Owner Trey Mendez and his partner (and cook) Dante are putting the Italian-made pizza convection oven through its paces as they prepare to open a brand-new business downtown.
Tuesday evening the partners were getting to know the oven which, incredibly, can turn out a pizza in under a minute. The secret?
"It's a convection oven that burns at 800 degrees Fahrenheit," Mendez explained. "All you have to do is turn it around so it'll cook even. We're learning and getting the hang of it."
To demonstrate, Dante placed a pizza pie in the oven with a long pole, turned it once or twice and raised it toward the center of the oven, and it was cooked in under a minute.
Mendez and his partners have had to jump through all the city inspection department hurdles which many times have discouraged other entrepreneurs who have risked opening a business ina downtown area that is best known for second-hand and dollar stores. But as other risk takers have shown, if you provide a good product, the customers will come.
Mendez said the success of Terra's and other upscale night spots like The Kraken and El Hueso del Faile in attracting upscale customers encouraged him to take the plunge. He owns the building at the
corner of 12th and Adams streets, one of the restored historical structures in the city.
According to the Brownsville Historical Association plaque on the building, it was "built in 1883 for Juan H. Fernandez, a Spanish immigrant from Santander, Spain, Fernandez established a general merchandise store in this building named “La Villa de Llanes.”
"An advertisement from that era shows Fernandez offered dry goods, groceries, crockery, hardware, crystal ware, arms and ammunition. The store operated on the first floor with family living quarters on the second. The restored building exhibits architectural details pertaining to the French Creole style such as the second floor iron railing."
Mendez has tries to keep the interior of the building as close to the era as possible, searching for such things such as light fixtures from ships that have been dismantled and aluminum naval chairs that will be upholstered to use in the Dodici pizza parlor. The facade of the counter sports the original tin ceiling panels to remain as close to the original as possible.
The original wooden floor was restored and polished. A storage area (basement?) was sealed off from the public.
The enclosed patio whose walls are lined by verdant mango and pahua trees and which provide a fragrant ambiance will also be open to Dodici customers. If you have ever visited the patio area, it is one of the most pleasant spots you can imagine. It's difficult to realize that you are in the middle of downtown when you're surrounded by tall, green trees bearing ripe fruit and providing shade from the South Texas sun.
And the name Dodici?
"It means 12 in Italian," Mendez explained. "We named it that because we're on 12th Street. We can hardly wait to start. One or two more inspections and we'll be doing business."