Today we’d like to introduce you to William Carrillo.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started this business as a small pop-up with nothing but a mini pizza oven, some fold out tables and most importantly, some very good friends. I moved to the Rogue Valley with my wife from Portland OR in 2021. We chose to relocate down her in southern Oregon as it was a fresh start and a good opportunity for the both of us to grow. I have been working in kitchens since I was as young as 10 years old. My mom used to take me to work with her as a kid and the pizza shop became like a second home for me. Paid in arcade tokens, I bussed tables, filled ranch bottles washed dishes. I guess, that’s my origin story on how I became “trapped” in the food industry, though, I’ve never felt trapped.
I got my first real job when I was 15 working as a street sign spinner for a pizza shop in Portland. I went from tossing signs around to tossing pizza dough in the 4 years I worked there. Frankly, I got really tired of cooking pizza there. I wanted to learn something else and the thought of going to culinary school crossed my mind several times. It was when I was around 19 0r 20 that I applied for a job at Country Cat working for Chef Adam Sappington. I still don’t know how I got that job but I learned everything there. Baking, butchery, sauté, etc. Most importantly, I gained confidence. I bounced around a lot after Country Cat closed it’s doors and that’s when I found ‘Life of Pie’. It was this place that inspired me to dream of trying to make something of my own. Life of Pie took pizza seriously. We made a lot of stuff from scratch there which was nice because I got to use a lot of the knowledge I gained working in fine dining.
When the time finally came to move out of Portland to Medford, I needed a job. And friends. I found Tap and Vine through my wife. She recommended we get lunch there and I ended up walking out with a job. I didn’t know at the time that ‘Tap’ would become the most important job of my career. With the owner Adam Benson’s permission, I stayed late after work and used Tap and Vine as my prep kitchen, started ‘The Allium’ and joined the Farmers market with my new friends.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not by any means been smooth. the first year under a tent was rough. Setting up the pop up tables and hauling the heavy equipment in rain, snow and in scorching hundred degree days was terrible and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. On top of that I didn’t pay myself at all for the first year and a half. I worked a full time job to pay for everything out of pocket and worked my nights for any event coordinator that would hire me no matter how small. I think one of the funniest struggles as a starting operation is dealing with small events that make you question if it’s all worth it and then picking up events that are so crazy busy that it makes you question if you made a huge mistake saying yes.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I like the idea of making simple food elegant and healthy. Pizza gets a bad rap for being junk food because most of it is. That’s why I buy all my ingredients as fresh as possible. non bleached, non folic acid OO flour, San Marzano tomatoes, Real buffalo mozzarella etc. It’s a lot more expensive but that’s why its so much better! Best of all, it makes you feel better than the cheaper stuff.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I really into Food travel shows. I’m not sure how much influence they have had on my work but I know there probably has been some. Feed Phil, Bourdain, Tucci in Italy, etc. I think my biggest inspiration is YouTube University.
Other than that, I have an embarrassing number of cook books I’ve collected over the years.
Pricing:
- $16-$21 average pizza price
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thealliumwoodfiredpizza.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealliumwoodfiredpizza/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Allium-Wood-Fired-Pizza-61562669847560/
