Saving the Best for Last
It started with a passion for pizza and the satisfaction of serving others. In the midst of pursuing a master’s degree in geology, Caleb Schiff took a break in Italy and fell in love with Neapolitan pizza. The love never left. Back home in Flagstaff, he built a wood-fired pizza oven in his backyard and perfected his recipe over many gatherings, eventually leaving a full-time position at NAU to pursue his dream of creating an experience around food.
The dream, Pizzicletta, opened in 2011. It grew when Schiff opened a second location inside Dark Sky Brewery eight years later. It grew again when he and a partner took over Indian Gardens in Sedona, reopening the location in 2021. While each establishment delivers on Schiff’s dedication to serving quality cuisine made with fresh ingredients and creating an enjoyable experience, each has its limit.
The flagship operation is small—occupying 600 square feet including the kitchen. The second is located in a brewery—no one under age 21 may enter. With the exception of a weekly pizza night, the menu at Indian Gardens stays true to its roots of breakfast, sandwiches, and salads. Now, 14 years after Pizzicletta opened, comes Sosta. Guided by the principles true to Schiff’s heart—quality ingredients, memorable experiences—the concept adds the principle of inclusivity.
“I felt like we had an opportunity to flip the script and take a beautiful historic space and offer it to everyone,” says Schiff. He refers to Sosta’s presence at what used to be Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar, whose fine dining offerings were beyond the budget of a young family or student at NAU.
At a time when fine dining is feeling increasingly out of reach for many, through efficiency, Schiff has found a way to offer the same quality at a price most can afford. “We approached this concept trying to be a place that’s more accessible to everyone,” he says. “When we look at places that are serving fresh pasta in town, it’s usually at about twice the price of what we’re serving.”
The efficiency comes in several forms. “Essentially, pasta and pizza are the same base ingredient. The final dish is prepared differently, but it’s still a very simple dish. That’s where we saw the opportunity: not just because pasta is also Italian but because it’s a very simple, relatively humble food, and that’s what pizza really is, too.”
A 2,000-square-foot commissary kitchen, purchased a few years ago, also facilitates greater production volumes—churning out 700 pounds of mozzarella in a day, for example—and improves labor efficiencies.
Labor is something Schiff has taken seriously from the beginning. “There’s zero chance of running a restaurant alone or without great people, and therefore they are the most important part of the operation, and that’s where our energy goes,” he says. As a company with 100 employees and a turnover rate well below the industry average, that energy is proving well spent. To date, only one manager has ever been hired from outside the company. Everyone else has been promoted from within. Most have been with Schiff for over five years.
“It’s so important that people want to be here and feel like it’s a win/win. A lot of people want to open their own place. We don’t hold back [on] knowledge and advice. Rather than have any fear of competition, it’s more about opening the doors to learning in the industry,” Schiff says. At the time of this writing, the menu features coffee, pastries, breakfast staples, salad, and pasta.
If it isn’t made in-house, such as the pasta, or at a sister location, like the pastries, it’s sourced from Arizona producers like Noble Bread and McClendon’s Select Organic Farms, among others. Vegan options abound, if that’s your preference. The gelato recipe hails from Italy. Its base, made from cream, egg, and sugar, is created without any stabilizers or fillers.
In Italian, sosta means to pause or take a break, a concept Schiff is seriously considering. “At some point, I also need to take a pause and enjoy what we’ve built. The experiences we’re creating here … it’s going to be hard to beat.
