The Cookieologist adds gourmet pizza to menu this weekend

Isiah Davis, owner of The Cookieologist, is expanding his talents to gourmet, focaccia-style pizza this weekend.

“If you trust me making your fresh-baked gourmet cookies, you can trust me with your pizza for the simple fact that I’m not just doing something off a whim,” said Davis. “I’ve done this before.”

Prior to opening The Cookieologist, Davis said he was a chef for several years and worked in the restaurant industry for almost 20 years.

Credit: Submitted Photo

Credit: Submitted Photo

He told Dayton.com the idea of making focaccia-style pizza had been on his radar for three to four years.

“It’s one of those things where everybody loves it,” Davis said. “It’s easily adaptable and you can put your own spin on it by just putting ‘you’ into the product.”

The Cookieologist’s pizza will be available for pre-order online starting Thursday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. Customers will be able to order on Thursday for Friday pickup or Friday for Saturday pickup.

Davis explained he will start off by offering 9-by-13-inch pepperoni pizzas for $20 on Fridays and Saturdays and see where it goes.

“I look at pizza as almost a blank canvas,” Davis said. “You’re starting off with your dough and then you just build from there.”

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

The Cookieologist is using a focaccia bread from a local bakery, pizza sauce made in house and will soon partner with local meat and cheese purveyors.

“I want a pizza you eat end to end,” Davis said. “I want you to enjoy the crust, the chewiness and texture.”

The new pizza concept will be “very limited” starting off, Davis said, but he hopes to expand in the future.

The Cookieologist, located at 1122 E. Dorothy Lane in Kettering, shares a space with Chicken Head’s in what they call a ghost kitchen. Davis explained a ghost kitchen is different from a virtual kitchen.

The ghost kitchen does not allow customers to dine inside but allows them to order ahead and pickup via a pickup window at the space. Customers can also get their food delivered via a third-party like DoorDash or Grubhub.

Davis said the ghost kitchen is a pandemic-proof business that allows a better focus on craft. He explained a virtual kitchen is where a virtual-only food concept is run out of another business’ kitchen. The Cookieologist and Chicken Head’s own the space they operate out of.

Credit: Submitted Photo

Credit: Submitted Photo

The new pizza concept is something Davis hopes to add under the umbrella of “high-quality brands” in the ghost kitchen. He told Dayton.com that he and Anthony Head, owner of Chicken Head’s, are always improving their concepts and never settling.

For more information about The Cookieologist, visit www.thecookieologistdyt.com. To stay up to date, visit The Cookieologist’s Facebook or Instagram pages.

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