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From the food on your table to the friendly staff, Tizzone Wood-Fired Kitchen and Wine Bar presents an experience unlike any other.
Stephanie Rogol, owner of Tizzone Wood-Fired Kitchen and Wine Bar, readily admits cooking is not among her personal talents. Yet, she is the owner of four successful restaurants.
How does this happen? The answer is simple. Rogol has a passion for growing strong, vibrant communities; and a genius for wielding the power of dining to achieve her goal.
Rogol is a native New Yorker. She grew up on “the Island” as she calls Long Island, New York. She attended college in Manhattan, became a computer engineer and went to work for IBM. She lived in Florida through the 1980s, and then moved to Blacksburg, Virginia in 1990 hoping for a change in scenery and lifestyle. This was when she began exploring restaurant ownership.
“It was an overnight failure,” says Rogol frankly of her first restaurant venture.
Around the same time, Rogol discovered the concept of conscious capitalism, an alternative to traditional capitalism. It’s a term coined by John Mackey, founder and C.E.O. of Whole Foods. Conscious capitalism challenges the notion that a business’s ultimate purpose is making money.
Rather, every business has a higher calling; a reason for existing and flourishing beyond itself. A business’s true purpose, says the conscious capitalist, is to inspire, engage and energize its stakeholders.
Rogol was hooked. She became a student of Mackey’s ideas and began implementing principles of conscious capitalism into her restaurant ventures. She identified her stakeholders: the society around her, partners, investors, customers and employees (coined SPICE in conscious business lingo).
But Rogol went further. For her, everyone and everything which touches her business is a stakeholder, thus her responsibility for helping to flourish.
“When you really think about it, even the environment is a stakeholder,” says Rogol, who recently bought farmland outside of Daleville with the goal of growing all her restaurants’ produce. “Everything is a stakeholder. When you understand this, you understand the importance of a win-win mentality.”
In essence, Rogol’s steadfast commitment to “win-win” is the reason Tizzone exists. Shortly after opening Town Center Tap House in 2013, a neighborhood bar and grill located in Daleville’s Town Center, Rogol recognized the community’s need for a dining alternative to Tap House’s more free-wheeling, family-friendly gathering hole. Beyond this, creating Tizzone offered employees (especially kitchen staff) from her other restaurants the opportunity to expand their skills, change work environments or move into a management position.
“I work hard to create a healthy work environment,” says Rogol. “I try hard to help my employees and managers live healthy lives and keep them in a place of growing. My mentoring them keeps me growing, too.”
Words that come to mind when I think of Tizzone are: generous and hearty. It begins the moment you walk through the door with ample space between tables and immediate attention from the the hostess and wait staff.
Entrée portions are large, easily enough for two. Rogol says this is purposeful. She wants people to share if they want or have leftovers for taking home. Then there is the homemade tiramisu on the house for first time guests. It’s Rogol’s way of saying “thank you” for choosing Tizzone.
Known for great wood-fired pizza, Tizzone prides itself on its homemade pizza dough (with a cauliflower-based, gluten-free option) and tomato sauce. The mozzarella Tizzone uses is made with buffalo milk, which Rogol says makes the pizza excellent for re-heating.
I’ve had their California and Carne pizzas. The California (aptly named) includes local, farm-raised, grilled chicken, bacon, sautéed onions, roasted garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. It’s then topped with arugula grown on Rogol’s farm, avocado, black pepper and a chipotle ranch. The Carne is a meat-lovers pizza, topped with Italian sausage, pepperoni, bacon, soppressata and prosciutto. Both are tasty and satisfying without leaving me feeling gluttonous afterwards.
The same goes for Tizzone’s dinner entrees and chef’s specials. From the chef’s specials menu, I’ve dined on the lamb shank and stolen bites of my husband’s tuna tacos. Tizzone’s lamb ranks near the top of my short list for best lamb dishes I’ve ever experienced. And the Ahi tuna—peppered and pan-seared rare, then topped with a fresh ginger-soy dressing and citrus slaw—is superb. The chicken parmesan and baked ziti are among Tizzone’s most popular entrée items. Both are praise-worthy.
What makes dinner at Tizzone’s truly complete is pairing a fine wine from their excellent wine menu. Rogol gives full credit to her wine expert, Brandon Linthicum, as well as Chef Alejandro Rivera, from neighboring restaurant, Pomegranate.
With their combined expertise, Rogol has been able to create an outstanding wine experience for Valley residents and visitors alike.
“It’s about acting like everyone matters,” says Rogol of her commitment to every one of her stakeholders. “Because they do.”
90 Town Center Street, Suite 104
Daleville, VA 24083
(540) 591-9005
(As of April 13: Tizzone’s entire menu is available online for curbside pickup or free delivery. And it even includes beer and wine for those 21 and up!)
Tizzone Tips:
- If you want to dine at Tizzone on Friday or Saturday evening, reservations are a must.
- Tizzone regularly hosts themed wine dinners. Check out their website, Facebook or follow them on Twitter @TizzoneWineBar to learn more.
- Looking for a place to host your next event? You can rent out Tizzone’s newest space, Unwined Events Venue and Wine Shoppe.
- Every week, Tizzone features a new “wine of the week” and “pizza of the week.”
- Every “Mindful Monday,” Tizzone and Town Center Tap House donate 10% of their food and non-alcoholic beverage sales to a local nonprofit.
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