familiar to anyone raised by a strong-willed pizza dad: “I didn’t. My father signed me up and said, ‘You’re ready.’”
Dad was right. Rocco won Pizza in the Pan on his first trip to the competition floor. But while the stage was new to him, making pizza certainly wasn’t. “I honestly do this every day I work, so I practice every day,” he said.
The winning pie featured brick and mozzarella cheeses, pesto, chicken cutlet, cherry tomatoes, red onions and burrata, finished with citrus-dressed arugula, balsamic glaze and Parmesan, all resting on the signature Tievoli Detroit dough.
Giovanni’s biggest contribution was helping his son think through the build, particularly how to layer the toppings so everything stayed where it belonged.
Watching from outside the competition area, Giovanni was having a considerably different experience. “I’ve definitely competed many times over the last 15 years, but watching your son go on the big stage and do what I do and come out with a win is better than winning myself,” Giovanni said. “It’s a true testament to what Tievoli is for me and my family.”
That showed on his face. When Rocco’s name was announced, there was a tear in Giovanni’s eye, and Rocco’s mom was definitely momming with pride. Their son had stepped into the family trade and proved on his first attempt that he belonged there.
“I was so super proud of him to do it for his first time,” Giovanni said. “I know he wanted to win so bad. He believed in his pizza, and so did I.” Giovanni admitted he was nervous watching Rocco in action—more nervous than he felt in his own competitions—but he thought his son handled the pressure admirably. “He really impressed me with how composed he was and how well he cooked his pizza.”
Rocco showed more evidence that he has spent plenty of time working in the family business by winning both rounds of the Fastest Box Folder event. He credits the skill to his regular job as Tievoli’s pizza oven expediter. Asked what his son already does better than him, Giovanni didn’t need much time to think: “Fold boxes.” he said with a chuckle.
The competition also taught Rocco something the controlled environment of his father’s restaurant kitchen couldn’t. “You learn to improvise on what products or tools you may need to finish your pizza, because sometimes you don’t have everything you need,” he said. That ability to adapt is useful on a competition floor, but it’s arguably even more valuable for someone who intends to spend his life in the restaurant business. And Rocco does.
For some children of restaurant owners, growing up in the business provides an excellent education in what they never want to do for a living. Long nights, weekends at work and the countless little emergencies required to get food
onto somebody else’s table can make another career look appealing. With that in mind, Giovanni didn’t want his sons inheriting Tievoli simply because their last name was Labbate. “I always hoped they would, but I gave all three of my
boys the option to go to college and find another love if pizza wasn’t for them,” he said.
For Rocco, that decision became clear after high school. “I figured this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” he said. Now he can “definitely” see himself owning or operating Tievoli someday, and he already knows where he wants to be when that happens: in the kitchen, like his father.
Nor does he envision tearing apart what the previous generation built. “I might not change much because we have a great product and many awards for it,” Rocco said, although he can see himself adding menu items and pursuing new product innovations
Tievoli isn’t something Rocco feels trapped into inheriting. It’s something he wants.
“I think we built a brand our kids will be proud to continue,” Giovanni said. Along with the brick-and-mortar business, the family operates two mobile units, giving the next generation room to evolve while maintaining what Giovanni has built.
His biggest request for whenever Rocco and his generation take the wheel isn’t that every pizza remain unchanged. He wants his son to protect the reason Tievoli exists in the first place.
“When he does take over, I hope he doesn’t change the passion that I bring into the business,” Giovanni said. “I do this each and every day because I love what I do, and I love making moments for people when they have our pizza. Pizza brings people, family and friends together unlike anything else in this world.”
In Anaheim, pizza did exactly that for the Labbates. This time Giovanni wasn’t standing center stage. He was watching his son take his turn and discovering that seeing the next generation succeed at the family trade might feel even better than winning himself.
Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s associate editor.
