Jordan Denman said customers won’t find a better pizza in the Midwest.
He’s been working as a general manager at The Stubborn Brother Pizza Bar on West Bancroft since it officially opened last December.
Denman applied for a position at Mancy’s Bluewater Grille on Dussel Dr. in Maumee and ended up changing his mind after speaking to John Mancy, the owner.
“John said I would be bored there,” Denman said. “He said he’s opening up this new bar and would like for me to work there.”
The newly hired manager said working in a restaurant is a day-to-day grind.
“I’ve worked in many restaurants, but this one peaked my interest,” Denman said.
The restaurant uses a system called New York WaterMaker which converts Toledo’s water to New York water, enabling quality dough.
“New York water had been basically proven to be the best water to make dough with, bagels and any type of bread really,” Denman said.
Mancy from Ohio and his wife, Gabrielle Mancy from New Jersey, endeavored to bring both state’s pizza styles together in a local pizzeria. They wanted to go on an adventure together, Denman said.
And, together, they did when Schorling’s 5- STAR Market permanently closed due to low sales volume. Later, The Stubborn Brother opened in its place.
Mitchell Horn, pursuing an MBA in Operations and Supply at U, worked as a cashier.
“The décor is pretty nice, and it looks a lot different than the old grocery store I used to work at,” Horn said. “The whole building looks a lot nicer than it used to, because it was kind of falling apart back in the day. The brick walls are the same.”
Horn added his friends Sam, Maggie and himself all worked at the market until it closed.
“It sat empty for about 18 months,” restaurant co-owner Gabrielle Mancy said. “My husband always wanted to open a pizza restaurant in Toledo. So, my husband asked me.”
“I was a stay-at-home-mom with four kids and a personal trainer during the mornings,” the Gabrielle said.
During Mitchell’s attempt to create a dough recipe, she said they traveled across the country, tasting pizzas for five years, visiting states like Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and overseas to Italy.
The Mancys hired a Licensed Pizzaiolo straight from Rome, Italy: Chef Alessio Carabetta.
“I’ve been doing this for over 10 years and I try to get better every day,” Carabetta said. “I was 19 when I started as a chef in London. Then I worked as a chef in Australia for three years. After that, I worked in Indonesia for two years.”
Carabetta opened his first restaurant, a Pizza Bar in Brazil. He returned to Rome where he learned he was hired to work in Beijing,China and worked there for three months.
He met his wife abroad. They returned to her hometown of Toledo together two years ago.
“I wanted to experience American culture.”
Gabrielle said Carabetta’s decision to live in Toledo was perfect timing.
A guest, who declined to give his last name, commented on his experience visiting the pizza bar for the first time.
“We had about 25 fathers and daughters in total,” Bill said. “We met here about 5 p.m., thought the pizza was great, had a lot of fun, then went to the father-daughter dance.”
In the last three years, Bill had only visited the Calvino’s Restaurant and Wine Bar.
“But Calvino’s was reserved so we found a new place and had a lot of fun,” Bill said.
Mancy’s Ideal, Mancy’s Steakhouse, Mancy’s Italian Grill, Mancy’s Bluewater Grille, Shorty’s Bar-B-Q, Shorty’s Back 40 and Mancy’s Steakhouse in Findley are all owned by Mancy’s Restaurant Group. The Stubborn Brother Pizza Bar remains John and Gabrielle’s long-awaited start up. Mancy’s Restaurant Group will celebrate its 100th year anniversary in 2021.
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