Spring Break
Pizza revolution
Brian Wartell '07 spices up Sherman with eccentric visions of pizza paradise
by Jacob Kamaras
Senior Editor
Features | 3/6/07
Posted online at 10:38 PM EST on 3/5/07
/ Last updated at 4:12 AM EST on 3/5/07
Brian Wartell '07 majors in biology and minors in environmental studies and chemistry, but when he works at Sherman Dining Hall, he seems more like a mad scientist. Instead of beakers, bunsen burners or chemicals, he uses dough, tomato sauce and oregano. And on one Sunday night, he conjured up his most outlandish creation to date: banana pizza.
"I'm fine with whatever floats his boat," Avi Rhodes '08 said after witnessing Wartell's banana pizza emerge from the oven. "He is the one making the pizza."
A student worker on the kosher side of Sherman since the beginning of this academic year, Wartell has experimented with a wide range of toppings on his pizzas. His creative endeavors include pizza pockets (folded-over pieces of pizza), olive pizza, white pizza, veggie-burger pizza and yes, his banana pizza.
"You can basically put anything on pizza," Wartell said.
His specialty pizzas are so well-known to Sunday-evening Sherman-goers that students have dubbed his creations, "Brian Pizza" and "Wartell Pizza."
"People don't call it 'Abraham pizza' since they don't know my middle name," he joked.
Wartell's most popular experiment so far is his white pizza, made with olive oil, fresh garlic, oregano, cheese and most notably, no tomato sauce.
Before his pizza days, Wartell said he performed the same mundane tasks as any student-worker, such as cleaning dishes, managing supplies and wrapping up food after meals. But when co-worker Paulette Floyd, who usually prepares pizza on the kosher side, had to take off a Sunday last semester, Wartell was asked to make pizza in her place. What was originally a temporary fix turned into a permanent fixture, as the skill Wartell displayed landed him the role of preparing pizza every Sunday night.
Regular students at Sherman said before Wartell arrived on the scene, Sunday nights at the all-you-can-eat dining hall lacked variety, and food in general, as the weekend wound down.
"Sunday nights at Sherman are pretty lame," Talya Kagedan '08 noted. "There isn't a lot of food and the options aren't there. I don't really understand it. Sunday should be like any other night."
But Wartell's pizza-making prowess has reinvigorated student appetite and morale. Students look forward to what Wartell will dish out next.
"I get excited when I hear a new [pizza from Wartell] is coming off the line," Jonathan Pearlson '08 said.
Rhodes said he enjoys seeing innovation and creativity at Sherman."[Wartell] brings fun to Sherman. His pizza is something different and I like that," he said.
In turn, what was initially a dull job has turned into a labor of love for Wartell.
"I didn't like the work I did at Sherman before I started making pizza. It was boring and exhausting," Wartell said. "Now, it's really nice to hear people compliment my pizza. I love cooking and I like making people happy."
"I'm fine with whatever floats his boat," Avi Rhodes '08 said after witnessing Wartell's banana pizza emerge from the oven. "He is the one making the pizza."
A student worker on the kosher side of Sherman since the beginning of this academic year, Wartell has experimented with a wide range of toppings on his pizzas. His creative endeavors include pizza pockets (folded-over pieces of pizza), olive pizza, white pizza, veggie-burger pizza and yes, his banana pizza.
"You can basically put anything on pizza," Wartell said.
His specialty pizzas are so well-known to Sunday-evening Sherman-goers that students have dubbed his creations, "Brian Pizza" and "Wartell Pizza."
"People don't call it 'Abraham pizza' since they don't know my middle name," he joked.
Wartell's most popular experiment so far is his white pizza, made with olive oil, fresh garlic, oregano, cheese and most notably, no tomato sauce.
Before his pizza days, Wartell said he performed the same mundane tasks as any student-worker, such as cleaning dishes, managing supplies and wrapping up food after meals. But when co-worker Paulette Floyd, who usually prepares pizza on the kosher side, had to take off a Sunday last semester, Wartell was asked to make pizza in her place. What was originally a temporary fix turned into a permanent fixture, as the skill Wartell displayed landed him the role of preparing pizza every Sunday night.
Regular students at Sherman said before Wartell arrived on the scene, Sunday nights at the all-you-can-eat dining hall lacked variety, and food in general, as the weekend wound down.
"Sunday nights at Sherman are pretty lame," Talya Kagedan '08 noted. "There isn't a lot of food and the options aren't there. I don't really understand it. Sunday should be like any other night."
But Wartell's pizza-making prowess has reinvigorated student appetite and morale. Students look forward to what Wartell will dish out next.
"I get excited when I hear a new [pizza from Wartell] is coming off the line," Jonathan Pearlson '08 said.
Rhodes said he enjoys seeing innovation and creativity at Sherman."[Wartell] brings fun to Sherman. His pizza is something different and I like that," he said.
In turn, what was initially a dull job has turned into a labor of love for Wartell.
"I didn't like the work I did at Sherman before I started making pizza. It was boring and exhausting," Wartell said. "Now, it's really nice to hear people compliment my pizza. I love cooking and I like making people happy."
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