In December 2022, seasoned restaurant industry veterans John Miller, former president and chief executive officer of Denny’s Corporation and chief executive officer of Taco Bueno Restaurants, Inc, and Scott Smith, former executive at Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group and Gordon Ramsay North America, took the helm of Delucca Gaucho Pizza and Wine, a unique Brazilian-style pizzeria known for its rodizio-style service and commitment to uncompromising quality.
Miller and Smith’s long-standing friendship and shared passion for authentic, scratch-made cuisine drove them to purchase Delucca from its founder, Evandro Caregnato, and expand its footprint.
Today, Delucca boasts seven locations across Texas, each offering a distinctive dining experience with a focus on high-quality ingredients, unique flavors and a relaxed, interactive service style.
Local Profile: How is Delucca different from other pizza restaurants?
John Miller: Delucca Gaucho Pizza and Wine includes “gaucho” in the name, not because we are a South American cowboy steakhouse, but because we borrow from the tradition of the gaucho and that is of totally uncompromising quality of food for our pizzas. And though much like those steakhouses, we do have continuous service rodizio-style service, we have “Something for Everyone” in mind with both eclectic and traditional flavors from around the world.
We stretch natural curd by hand daily to make our fior di latte mozzarella. Our dough is made from scratch daily using Italian 00 flour, EVOO, water, sea salt and yeast, fermented for at least 36 hours, resulting in a delicious Neapolitan-style crust. Our meatballs are house-made from wagyu beef trimmings and pork, a true house favorite. We grind our own sirloin to make our steak picaña pizza. We make our lobster bisque with lobster, mirepoix, cream and brandy. Our rocket arugula salad is topped with Delucca’s own refreshing honey and lemon vinaigrette. Our sauce is made from the finest San Marzano tomatoes, resulting in guests cleaning their plates from the meatballs with their leftover pizza crusts. Our house specialty cocktails, the caipirinhas, all start with premium Brazilian cachaça, whether for our natural lime, passion fruit, blackberry or mango habanero cocktails.
How are we different? No menu, just sit down, order a drink and five courses keep coming as long as you are hungry. No pressure, no worries, just enjoy your family and friends. But this may not be the most remarkable difference. Delucca is especially great for accommodating larger groups, and it’s not just the service and variety that creates this appeal, check out the value in the wine! There are two 1-liter bottles on the menu, Austin Hope and Caymus, for $65 and $98 respectively, seen at $135 and over $200 respectively at other notable restaurants in DFW. Chimney Rock - Stags Leap and Cade - Napa Valley, represent two Cabernet Sauvignon choices at $98 and $125, seen at over $200 and over $400 at other restaurants in DFW. The balance of the wine list by glass or bottle represents a great value as well and daily happy hour for cocktails only adds to the overall value for the dollar.
LP: Why did y'all decide to buy Delucca?
JM: Scott and I met in 1987 at Brinker International and have shared industry experiences for many years. We wanted to reunite to do something special together. With an earlier executive role at Romano’s Macaroni Grill, I have always loved authentic cooking and great food from scratch. And Scott, a recent top executive at Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group and Gordon Ramsay North America, wanted something unique and special. For the love of pizza, luck and a little fate, a friendship was born with the talented Brazilian Chef, Evandro Caregnato, the founder of Delucca. Evandro, with a desire to create new things, and Scott and I with a desire to grow, fate culminated in the purchase of Delucca in December of 2022.
LP: When you took over Delucca, how many more restaurants did you open? Did you make any changes to the processes?
JM: Today there are seven Delucca Gaucho Pizza and Wine locations, two new locations since purchasing the original five locations from founder Evandro Caregnato. Southlake, Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano and Austin locations have two new sisters: one in Alliance Town Center at Heritage Trace and I-35W in Fort Worth and one at Las Colinas Village at MacArthur and 114 in Las Colinas. Brunch, featured seasonal pizzas and a few new great-value wines have been added and we are now introducing a new bar bites menu. This new menu enhances our happy hour appeal as well as options for our large private dining events for guests who need options while they mingle prior to seating.
The bar bites menu includes happy hour prices for individual pizzas, cocktails and wine along with new appetizers called “bar bites.” These are meatballs with mozzarella and basil, spinach and artichoke dip, balsamic figs and burrata, whipped lemon ricotta, wagyu beef empanadas, and chicken and cheese empanadas.
LP: I heard that the Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants will be company-owned. Can you tell us more about your expansion and franchising plans?
JM: We are not yet offering franchises, however franchising outside of DFW should begin soon.
LP: Do you think Delucca would be popular in other states? What about elsewhere in Texas?
JM: Given the success of rodizio-style steakhouses like Fogo de Chao and family-style restaurants like Maggiano’s and Babes and the world’s universal love of pizza, we are confident of successful growth throughout Texas and beyond.
LP: After a long career, you recently retired, John. Why did you decide to continue working in the restaurant industry by owning Delucca?
JM: Scott is my brother in so many ways. Just wanted to do something together! Besides, retirement is overrated!
LP: What are five things you've learned in your career, John? What about you, Scott? What are five pieces of advice you'd give to someone looking to enter the restaurant industry?
JM:
1. Believe in a purpose and know why you exist!
2. Become a follower of great values and principles to guide you.
3. Belong to a family of other believers in that purpose and values.
4. Breakthrough to lead — Nothing is easy. It takes dedication, commitment, hard work and tough skin to manage disappointment, but the breakthrough moments are the reward for staying with it.
5. Build a legacy — When you achieve breakthroughs, celebrate the milestones and build a legacy on that foundation, building on many more breakthrough moments along the way!
Scott Smith: Make peace and celebrate with family and friends more often! Time is short, so let’s all love a little more and fuss a whole lot less. For love and life, celebrate one slice at a time at Delucca!
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