Pie according to James

Workers tend to the counter and fiery oven

In James Markham’s life, pizza plays a key role.

As CEO and founder of Project Pie, James knows what good pizza is and what it is not.

He says his love affair with pizza began when he was 11 years old.

While James was standing outside a theater waiting for the movie to start, the owner of a nearby pizza place invited him in to his establishment.

“He started throwing dough up in the air, spinning it around, and I thought it was pretty cool,” James says.

That moment, he decided he was going to make pizza for a living.

James set up his first store in Carlsbad, Southern California.

“It was tiny. It was 400 square feet. It was like a big closet, but it was phenomenally successful,” he says.

Following up on the success of that store, he opened branches in San Diego and Las Vegas. He would soon set up shop in Washington, Atlanta and New York.

James expanded to China and was surprised to learn that customers there appreciated his pepperoni pizza. It became his bestseller in both China and the United States.

Then James encountered Chipotle, an American pizza brand that offers better quality fare.

James was caught by the speed in which the food was served at Chipotle, and how the establishment stressed the importance of using quality ingredients.

After his trip to China, he decided to try his own hand in the fast-casual category of the restaurant trade.

An avowed pizza connoisseur—having sampled so much in his lifetime—he was dismayed to learn that the good stuff cost too much. James then toyed with the idea of making his own pie with his own choice of toppings and a price tag easy on the pocket.

He christened it the “artisan pizza”—a handcrafted pie designed by a consumer the way he or she wants it.

James later put up a fast casual restaurant specializing in custom-made pizzas and blazed his way into a new category.

At first, people didn’t really get the idea, he says. It took them a while to wrap their minds around the idea that they could make their own pizza, with their own choice of ingredients, and to have it served up within 120 seconds.

Thanks to blazing hot ovens (set at 800 degrees to be exact), the pizza is quickly cooked to a perfect crisp.

According to James, people had it wrong when they were told about the pizza they could fashion themselves.

“Getting to pick your own ingredients as you went and, no matter how many toppings you get, it’s always one price,” he says, defining his idea. “It’s also a smaller, lighter pizza. And the speed it was cooked, it opened up a whole new segment.”

He knows that with pizza, you often have to share the pie. Jim then created pizza for one person and priced it so that consumers could get three such pies for the price of one.

As he spent more time in Asia, he realized how universal pizza is.

“Everywhere you go in the world, people want to eat pizza,” he says.

After he put up Project Pie in China, he thought that it would be nice to set up shop in a place where there would be little or no language barrier at all.

He then set his sights on the Philippine market.

Through a mutual friend, Jim was introduced to Leo Prieto, who operates the Shakey’s pizza chain here.

James was pleased when he saw how the Prietos ran their operations, and how they treated their employees and customers.

“I knew I wanted to do business here and I wanted to do business with them,” James says of the Prietos. “I knew it was a perfect fit when I learned of the philosophies of the group.”

The Prieto group traveled to Las Vegas and San Diego to get a better look at the layout of James’ stores.

Luck has always been on his side, James says, as he looked back and discovered how fortunate he was in the pizza business.

“There isn’t one store or one concept that I’ve done that’s failed,” he says.

James says he owes it to the talented people around him—they handle all the other functions that are beyond his skills set.

His executive assistant Ashley Mackley for example takes care of the aesthetics, design and the social media aspects of the business.

He explains that, being a leader, one must recognize there are people who can do things better than most.

He explores the talents of those he works with, allowing them to tap their potentials for the greater good of the business.

Understanding what resonates with the public is also key to James’ success. He says that one has to look at and understand what 80 percent of the masses like.

“My biggest skill is to recognize that vibe and culture,” Jim explains.

Also, maintaining the quality of food and level of service may seem mechanical to other businesses, but for James, there is no compromise to providing the best.

“We’re never going to stop. We’re always going to keep innovating and making things better,” he says.

James, together with the Prieto group, plans to open more stores here and abroad. In the Philippines, they launched their pilot store on Shaw Boulevard last July 31. Set to open within the year are branches on the corner of Edsa and Macapagal, and in Alabang.

James says that is important to get the ball rolling. By that, he means opening at least five more stores within the year. This is to be a step ahead of the copycats who will eventually imitate the uniqueness of the brand.

Markham talks about the joy of making pizzas.

“We have to build that critical mass so everybody will just play catch-up with us,” he explains.

James also assures customers of a pleasant dining experience.

“If we see that our guest is not going to enjoy the pizza, because of the choice of ingredients, then we’ll make him another one. We can’t have people eating pizza that is represented poorly. If you don’t like what you’re creating, we’ll make you one, and that will make people happy,” he adds.

About the name, James says that he is always trying to improve things, be it the design, food or vibe of a particular store.

“So, it’s like a project that I’m always working on. And pie is the East Coast term for pizza. That’s what I grew up with,” he explains.

Project Pie is located at 515 Shaw Boulevard corner S. Laurel Street, Mandaluyong City.