Brent Ivy, the owner of Revolution Road Pizza, loved what he learned in his commercial workshop so much that he even took a piece of Antoine home with him.
“He convinced me that a sourdough starter was superior to just adding yeast,” Brent said. “He gave me a piece of his starter, which we named Antoine, and incorporated it into our dough recipe. We’ve been building on that same starter since the fall of 2022!”
Brent describes himself as a happy husband and father of a two-year old son with a second son due in July. He’s an attorney and his wife is an ER nurse, but that didn’t stop them launching their dream pizza business.
“We have a passion for pizza and a few years ago hatched an idea to bring artisan pizza to our small East Texas town of Nacogdoches,” he said. “In 2016 we moved from Austin back to our hometown to raise a family. There are some decent dining options, but variety was lacking – and good pizza was nonexistent.”
The journey to operating a successful mobile pizza business has had many steps and has more to come.
“My wife and I had been making our own dough for a couple of years and hosting pizza parties at our house,” he said. “People thought our crust was really good, so we thought why not put our money where everyone’s mouth was! We ordered a mobile pizza trailer in 2021 and plan to build a trailer park in the fall of 2023 where our pizza trailer will be one of the highlights.”
Brent says having a good team is a key part of making their dream come true and they’re happy to have the team they’ve found.
“It took many months to build a reliable team that had a passion for pizza and paid attention to the details,” he said. “Anyone can buy exotic toppings for pizza, but the secret is in the dough and the sauce – which takes time and effort to perfect.”
With a solid team in place, the next step to building great pizza is working with great ingredients – some of which can come from local collaborations.
“We collaborated with a BBQ food trailer and use his brisket to make a specialty pizza called the Chambers Smokehouse, named after his trailer,” Brent said. “It has white sauce, smoked brisket, mozzarella cheese, red onions and jalapenos. We drizzle it with BBQ sauce when it comes out of the oven. It’s delicious!”
Running a business takes inspiration and Brent says he gets that from the people around him and his local community. He says everyone who does something beneficial for the area makes it a better place to be.
“I’m inspired by people who take risks to do something bigger than themselves because they are passionate about something,” he said. “Specifically, with this business, it’s unlikely I’ll ever make more money selling pizza than being an attorney. But that does not matter. Artisan pizza was something people wanted in our community and we delivered. The more people who do that, makes our small East Texas town that much better.”
