This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 9, 2015.
The New York slice is an institution for residents of the Big Apple — a quick grab-and-go pizza slice that has become integral to the New Yorker’s lifestyle. Since April last year, Malaysians have been able to get a taste of that humble but hearty slice of pie with the launch of Mikey’s Original New York Pizza. At the opening of their new outlet at Mid Valley Megamall recently, live It! sat down with owner and “pizza ambassador” Michael Helfman for a chat.
“This is our third outlet, and our first frozen custard outlet,” says Helfman, gesturing to the adjoining kiosk with a neon sign that says Mikey’s Frozen Custard, which is a variety of velvety soft-serve ice cream.
“I’m from New York, and the first thing I would do when I get off the plane, is to go get a slice of pizza, because that’s what we do,” says Helfman with a shrug. “One day, my wife and I were on the beach in Thailand, and there was a little kiosk selling pizza by slice. I had one, it wasn’t very good, but it reminded me of New York.”
The experience stirred the idea of starting his own authentic New York pizzeria here in Kuala Lumpur. The former advertising consultant, who has been in Malaysia for almost seven years, credits local gourmet fast food forerunners myBurgerLab, among others, for sparking the trend among the city’s urbanites.
“That’s when we really saw the public’s response to a higher quality fast food,” points out Helfman, adding that while Malaysians are all about food, they are also becoming more discerning. “When we first opened Mikey’s, you either got pizza from a fast food [restaurant] or an Italian restaurant. You couldn’t go to a pizzeria. That’s what we wanted to create, a real pizza joint.”
It’s all about specialisation these days, he observes, recalling how when he first arrived in Malaysia, restaurants he stepped into would serve multiple cuisines in one menu. “To me that screams mediocrity. Coming from New York, there are so many small businesses and they all have their little niche. That breeds quality. If you are good at one thing, you should have success that way. That’s what I want to foster,” he adds.
To do that, Helfman roped in Andrew Bellucci as head chef, who has made a name for himself as a “pie man” and was trained at world-renowned Lombardi’s, going on to help reopen the pizzeria 1994.
When the opportunity for the space in Mid Valley came up, the duo saw the opportunity to include a frozen custard stand. “We always loved it, and miss it … frozen custard was invented in New York, but it is now really huge in Wisconsin and in the Midwest,” explains the founder.
Since it wasn’t available in Malaysia, Helfman flew Bellucci to the Frozen Dessert Institute of America in Wisconsin to develop their own. Noting the curious name, Helfman acknowledges he don’t know why some Americans refers to ice cream as custard, but insists, “It does sort of taste like custard, if you have the au naturel flavour.”
Citing the growth potential here in Malaysia and within the Southeast Asian region, they hope to expand and perhaps even set up partnerships. “We might also spin the frozen custard separately and have kiosks around town in the next year or two,” shares Helfman.
He believes that authenticity will bring in the customers. “We like to say coming to Mikey’s is like an outpost for New York. You got a New York owner, a New York founding partner chef who is famous in the US … all the music is from New York-based artists or about New York and pizza. Everything on the wall is not fake stuff you buy in store — I took a lot of the pictures myself, and picked the rest up from flea markets or garage sales when I’m back there.”
But ultimately, Helfman says it all comes back to the slice. “It’s New York pizza,” he shrugs in conclusion.
Find Mikey’s Original New York Pizza in Mid Valley Megamall, Publika Shopping Gallery and Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur. For the full addresses and menu information, visit www.mikeyspizza.com.my.