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As the coronavirus pandemic widened and restaurant dining rooms were ordered to shut down, “We pulled back a bit to see what was going to happen,” the Old Scratch Pizza co-owner said. “Now we are confident enough to move ahead with what we were going to do.”
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The restaurant will reconfigure kitchen equipment to boost the kitchen’s production capacity, Soller said. And the dining room, which was based on a communal-dining atmosphere utilizing picnic-bench style seating, will be reconfigured as well, “with an eye toward reopening to the public in a socially distant way,” Soller said.
Curbside carryout, which is offered from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, will resume May 27 at the Dayton location.
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“We are still evaluating our dining-room reopening, but it will not happen on May 27,” Soller said.
The Old Scratch location at 812 S. Patterson Blvd. opened in October 2016. A second location opened last fall at 440 Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Washington Twp. That restaurant will be open and operating for curbside carryout this week and will not be affected by the Dayton location’s renovation project. Curbside carryout is available Wednesday through Sunday.
In addition to its Naples-style pizzas cooked in wood-fired ovens, Old Scratch serves salads and specialty items. When its dining room is open, it features 20 taps devoted to craft beer, and four taps reserved for wine, and also offers cocktails.
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Soller and his wife Stephanie met while both were attending and later graduating from the New England Culinary Institute. Eric Soller served as operations manager for Dayton-based Solganik Food Group for six years until 2006, and managed hotel and catering kitchens in Oregon, Michigan and Colorado. Before launching Old Scratch Pizza, he was employed by Troy-based Hobart Corp., which produces a variety of commercial kitchen appliances and equipment.
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