Pizza in the United States isn’t just Italian. There’s a lot of pizza joints run by Greeks and a noted one in Norwich, Connecticut is Asylum Street Pizza operated by James Kantzios, who took it over from his father who opened it in 1984.

In a Local Flavor feature, the Norwich Bulletin said that the son got his chance in 2018 after his father taught him all he needed to know, piece-by-piece, slice-by-slice about the business.

“I was working for my dad, full-time at Asylum Street Pizza for years. I learned all the ‘ins and outs’ of the business. Working with family can be a little tough sometimes; they’ll be a little tougher on you than others,” said James.

He had the right role model though. “I watched my dad cook, too. He’s an immigrant from Greece. I learned how he ran the place and absorbed his work ethic. It became something I wanted to end up doing. I wanted to make pizza,” he said, adding that the key was to just stick to it. Oh, and thanks Dad.

And thankfully, Asylum Pizza managed to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.